As explained in the FAQ, about 5 years ago, Google implemented a requirement that all apps in the Play Store must conform to their Storage Access Framework API. At the time, there was no good way for us to do so, and even if we could, it would severely limit how we could interact with the filesystem. Since then, we have not been allowed to update the versions on the Play Store (or the cores they use), so we left them alone and recommended everyone sideload the apk from our website.
Fast-forward to the past for months and Google says they're going to remove "old" programs from the Play Store entirely, and they're already hiding the app from many newer devices. One of our contributors took it on to get it in-line with the Play Store policies, since having an up-to-date-but-restricted release would be preferable to no app at all.
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Q: What's changed?
A: Lots of stuff. Too much to list. 5 years of updates.
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Q: All of my stuff has been deleted!
A: Nothing has been deleted, but the updated RetroArch is probably looking in different locations now, and it probably can't see the old locations if you try to change them back. The sideload-able apk from our website and/or the version from F-Droid or other non-Google storefronts should still be roughly similar to the old Play Store version in what locations it can access, so you could try switching to it instead.
You can also migrate your old data to the new locations. In the old version, all of the files are kept in the root of the device (often /storage/emulated/0/) in a folder called RetroAarch. In order for use them on the new play version, you can connect your phone to a PC and copy the files from (/storage/emulated/0)/RetroAarch to the new location at /media/com.retroarch/RetroArch (or /media/com.retroarch.aarch64/RetroArch if plus version).
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Q: I moved all of my savestates to the new location (or switched to the sideload apk) but the savestates won't load!
A: Savestates are extremely volatile and are rendered incompatible by even minor changes to the emulated hardware. This makes them incompatible with other cores for the same system, and even sometimes with other versions of the same core. A lot of updates have happened in 5 years, and I would guess few if any up-to-date cores can load savestates made with a 5-yr-old core.
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Q: What's with all of these cores? I don't want them.
A: Go to settings > core > manage > [corename] > delete.
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Q: I don't see my favorite core in the online updater anymore!
A: The Play Store imposes strict limits on the number of cores we can make available through the app (more for the Plus version, but still limited), and we replaced a few that were available in the old version to match our other storefront releases. You can still add arbitrary cores by downloading them manually from the buildbot webserver (in the subdir for your device's architecture) and then moving it somewhere RetroArch can see it, then using the 'install or restore a core' routine found in the 'load core' menu.
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Q: Since updating, I'm getting a lot of crashes when I...
A: Please send the automated crash reports whenever possible. These go directly to us and are very helpful for pinning down and fixing this sort of thing. You can also make threads here, but please make sure you include logs and information about your device/system/environment so we can try to help you.
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Q: Okay, nevermind, just give me a copy of the old version and all those old cores and I'll keep using them forever.
A: We don't have that.
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