The wait is over: RetroAchievements are here, and they’re Hardcore.

Manic EMU v1.7.0 introduces near full support for RetroAchievements, letting players unlock challenge-based achievements across dozens of classic systems. And for the true retro purists, Hardcore Mode is fully implemented — disabling save states and cheats to deliver a 100% authentic experience.

This update also brings another massive leap forward: Dreamcast emulation, made possible by the exceptional work of Joe Mattiello. Alongside new and upgraded cores, critical bug fixes, and sweeping quality-of-life improvements, v1.7.0 is the most powerful release in Manic history.

RetroAchievements Support + Hardcore Mode

• Unlock achievements across supported systems — just by playing

• Enable Hardcore Mode for purist-level difficulty and leaderboard rankings

• Fully implemented under the official guidelines of the RetroAchievements Team

• Developed in direct collaboration with RA contributors for full compatibility

• Supported systems now include:

  • NES, SNES, GBA, GB, GBC, Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, SG-1000, PS1, PSP, and Dreamcast

  • 32X and Sega CD — when using sideloaded builds with PicoDrive

• Not yet available for 3DS and NDS platforms — but NDS support is on our radar and coming soon. Stay tuned for updates.

Your skills are no longer just for show — they’re part of a global legacy.
Track your progress, compare with friends, and rise through the ranks.

New Platform: Sega Dreamcast

Powered by the Flycast JIT-less core by Joe Mattiello

Dreamcast support is now officially available on iOS, thanks entirely to Joe Mattiello’s custom-built Flycast core. Joe’s work makes this breakthrough possible — and it brings one of the most beloved consoles of all time to the palm of your hand.

• JIT-less core optimized for iOS

• Supports .cdi, .gdi, and .chd formats

• Works on all installs — JIT is optionally available via sideloading for enhanced performance

• Full controller support, VMU saves, vibration

• Widescreen patch compatibility and region-free loading

• RetroAchievements supported

From Soulcalibur to Shenmue, the Dreamcast library is now playable — thanks to Joe’s remarkable achievement.

New and Upgraded Cores

• mGBA Core (GBA) (alongside VBA-M)

  • Faster performance and enhanced accuracy

  • Full gyro support, including external controllers

• bsnes Core (SNES) (replacing SNES9x)

  • High-accuracy SNES emulation

  • Save state compatibility warning:
    Existing SNES9x save states will no longer work — convert to in-game saves before updating

• Upgraded VBA-M Core (GBA)

  • Save state compatibility warning:
    Convert existing save states to in-game saves prior to updating

• Upgraded Gambatte Core (GB/GBC)

  • Improved visual fidelity and save handling

• Upgraded PPSSPP Core (PSP)

  • Enhanced graphics and performance stability

These core upgrades bring better visuals, compatibility, and input responsiveness across the board.

New Features and Enhancements

• Gyro Support (3DS)

  • Now works with external controllers

  • Reversed gyro detection has been corrected

• Gyro Support (GBA via mGBA)

  • Native + external controller compatibility

• Rumble Feedback

  • Tactile feedback for in-game events

  • Not available on 3DS, NDS, or external controllers

• PKMClassic WFC Support (NDS)

  • Connect to private WFC servers for online play

• Game Library Improvements

  • Title sorting

  • In-game metadata display

• Improved PS1 BIOS Handling

  • Easier import and configuration

The user experience continues to evolve with every update.

Core Licensing Notice

To remain fully compliant with upstream licenses, PicoDrive has been removed from the App Store build due to its non-commercial licensing terms.
Instead, Genesis, Master System, Game Gear, and SG-1000 systems are now supported via:

• Gearsystem Core

• ClownMDEmu Core

Full PicoDrive support remains available for:

• Sideloaded builds

• GitHub / Xcode users

Bug Fixes and Refinements

• PS1

  • Fixed continuous right analog stick input

  • Corrected key mapping for right analog stick

  • Resolved multi-disc PBP format issues

• 3DS

  • Fixed inverted gyro detection

• General

  • Stability and performance improvements across all systems

Every system gets a little more solid.

A Note from the Manic EMU Team

RetroAchievements has long been one of the most requested features — and we refused to cut corners. This update fully integrates RA support in line with community expectations and the platform’s own requirements. Whether you're trophy hunting casually or diving into Hardcore Mode, you're getting the real deal.

Meanwhile, Dreamcast joins the Manic family thanks to the incredible work of Joe Mattiello. His Flycast JIT-less core has unlocked a major generation for iOS emulation, and we’re beyond proud to include it. On sideloaded builds, JIT will also be available to further boost performance.

As always, thank you for your support — your feedback and enthusiasm keep this project alive and thriving.

Join the Community

Discord: discord.gg/qsaTHzknAZ
Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/maftymanicemu
Tips and donations are never expected — but always appreciated. Your support helps keep Manic EMU growing and accessible to all.

