Citra is considered one of the best Nintendo 3DS emulators on the desktop, and now the developers have released an official build of Citra for Android.
Previously, there have been unofficial attempts to port the 3DS emulator on Android, thanks to its open-source nature. Now, by going official on Android, Citra has become the first Nintendo 3DS emulator for the mobile platform. The best part about it is that it can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store.
Citra’s previous ports didn’t encompass all the features, but the official version brings an immersive Nintendo 3DS emulation experience — without any bugs or stability issues.
Developers have also published a document where they write that previous unofficial ports acted as bottlenecks for the development of an official build, instead of being a catalyst.
Compared to previous ports, the official version has several new features such as support for the microphone, native camera support, allowing users to input text with the Android keyboard app while playing games, motion controls, and a lot more.
Citra Nintendo 3DS emulator for Android is in the beta version, so users may rarely come across glitches. You can report bugs on Citra’s Discord server or their official forum.
The Android app requires a minimum of 64-bit Android 8 (Oreo) and OpenGL ES 3.2 support. The developers also recommend the device having a Snapdragon 835 or higher.
While the app may work on an average performing smartphone, users are bound to see frame skips and other performance issues. There is also a $4.99 in-app purchase to get paid features such as a dark mode, and texture filtering.
