TotK Native (com.aure.totk) runs The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom 1.4.3 natively on Android
handhelds with a Qualcomm Adreno GPU. It is not an emulator: the game's own code is prepared once, on your device, to
run directly on its processor, and its graphics are drawn by a bundled Vulkan driver. The app contains no game
files: you point it at your own dump of the game, and it builds everything it needs on the device. Then a
controller-friendly menu lets you pick graphics presets, controls and saves before you play.
- Features
- Requirements
- Install and first setup
- Performance
- Settings
- Saves and storage
- Dual-screen companion
- Known limitations
- FAQ and troubleshooting
- For developers
- Credits · License · Legal
What changed in each version: CHANGELOG.md. The full player guide, with every message and option: docs/android-install.md.
- Runs the game natively, at 30 fps or 60 fps, on one APK for every supported device.
- Setup on the device from your own files, by either of two routes (a decrypted dump, or the game files and your keys). Every file is checked before anything is written; a wrong pick is refused on the spot with the reason. Setup shows each step's progress, keeps going with the screen off, and can be cancelled and resumed.
- A pre-game menu made for controllers: Start game, Graphics, Controls & audio, Saves, Game data and About. + starts the game from any screen.
- Per-device profiles: the first start picks the tested preset for your chip (AYN Odin 3, AYN Thor, Retroid Pocket Duo); every option can be changed, and Y brings back your device's defaults.
- Graphics options: presets, 30 / 40 / 60 fps, render resolution, FSR 1 and Snapdragon GSR upscaling, FXAA / SMAA, shadow quality, handheld or docked mode, a performance overlay. Experimental: frame generation and a native-resolution HUD.
- Every option explains itself: the menu shows what each one does, with an illustration, its GPU cost and what it works with.
- Controls & audio: Nintendo or Xbox button layout, rumble strength on the controller (or the device), motion aiming from the controller's or device's gyroscope, audio latency, the game's language. The game's text prompts (naming a horse) open Android's keyboard.
- Saves: export and import (also from JKSV, Checkpoint, Ryujinx or yuzu dumps), automatic backups, an optional save folder kept in sync (for example on the SD card or a cloud-synced folder).
- Storage of your choice: internal storage (fastest), the SD card, or a folder you choose; the game data can be moved later.
- Dual-screen companion on the AYN Thor and Retroid Pocket Duo: status, map and inventory on the second screen, with item actions.
-
Android 13 or newer, 64-bit (arm64).
-
A Qualcomm Snapdragon / Dragonwing chip with an Adreno GPU. The game draws through the Mesa Turnip Vulkan driver bundled in the app, and Turnip supports Adreno GPUs only. The devices' own Qualcomm drivers lack the memory-sharing features the game needs, so they cannot be used instead.
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Storage: about 40 GB free during setup (the 17 GB game image plus your copied files), about 20 GB afterwards (setup says it needs about 19 GB; your copied files can be deleted once setup is done).
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Your own, legally dumped copy of the game, version 1.4.3, made from a cartridge or eShop purchase you own, on your own Switch. Either route works:
Route What you need RomFS + ExeFS dump (no keys needed) the 1.4.3 RomFS with the update applied, as one image file ( romfs.bin) or its split parts, for example from nxdumptool or hactool; and the ExeFS folder withmain,sdkandsubsdk0XCI / NSP + update + keys the base game 1.0.0 as XCI or NSP, the 1.4.3 update NSP, and the prod.keysof your own console (Lockpick_RCM). They are decrypted and merged on the device
Tested devices:
| Device | Chip | GPU | Android | Second screen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AYN Thor | QCS8550 | Adreno 740 | 13 | built in, companion on |
| AYN Odin 3 | CQ8725S | Adreno 830 | 15 | none |
| Retroid Pocket Duo | CQ7790S | Adreno 722 | 16 | built in, companion on |
- Download the latest
TotK-Native-<version>.apkfrom the Releases page and install it (allow installs from your browser or file manager). - Copy your dump to the device or an SD card.
- Open TotK Native and press Begin setup. Then:
- Storage: where the game data goes. Internal storage is recommended (fastest); the SD card or a folder you choose work too.
- What you have: pick your route.
- Choose your files with the file picker. Each file is checked as soon as you pick it; when everything is there, press + or Continue.
- Updates: choose whether to check GitHub for a newer app version when the game starts (On by default).
- Prepare: the game is built on the device. With a decrypted dump on internal storage this took about 1 minute 45 seconds on an AYN Thor, 1 minute 40 seconds on an Odin 3 and 3 minutes on a Retroid Pocket Duo. The container route also merges the base game and update: about 12 minutes on a Thor with the files and the install on an exFAT SD card. The optional second-screen art is skipped on single-screen devices; on dual-screen devices you can start playing before it is done.