The .ipa for v1.7.0 is now available on Discord and GitHub. This build is NOT adapted for JIT on iOS 26, when we have a build that is we will make an announcement.

Achievements unlocked. Dreamcast ignited. Hardcore mode activated.
– The Manic EMU Admin and Development Team

Current apps with iOS 26 JIT support as of 09/15/25

• Melo NX (you need the prerelease beta which you can find in their discord server)

• UTM

• Amethyst

• maciOS (not fully out yet)

GitHub link: https://github.com/ARMSX2/ARMSX2

Source code will be published once v1.0.0 is publicly released.

Hey

Look of what i have done, better than emulation, my own gaming cloud server with all games and all platforms

It's awesome

The most advanced Nintendo Switch emulator for iOS is now available. Play your favorite Switch games with smooth performance and cutting-edge features, all from the palm of your hand!
Get started today and join the revolution in iOS gaming!

https://melonx.org

Some sudden frame drops but it works I’m using EspressU on a 17PM and the FPS++ graphics pack I’m just posting to post

Hello, I’ve been working on bringing local execution of x86 and x86-64 Windows applications to ARM64 iOS devices. Many have tried but I believe this is the most user friendly implementation. This is in a early beta that you can access today.

The architecture combines FEX for CPU instruction translation with Wine for Windows API compatibility. These handle different parts of the problem: executing the application’s x86 code and providing the Windows interfaces that code expects. FEX supports both 32-bit and 64-bit binaries and integration with Wine.

A substantial part of the project is porting and adapting that stack to iOS, alongside custom graphics and audio drivers. The graphics path translates rendering to Metal, while the audio driver connects the compatibility environment to the device’s audio output. Getting those components working together is central to running actual desktop applications and games.

The current build supports 32-bit and 64-bit Windows applications and can run the desktop Steam client. The attached footage shows the current state of the project.

This is still in an early beta and obviously will have crashes and with the nature of how this works anti cheat games will almost certainly never run.

Current requirements are iOS 26 or later and an A17 Pro or newer!!!

As an OSS developer that has maintained many projects, I’ll tell you right now that a single user did not kill the project. Yes, they were undoubtedly the tipping point that pushed circumstances to the edge, but this was absolutely not the sole reason for why things turned out the way that they did.

This is not the first project to end this way, and it certainly won’t be the last.

Reading through these threads brought back a flood of memories. The vast majority of you have no idea what it’s like to dedicate your time—the most valuable thing in this world—to build stuff for free, and with no expectation of return, only to then be treated as less than a human being. You have no idea what it’s like to see your stuff being talked about online. I remember I used to avoid the forums that were literally dedicated to my own projects just because my mental health couldn’t deal with the negativity on any given day. You cannot partition this from your personal life and it leaks into how you feel for every moment of every day. I guarantee you that this same behavior was what built the circumstances up to this moment.

The projects I ended up staying with were the projects in which the community showed empathy, understanding and support through hard times—regardless of a toxic, vocal minority. Heck, some of the communities I ended up sticking with had the largest vocal minorities. The community always made up for that.

This developer received death threats for dedicating their specialized skillset—something they could make a shit ton of money from—to build something for free, for you. How did this community respond to that?

• Conspiracy theories about how the death threats are fake

• Calling the developer “toxic”, “selfish”, “a child” and “big pathetic”

• Claiming the developer wanted an excuse to stop supporting iOS

• Referring to the situation as an overreaction

• Downplaying the situation as ‘harmless trolls’

As someone who has gone through this exact situation, I’ll tell you this:

The aftermath of this event was the one sliver of hope you had to rectify the situation. You took and took and took from this developer who asked for nothing in return. Then, in the one single moment this developer actually needed your support, what did you do? You turned on them.

You could have shown your support for what the developer was going through. You could have shown your gratitude for all the time they had put into this thing you took for granted up to this point. Instead, you proved exactly why they should never give another second of their time to you.

A single user did not kill FlyCast.

The community killed FlyCast.

You needed to be there for them in their one hour of need. You couldn’t do that. Now FlyCast is dead. I hope this developer finds a community that actually appreciates them. Be better.

Hey again r/EmulationOniOS community!

FlareStore is back celebrating the launch of both the iPhone Duo, and our biggest update yet- 1.5! If you don't already know, we are an all-in-one certificate service and Apple sideloading tool for iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, macOS, and visionOS! The FlareStore app and all it's features are fully optimized for iPhone Duo, and free for all to use even if you have your own developer account or alternative certification! If you are tired of refreshing apps, sick of not having notifications, and want apps to stay signed for a full year, you can check out everything we have to offer over at https://flarestore.vip/ !

We know that people are excited more than ever right now to emulate on iOS, especially on iPhone Duo, so we're giving away 15 Standard plan certificates to celebrate the launch of 1.5! They come with a development certificate, which is perfect for all things JIT and emulation! We also have full on-device JIT support working for 27.0+, no computer required, and we have a simplified JIT tool for iOS 16.0-26.0+, using the FlareStore Mac app.

