RetroArch

RetroArch is a frontend for emulators, game engines and media players, made by the libretro project. On its own it runs nothing: each system is handled by a core, an emulator module that RetroArch loads and presents in the same interface, with the same controller setup and settings.

Games and BIOS files are not included

The libretro project says it doesn’t share copyrighted system files or games. You provide your own BIOS files and games, in line with the laws where you live.

Cores in this build

This is F-Droid’s build of the regular version, which has RetroArch’s core downloader: cores come from the libretro project’s build servers through the app’s online updater. That reliance on libretro’s servers is why F-Droid flags it NonFreeNet.

Google Play has two different versions. RetroArch there has no core downloader, in line with Play’s rules, and supports up to 50 cores, fetched from Google’s servers. RetroArch Plus needs Android 8.0 or later and supports 127 cores.

About this file

• This is version 1.22.2, from November 2025, signed with F-Droid’s key, so it won’t update a RetroArch installed from Google Play or libretro’s website, or the other way round, without uninstalling first.
• F-Droid built it from the commit that bumped the version to 1.22.2; the release tag on GitHub points to a slightly later commit.
• The 30.9 MB file has native code for ARM and x86, 32- and 64-bit, runs on Android 4.1 and later, and declares only four permissions.

Flagged by F-Droid:

• NonFreeNet: Relies on or promotes a proprietary network service.

CPU types in this build: arm64-v8a (64-bit ARM, almost every phone since 2017); armeabi-v7a (32-bit ARM, older and budget phones); x86 (32-bit Intel, emulators); x86_64 (64-bit Intel, emulators and Chromebooks).

Versions currently kept in the F-Droid repository. We host and check only the newest one. Full changelog.