- Choose graphics opens with your device's preset selected. Press + to play.
- Nothing is uploaded: your files stay on the device.
Step by step, with every message, the measured times of each route and moving from older test builds: docs/android-install.md. Export your saves before uninstalling: uninstalling removes them.
Measured with release 1.0.0 on each device's default profile, panning the camera in three places of the same save set (Lookout Landing is the inside of the shelter next to Monte). Each number covers 3–7 windows of 300 frames.
| Device · profile | Place | Average fps | Lowest–highest window average | 95 % of frames took at most | Frames over 50 ms |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AYN Thor · Balanced (30 fps) | Hateno Village | 30.0 | 30.0–30.1 | 38.9 ms | 1 of 1,200 |
| Lookout Landing (indoors) | 30.0 | 30.0 | 39.9 ms | 0 of 1,200 | |
| Rotsumamu Shrine | 30.0 | 30.0 | 38.9 ms | 0 of 1,200 | |
| AYN Odin 3 · 60 fps | Hateno Village | 42.1 | 33.9–55.5 | 37.6 ms | 1 of 2,100 |
| Lookout Landing (indoors) | 50.9 | 45.2–55.8 | 35.1 ms | 1 of 1,800 | |
| Rotsumamu Shrine | 59.9 | 59.9 | 19.2 ms | 0 of 2,100 | |
| Retroid Pocket Duo · Light (30 fps, 960 × 540) | Hateno Village | 28.2 | 27.6–29.0 | 46.9 ms | 22 of 900 |
| Lookout Landing (indoors) | 29.0 | 28.4–29.9 | 49.5 ms | 34 of 1,200 | |
| Rotsumamu Shrine | 29.9 | 29.9 | 37.8 ms | 1 of 1,200 |
Average fps is the mean of the 300-frame windows; the next column gives the slowest and fastest window. At 30 fps a steady frame takes 33.3 ms, at 60 fps 16.7 ms. These sessions had no GPU faults and no thermal throttling.
- The Odin 3 was CPU-limited: during this session its CPU clocks were capped at about 2.2 GHz (hardware maximum 3.5 / 4.3 GHz) by a non-thermal limit (performance mode off, a ClusterTune tile present). Its GPU needed only 13–17 ms per frame in Hateno and Lookout Landing, so an uncapped Odin 3 should do better there.
- Loading on the AYN Thor: the title screen appears about 12.5 s after launch from internal storage (19–22 s from an SD card), a save loads in 14–16 s (17–23 s from the card); frame rates are the same from both.
Method, temperatures, GPU time and caveats: docs/benchmarks/baseline-1.0.0.md; later runs: docs/benchmarks/LEDGER.md.
Every option is in the menu, changes apply when the game starts, and each one shows its explanation and an illustration when selected. On the menu: A changes, ◀ ▶ adjust, L / R switch tabs, Y restores the current tab's defaults for your device, B goes back, + starts the game.
The first start picks your device's profile from its exact chip model (each Dragonwing part shares the profile of its Snapdragon counterpart); the Recommended for this device badge marks it:
| Chips | Class | Tested on | Default preset |
|---|---|---|---|
| CQ8725S, SM8750 | Snapdragon 8 Elite (Adreno 830) | AYN Odin 3 | 60 fps |
| QCS8550, QCM8550, SM8550 | Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 (Adreno 740) | AYN Thor | Balanced |
| CQ7790S, CQ7790M, SM7750 | Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 (Adreno 722) | Retroid Pocket Duo | Light |
| anything else | untested | — | Light, without the badge |
In the tables below, Odin 3, Thor and Duo stand for these chip classes and Other for every other device. Experimental options (frame generation, the native HUD) are off in every profile.
Graphics → Performance: presets, frame rate, frame generation, render resolution, latency
Presets set the Performance and Picture options together (Screen and Controls are never touched; changing any option shows Custom):
| Preset | What it is |
|---|---|
| Light | For lighter GPUs: the game runs at 30 fps and draws its 3D scene at 960 × 540 with full shadows. The coolest and longest-lasting choice. |
| Balanced | The game as it was made: 30 fps at the game's own resolution with full shadows. |
| Smooth | The game runs at 30 fps and frame generation adds an in-between picture, so the screen shows 60. The 3D scene is drawn at 1152 × 648 to leave room for it. (Experimental.) |
| 60 fps | The game itself runs at 60 fps at its own resolution. Needs a fast GPU; busy areas can dip below 60. |
How often the game itself updates. 30 fps is what the game was made for; 40 fps is a middle ground. Smoothest on 120 Hz displays; on 60 Hz it is uneven. The app cannot override your display's refresh limit. 60 fps doubles the work for the processor and GPU, and busy areas may drop below it. 40 and 60 fps turn frame generation off.