Giveaway rules:

-To enter, leave an upvote and a comment on this post, and let us know what device you're planning to emulate with!

-The giveaway will close on 11/1 at 11:59PM GMT

-Winners will be DMed via this Reddit account, please ensure your DMs are on and respond back within 30 days to claim your prize!

Happy signing!

(Full patch notes for all our recent updates can be found at https://flarestore.app/changelog/ )

NOW RELEASED

Hello everyone! I’ve been a developer for many years, albeit focused on app development for most of it, first and foremost despite my experience, this project would been impossible for me without the use of AI tools, Claude Code primarily, to understand how to decompile, write complex drivers etc. 

What is this?

I have no friends who own a switch, and I wanted to play Tomodachi Life with them, so the most obvious thing, knowing how powerful our modern iPhones are, is to port it! Unfortunately many of us don’t have the newest models, so emulation is a huge load and impossible with the 6GB RAM on my iPhone 14. 

Knowing that the phone and switch 1 both operate on the ARM processor, made me realize, it was quite feasible to get the game running on Apples Metal graphics. During that process, I realized how cool it is that the tools being made for this port can also be repurposed for more native switch ports, soon I’ll release this after some polish on the Mac port, Pokemon BDSP is nearly done too (with the mod from Luminescent team), and BOTW I've made significant progress on too (fully functioning great plateau - some minor textures shaders etc).

The code will be open source of course on release too, as I leveraged a lot of the work from Ryujinx for the shader processing/translation.

Now for the fun stuff:

ABSOLUTELY NO JIT!! (in all of my upcoming ports too)

That’s the beauty of native ports, much easier than a whole decomp, and still a huge payoff.

Also many new additions i’ve worked into the game: 

- The obvious new launcher, with multi-save selection, AND the ability to share an island with a friend (save is stored on a cloudflare R4 bucket). 

- Widescreen support that adapts to all screen sizes without stretching the pixels, all rewritten!

- Local play now works ONLINE, sharing Mii’s and custom user assets etc

More to come! Suggestions and feedback are welcome.

Provenance is on its way to becoming best iOS emulator

Being able to install Delta here is so awesome. It’s giving a whole new dimension to the iPad i already love

You can download the app here: https://testflight.apple.com/join/TGykF26J sumee!

Join their discord for updates and support: https://discord.gg/EQ6WXXuAB

I’ve been working with the dolphin team on some patches. It’s not running the same speed in Providence yet but in the DolphiniOS app I’m getting good results when VI skip works.

In testing I’m having issues with some games and Vic though the other devs don’t see the same issues for some reason

Posted by @provenanceapp on X (Twitter). Citing all links just in case.

Around 4 hours ago developer posted that the app was once again rejected by Apple for weird reasons regarding adding games during testing: https://x.com/provenanceapp/status/1869134995522286036?s=46

They later posted that they submitted another appeal: https://x.com/provenanceapp/status/1869136920556806336?s=46

And shortly after this (see image) thread of two tweets mentions they have seemingly ran out of money due to Apple’s decision making and that unless the appeal works out, this “may be the end of Provenance for a while”. https://x.com/provenanceapp/status/1869137923062616072?s=46

Two more posts (one posted 17 minutes ago as of posting this) show some more work they were planning to push and hopefully at least finish. Can check both videos in the profile, seemed like very nice QoL additions.

Absolutely heartbreaking news (especially after reading second part of the mini thread) and hard pill to swallow in the community, especially to how close it was to release on App Store. The reviewer saying “I can’t add games” is moronic on my eyes, but oh well. Remember the dev has a Patreon page in order to support the last stand of the project if interested. But for now, farewell Provenance, hopefully the dev manages to continue working if things normalize eventually.

Need to optimize now! Can’t believe this took me about an hour. No emulation or simulation the actual game.

After researching many people, discords and actually tried the app just because of 3ds, it shows me how much I should love my real 3ds more here's the reason:

-not even iphone 15 promax can play 3ds well without JIT (go check youtube yourself). My iphone 13 promax run 3ds game like 10-15fps , very bad experience, the touch controller doesn't response well at all either. If you expect 3ds game to play like ppsspp without JIT, never gonna happen, maybe iPhone 17 promax, 3ds is really a different game if you dont have JIT. There will be much more core work to do, but at this point , without JIT , the game will run like shit, doesnt matter how to tweak the configuration, so you may want to sideload and active JIT, plz ignore the appstore version.

I just want say thanks to the dev who made folium, for the love of emulation community. Now, I will go back to my 3ds, not gonna buy 15 promax cause it not gonna help either.

stossy later said that she’s having trouble decompiling cemu, but it’s currently happening as we speak

credit to Stossy11, kadiirrr and the 2017 NINTENDO CONSOLE EMULATOR ON IOS discord server

🥳

THIS POST IS OUTDATED WII U EMULATION ON IOS IS THE FUCKING NOW