I saw a post about this on r/EmulationOniOS and, sure enough, the Azahar core is available in the TestFlight build of RetroArch.

I only have a couple of roms for the system — Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and New Super Mario Bros. 2. Donkey Kong is a no-go without JIT, but New Super Mario Bros. 2 runs at acceptable speeds in my testing.

I had been using Folium for this, but that app was always a pain to actually use. It would just randomly stop loading my game, not recognize my controller, or some other oddity. Every time the issue was different, but it was always annoying.

RetroArch, by contrast, is always stable for me. I had to work a bit to get my roms setup in a playlist — I had to do a custom scan for them to show up — but once I had them listed, the rest was easy-peasy.

➝ Source: reddit.com

A great guide, as you’d expect, from Retro Game Corps. I recently purchased a Retroid Pocket 5 and used this guide to set it all up with the best emulators, front-end, and other necessary utilities.

➝ Source: m.youtube.com

From the documentation:

RetroArch Cloud Sync is available in recent RetroArch Nighties and enables a seamless synchronization of the most important system configuration and save data to a dedicated private webdav server, from where these data can be synchronized across Apple devices. The current functionality is limited to Apple devices (MacOS, iOS, tvOS) because it was developed here. It can be deployed to other RetroArch operating systems, if a developer is interested in this work.

This is pretty rad. I just set it up on my iPhone and plan to do so on our Apple TVs later today. It’ll be nice to have all of my saves synced between devices so I can pick up and play from where I left off regardless of the device I’m using.

➝ Source: docs.libretro.com

Craig Grannell:

However, that UTM is now allowed but iDOS is not is indefensible. They’re both PC emulators. Apple has been inconsistent in the past with App Store rules and approvals, but this pairing is especially stark and egregious. At this point, I wouldn’t spend a single second developing an emulator for iOS. Which is probably how Apple wants it anyway. If I were the iDOS developer, I’d lob the app at AltStore and see what happens. Or, you know, just give up, like so many other ex-iOS devs I hear from these days have already done.

The App Store artificially limits the capabilities of our devices and prevents developers from even exploring entire categories of applications.

Imagine what our devices would be capable of if things were different — if you could install software on them like a computer. Rather than Apple leaning into the idea that they aren’t.

➝ Source: reverttosaved.com

A multi-system emulator for iOS that supports Nintendo 3DS. Because of the lack of JIT, there are limits on what games it can run. But if you want to play some easier to run 3DS titles, you might want to give it a look. I’ve been using Folium to play New Super Mario Bros. 2 on my iPhone 15 Pro and it runs well with the default settings.

➝ Source: folium.emuplace.app

The Virtual Console on Wii and Wii U is likely as close as we’ll ever come to an iTunes for roms. Which is unfortunate because I think these companies are leaving a lot of money on the table with that decision and forcing gamers to resort to piracy because there is no legal way to obtain the games they’d like to play.

➝ Source: wavelengths.online

This is the emulator to use. Delta, PPSSPP, and the rest are great, but RetroArch just supports so many consoles and offers every feature you could really want.

The only arguments I can see in favor of other emulation apps is that RetroArch isn’t great without a controller and it can be a little tricky to get setup. But I think most people would be better off watching or reading a guide and buying a Backbone One.

➝ Source: apps.apple.com

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for present-day Apple, there’s still a lot to be excited about in the world of technology. The following is an unordered list of things that I’ve been excited about recently. If you have any thoughts about the following items or have some tech that you’ve been excited about, I’d love to hear from you.

Old MacBooks

I recently purchased two 2015 11-inch MacBook Airs — one for myself and one for my wife. They can run up to macOS Monterey, which is still supported by Apple and by the vast majority of application developers. And if you’re willing to deal with potential pain points, you can use OpenCore Legacy Patcher to install macOS Sonoma on the machines as well.

I have Sonoma running on mine and it runs like a champ. Other than the non-retina display and lack of USB-C ports, these machines feel surprisingly modern.

Old MacBooks are also very easy to upgrade. In addition to the 2015 MacBooks that I recently purchased, I have a couple of older 2011 models that I’ve been toying with as well. The battery and storage has been a breeze to upgrade on these machines. I’ve put brand new batteries and 500GB SSDs in both and completed the tasks in less than ten minutes each.

Linux

An entire operating system, complete with its own selection of applications and features to explore. I’ve been doing so primarily through virtual machines on my work laptop, but I plan to dual boot Sonoma and Ubuntu 24.04 on my 11-inch MacBook Air now that this new long term support release is available.

The most interesting thing about Linux to me is the myriad of windowing managers. I can’t say its necessarily better than what we have on macOS, but it has plenty of innovative ideas that has me working a bit differently — using multiple virtual desktops never clicked with me on macOS like it has in Linux.