Options: 30 fps, 40 fps, 60 fps · Default: 60 fps on Odin 3, 30 fps on Thor, Duo and Other.
Draws an in-between picture from two real frames, so the screen updates 60 times a second while the game itself runs at 30. Motion looks smoother; input feels about one frame later (about 33 ms). Needs 30 fps, and sets the latency.
Options: Off, Interpolation · Default: Off everywhere.
The size the game draws its 3D scene at before it is enlarged to fill the screen. Smaller is faster and softer. Game default lets the game choose, as on the console.
Options: Game default, 1280 × 720, 1152 × 648, 960 × 540 · Default: Game default on Odin 3 and Thor, 960 × 540 on Duo and Other.
How many finished pictures may wait for the screen. Responsive shows each one as soon as possible; Smoothest keeps one more in reserve to hide uneven frames, at up to one more frame of input delay.
Options: Responsive, Balanced, Smoothest · Default: Balanced everywhere.
Graphics → Picture: upscaler, sharpness, anti-aliasing, shadows
How the picture is enlarged to the screen. FSR 1 is AMD's edge-aware upscaler; Snapdragon GSR is Qualcomm's, made for Adreno GPUs. Off uses plain filtering.
Options: Off, FSR 1, Snapdragon GSR · Default: Off everywhere.
How much detail the upscaler restores after enlarging the picture. Too high makes edges shimmer. Needs an upscaler; each upscaler keeps its own value.
Options: 0–100 in steps of 5 · Default: 20 for FSR 1, 50 for Snapdragon GSR, everywhere.
Smooths stair-stepped edges. Game (FXAA) is the game's own filter; SMAA finds more edges and keeps textures sharper for a little more GPU time; Off is crispest but shows the steps.
Options: Game (FXAA), SMAA, Off · Default: Game (FXAA) everywhere.
The resolution of the shadow maps. Lower saves GPU time where many shadows are on screen; their edges get softer and blockier.
Options: High, Medium, Low · Default: High everywhere.
Graphics → Screen: console mode, native HUD, performance overlay, overlay position, second screen
Handheld runs the game as on a Switch held in your hands (up to 1280 × 720). Docked makes it believe it is connected to a TV: it draws at its larger docked resolution (up to 1920 × 1080) and needs more GPU time.
Options: Handheld, Docked · Default: Handheld everywhere.
Draws the game's menus, map and text at the screen's own resolution instead of enlarging them from the game's size, so text is sharper. Handheld only: docked mode always uses the game's HUD.
Options: Off, On · Default: Off everywhere.
A small readout in the corner of the screen. FPS shows the frame rate only; Full adds frame time, the render and output resolution, the upscaler and a frame-time graph. While playing, press − and then R quickly to cycle Off → FPS → Full until the game closes.
Options: Off, FPS, Full · Default: Off everywhere.
Which corner of the screen the performance overlay sits in.
Options: Top left, Top right, Bottom left, Bottom right · Default: Top right everywhere.
On handhelds with a second display, shows the map, inventory and shortcuts on it while you play. Needs the second-screen art prepared during setup. Only shown on devices with a built-in second display.
Options: Off, On · Default: On (where offered).
Controls & audio: button layout, rumble, motion controls, audio latency, game language
Nintendo: every button does what its label says, so A is A. Xbox: buttons act by position like on a Switch, so the right-hand button is A even though it is labelled B. Choose Xbox for gamepads with Xbox labels.
Options: Nintendo, Xbox · Default: Nintendo everywhere.
The game's rumble on the controller's motors when it has its own, otherwise on this device's vibration motor. Off gives the game no rumble at all.
Options: Off, 25 %, 50 %, 75 %, 100 % · Default: 100 % everywhere.
The game's motion controls (aiming the bow, some puzzles) from the controller's gyroscope when it has one, otherwise from this device's. The game's own options can still turn motion aiming off.
Options: On, Off · Default: On everywhere.
How much sound is queued before it plays. Low reacts fastest; Safe avoids crackling on busy systems and wireless headphones.
Options: Low (10 ms), Balanced (20 ms), Safe (40 ms) · Default: Balanced everywhere.
The language of the game's text and voices. Device language follows this device's first language when the game has it, and falls back to English otherwise.
Options: Device language, English, 日本語, Deutsch, Français, Español, Italiano, Nederlands, Русский, 한국어, 简体中文, 繁體中文, Português (Brasil) · Default: Device language everywhere.
