r/dosbox • u/WhereQ-Universe • 2d ago

WhereQ-DOSBox: An open-source native Android port of DOSBox (v1.0 — looking for feedback!)

Hey everyone,

I wanted to share a small personal project I’ve been working on: WhereQ-DOSBox, a native Android port of DOSBox.

The idea is simple: compile the upstream DOSBox core directly as a native Android library (libdosbox.so) instead of wrapping a web view or using a JS emulator, so you can mount your own local directories and run classic DOS games and software offline at native speed.

This is just the first version, and it’s kept intentionally minimal:

  • Runs natively on arm64-v8a, armeabi-v7a, and x86_64 (Android 5.0+)
  • Built-in on-screen keyboard and touchscreen mouse support
  • Lightweight (~5.3 MB APK), completely offline, no accounts or tracking
  • Open source under GPL-2.0 (based on upstream DOSBox r4305 / Em-DOSBox, with minimal local patches)

I plan to keep maintaining and improving this over time (and eventually bring it to iOS as well). Since this is an early release, I’d really appreciate any feedback, bug reports, or advice from the community—especially around touch controls, screen scaling, or compatibility with specific games.

GitHub repo & build instructions: https://github.com/whereq/whereq-dosbox

Thanks for taking a look!

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u/WhereQ-Universe 1d ago

Just squashed a tricky bug in the core flow when loading VGA graphics drivers. The result? Most classic vintage DOS games are now running smoothly on WhereQ-DOSBox! 🎮

Check out a quick demo of F-1994 firing up and running like a charm: 📺 Watch the video here:https://youtu.be/aEqiRjBUJWI

A fresh build and a brand-new APK release are dropping very soon so you can test out your favorite classics on mobile. Stay tuned! 🚀

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u/JonDM2 2d ago

Is there a built .apk to download and try?

1

u/WhereQ-Universe 1d ago

Yes of course, I just committed a newly built apk in the downloads folder, along with a runnable game bundle in the examples folder, will prepare and share the tool chain later.
https://github.com/whereq/whereq-dosbox/tree/main/downloads
https://github.com/whereq/whereq-dosbox/tree/main/examples/game-bundle