Self-hosting

There isn’t much that excites me more than being able to eliminate my reliance on a service controlled by someone else. I have three servers where I run various applications from my home office alongside a Linode and SiteGround account where I run services as well.

Plex and Mastodon likely get the most use from me, but I’m also a huge fan of Invidious, Miniflux, and Wallabag.

I’d like to self-host even more and should be doing so soon. I’m waiting on the arrival of an Umbrel Home. It should be here in the next few weeks. I have Umbrel running on an old Mac mini now, but it seems to bog down quite a bit when I have more than a few applications running on it. I expect the Umbrel Home should handle things a bit better.

Emulation Handhelds

I have a Retroid Pocket 2+ and a Retroid Pocket 3. Both of which are excellent devices for what they are, but I’d love to have something that features a bit more horsepower for PlayStation 2 and GameCube emulation.

I’ve been hemming and hawing over whether I want to get myself an Ayn Odin 2 or a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro. I believe both of them would be able to run the games I’m interested in, so it’s just a matter of which form factor is preferable to me.

I just love the idea of having a single device that can run all of the games from my childhood.

Emulation on the App Store

Apple updated their App Store guidelines earlier this month to allow for retro game emulators in the App Store. It’s still very early days and Delta appears to be the clear standout. It supports Nintendo systems up to Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS.

I’m still using AltStore for now, though. Delta is a great emulator, but it just doesn’t compare to RetroArch in terms of the number of systems supported. I expect RetroArch will eventually make its way into the App Store, but that will take some time. I’m sure there are some changes that will need to be made to the app to fully come into compliance with Apple’s guidelines.

I’m okay using AltStore for now, but I’m excited about a future where I won’t have to resort to hacks in order to run this type of software on my own device.

PC Building

I built a gaming PC last fall, with the goal of having it run Steam as a headless home server. I’m using one of these inexpensive display emulators and interacting with the system entirely through Steam Link and VNC — using Screens. With this setup I can play any PC game I’d like and emulate more powerful systems from any device in the house — most often my iPhone and the living room Apple TV.

For anyone curious, here are the parts I used for the system:

• AMD Ryzen 5600 Processor
• AMD Radeon RX 7600 Graphics Card
• 32GB of Crucial DDR4 3200 Memory
• ASRock B550M-ITX/AC Motherboard
• 2TB Crucial NVMe Solid State Drive
• 4TB Samsung SATA Solid State Drive
• Fractal Terra Mini-ITX Case
• Noctua NH-L9x65 CPU Cooler
• Corsair SF750 Power Supply

It’s not the most powerful thing in the world, but it’s more than capable of playing everything I’ve thrown at it. And since I’m streaming everything over Steam Link, I’m not all that concerned about playing anything at high resolutions — 720p or 1080p are more than sufficient for my needs.

But with this project, I’ve started paying attention to the world of PC hardware again. Primarily through YouTube channels like Gamers Nexus, JayzTwoCents, optimum, ozTalksHW, and more. This is an area of tech that I haven’t really paid attention to since the early 2000s. And, boy, does it feel fresh and exciting in comparison to Apple hardware.

Steam Link

How amazing is it that you can just play games from your PC on all of your devices? I can have Skate 3 running in RPCS3 on a computer in my home office and use my iPhone as a display and a Backbone One as the controller. Or I can use the television in my living room paired with an Apple TV and an 8BitDo Pro 2 controller.

Steam Link is to video games as Plex is to movies and TV shows.

There are definitely times when the bandwidth just isn’t there, but most of the time everything works smoothly. And I’m sure it will get even better if I actually work on running ethernet to all of our Apple TVs — a project that never seems to receive the priority necessary to accomplish.

iPods

I recently purchased an iPod from Elite Obsolete Electronics. It was a 5.5-generation model that I paid to have modded with a 128GB microSD card and a brand new face plate, backplate, and click wheel.

I’ve since toyed around with just about every feature the device has to offer. I’ve added Click Wheel games, played around with the Notes feature, setup a preset in Handbrake to convert video to a compatible format, and it’s been a blast all along the way.

There’s something nice about using an offline device. Something that, by its very nature, only has the content that’s on it right now. If I want something new, I have to connect it to a computer and sync. It allows me to be a bit more intentional about the content I’m consuming.

Currently, the iPod is my primary method for podcast and audiobook listening. Huffduffer is a great tool that I’ve been getting a lot of use out of for adding random audio files to the iPod.

I’ve also been using the iPod for the majority of my YouTube viewing. I download the videos with my Invidious instance, convert them with the aforementioned Handbrake preset, and then add them to the Apple Music app for syncing — I’ve found it to be a bit easier to add them to the Apple Music app as music videos rather than adding them to the TV app.