N-EMU v1.2.0 update
In-game saves while playing, shortcuts and ROM patches
In-game saves are written to files after a second without changes. Version 1.2.0 adds shortcuts, hold-to-rewind, a fast-forward button, ROM patches and display settings by system. Real-device speed and battery changes remain unmeasured.
Dates show when changes were integrated into the app and may differ from store release dates.
Integrated
Keyboard and controller shortcuts
Fast-forward, quick save, quick load and screenshots now have shortcuts. The default keys are Space (fast-forward while held), F (toggle fast-forward), F2, F4 and F12; on a controller, choose them in button mapping. Holding a controller’s Menu button opens the pause menu.
Hold to rewind
Hold the rewind key (R by default) and the game runs backwards; let go and play continues from there. Rewind in the pause menu steps back about a second at a time, and rewind recording can be switched on or off during a game.
On-screen fast-forward button
A fast-forward button now sits next to the pause button on the game screen. In the Gameplay section of Settings, choose whether it toggles, works while held or stays hidden.
Apply IPS, UPS and BPS patches
Choose a patch file on a game’s information page to apply it. The patched game joins the library as a new version beside the original and takes the patch file’s name as its title. The original stays as it was.
Titles and icons from the game file
Imported Nintendo DS and PSP games now take their full title and icon from the game file. For games already in the library, reread the file from the game’s information page; titles and covers you set yourself are kept.
Import RetroArch cheat files
The cheat list also imports RetroArch .cht files. Codes joined with + are split one per line, and RetroArch-only entries the core cannot read are left out after telling you how many there were.
Open the recent game from widgets and shortcuts
Tapping the recent-game widget continues that game directly. On iOS, Continue Recent Game in Shortcuts and Siri opens it; on Android, Add to Home Screen on a game’s information page makes a shortcut that opens the game.
Display settings by system, and effects from the pause menu
In the Display section of Settings, each system can have its own scaling, linear filtering and display effect. A value set for a single game still comes first. The pause menu can also change the running system’s display effect, and a Nintendo DS game can change its screen arrangement and swap its screens there.
Button layouts for a single game
Turn on Separate layout for this game on the button layout presets screen, and buttons moved in that game no longer change other games on the same system. If choosing a preset or resetting replaces a layout you edited, you can restore it from the same screen.
Rumble cartridges
GB and GBA games made for rumble cartridges now vibrate the controller, or the phone when no controller is connected. Turn it off in the Controls section of Settings. On Android, this feature uses the vibration permission.
Remove only the game file
When deleting a game, you can remove just the game file and keep its saves and cheats. Import the same file again to continue from those saves. The Android library now also marks games whose file is missing, and in both apps tapping one offers to import it again. On iOS, importing a new game with the same name as a game whose file is missing or has been reconnected under another name no longer mixes their saves.
Favorites and recently played
On the library’s game groups screen, show only favorites or recently played games. Recently played lists the game you started last first.
Games copied into the Files app join the library
iOSOn iOS, games copied straight into the N-EMU or ROMs folder in the Files app now join the library. The app moves each game into its system’s folder and lists the new games as an import result. On iPad, the instructions now say On My iPad.
Speed remembered for each game
Remember speed now keeps a separate speed for each game. A speed-up in one game no longer starts another game fast, and a game opened for the first time starts at 1×.
Use the file name as the title
A game’s information page can set the title to the file name, fixing a cut-off title in one step, such as a GBA game whose header holds only 12 characters. The iOS library grid no longer shows ---- for games without a game code.
Settings and icons that are easier to find
Settings search now finds tools in the pause menu, such as cheats, save slot management and screenshots. Accessibility moved to General. The library’s Display and Game groups buttons, and the tag and Google Drive backup buttons shown after selecting games, now have icons used nowhere else.
Library search that matches Android
iOSLibrary search on iOS now finds the same games as on Android. It also matches while a Hangul syllable is still being typed, when kana dakuten are left out, and when half-width katakana are typed.
Microphone and screen sleep in the Android pause menu
AndroidOn Android, a Nintendo DS game’s pause menu can now switch the microphone on or off. Keeping the screen on during play is released while the pause menu is open, so a menu left open can let the screen turn off, as on iOS.
Lighter game sessions on Android
AndroidTouch input and screen copies no longer wait while a save state is written or rewind is recorded. The file check made when a game opens uses the phone CPU’s SHA-256 instructions where it has them, and a large game such as a Nintendo DS cartridge is kept in memory only once. The difference in speed and memory on a phone has not been measured yet.
Integrated
Save settings after trying the preview
Try scaling and filtering in the display preview, or horizontal and vertical correction in the Nintendo DS touch test. Changes apply only when you save; canceling or going back discards them. No game file is needed.
Separate library search work
Prepared title, tag, and other search text is reused. Searching and sorting run separately from UI work, and an older request cannot overwrite the result of a newer query.
Paused rendering and frame delivery
Paused screens redraw when a new picture or display setting arrives. iOS protects pictures still in use by the GPU, and ares frame delivery no longer races shared data. Android removes an intermediate frame copy for Nintendo DS and PSP and avoids unnecessary rewind notifications when rewind is off.
Retry library startup and release cached images
If the library cannot open, retry without deleting games or saves. Storage calculations stop when you leave the screen. Cover caches are released when the app enters the background or receives memory pressure.
Separate save-sync responsibilities and prepare local measurements
Save-sync file handling and restoration code now have separate responsibilities. Sync still requires an explicit action and never resolves conflicts on its own. Optimized local development builds can collect on-device performance counters; no measured speedup is claimed yet.
In-game saves are written while you play
In-game save data is written to its file after a second without further changes. Before, saves were written only when the app went to the background or you left the game, so a sudden shutdown in between could lose recent saves. Opening the pause menu also writes any save still waiting.
Photo library permission for screenshots
iOSThe first time you choose Save Image on the screenshot share sheet, the app asks for permission to add to your photo library. Before, the missing permission text could stop the app.