Game data and About
Game data shows the installed game (verified against the 1.4.3 digests), where it is stored, and lets you rebuild the
shaders or the second-screen art, choose another graphics driver (a Turnip AdrenoTools .zip or 64-bit ARM .so, or
go back to the bundled one), run setup again (finished steps are kept) or delete the imported data (saves, settings and the driver are kept).
About shows the app and game versions, the build, the detected chip and screens, the licences of every bundled component and the project's home.
X on the main menu turns on Open the game directly next time; to reach the menu again, long-press the app icon and choose Settings.
When the game starts, TotK Native checks for a newer stable app release with one tiny HEAD request to GitHub, only when Android reports a validated internet connection. It runs in the background, never delays the game, and does not follow redirects or download a response body. GitHub sees the ordinary connection information (including your IP address), but the app sends no identifier, settings, saves, keys or game data. There is no telemetry. Offline, errors and timeouts are silent, with no retry during that game session.
The Updates setup step and About → Check for updates when the game starts switch turn checks off. The default is On, including when updating an existing install. Development versions do not check. If a new version is found, a controller-friendly dialog pauses the game: Update now closes it safely before downloading; Next time remembers the version and asks in the menu next launch, even offline. Downloads need a connection and can be cancelled. The app verifies the APK checksum, package, newer version and matching installed signing certificate before Android asks you to allow this app as an install source and confirm installation. Updating keeps your saves and game data; do not uninstall to update.
- Saves always stay in the app's private storage, wherever the game data is. Saves exports them to a zip and imports from a zip or a folder (this app's exports, JKSV, Checkpoint, Ryujinx or yuzu dumps), making a backup before every change (the newest 10 are kept). An optional save folder (for example on the SD card or a cloud-synced folder) gets a copy a few seconds after every in-game save; newer saves from the folder are brought in before the game starts, and if both sides changed you choose which to keep.
- Uninstalling the app removes your saves: export them first.
- Game data (about 19 GB) lives in internal storage (recommended, fastest), on the SD card, or in a folder you choose (that needs Android's optional All files access). Game data → Storage moves it later; the copy is checked before the old one is removed. FAT32 cards get the game image in parts automatically.
Details: docs/android-install.md.
On the AYN Thor and the Retroid Pocket Duo, the second screen shows Link's status (hearts, stamina, battery, rupees, equipment, sages and a minimap), the map with its three layers, and the inventory with every item under its in-game name and description.
While you play, items can be used from the second screen: equip and unequip weapons, bows, shields and armor; eat food and edible materials; drink elixirs; use fairies; take out a material or Zonai device (placed in front of Link); and, with the bow drawn, fuse a material to your arrows. Each tap does what the game itself would do. Buttons are greyed out with the reason when the game would not allow it: with the pause menu or map open, in cutscenes, while loading or saving, on the title screen, with full hearts, and for the actions not available from the second screen yet (energy-recovering materials and fusing Zonai devices to arrows).
Only a display built into the device is used; external monitors and cast displays are ignored. Turn it off in Graphics → Screen → Second screen. More: docs/companion.md.
Setup prepares the art only when a built-in second screen is present. If it is missing on a dual-screen device, Start game offers Prepare second-screen art (build it, then play) or Play without it (remembered for this install). You can prepare it later in Game data → Second-screen art, even on a single-screen device.
- Game version 1.4.3 only, from the two setup routes above. No DLC, online features or amiibo.
- Adreno GPUs only.
- Devices other than the three tested ones start on the Light preset and are untested.
- Shaders the shared list does not name yet are translated while playing, which can cause a short stutter the first time a new place is seen.
- Frame generation and the native HUD are experimental; frame generation is limited by the GPU headroom in heavy scenes on the Thor.
- From the second screen, energy-recovering materials and fusing Zonai devices to arrows are not available yet.
- Saves are removed with the app: export them first. Test builds signed with another key cannot be updated in place by a release build.
Setup says "A file does not match Tears of the Kingdom 1.4.3". The dump is incomplete or another version: use the 1.4.3 RomFS with the update applied (all split parts) or the 1.4.3 update NSP, then choose it again. Every check and message: docs/android-install.md.
Setup was interrupted or stopped. Finished steps are kept; Resume continues setup. On Setup stopped, use Share details before Resume to include that failed run's logs in a bug report (Resume clears them). It opens Android's share sheet with the error, device/build information and bounded, redacted setup logs. No game files or keys are included; nothing is sent until you choose an app. Missing logs are marked explicitly.
Home shows "Shaders not built". The game would draw nothing without its shaders: press Build shaders (a few minutes), then start the game.
"Game data is on SD card, which isn't available". Insert the card; the menu updates as soon as it is mounted. Or set the game up again on another storage.
The game stutters the first time I enter a new place. A shader is being translated; it happens once per new shader. See docs/shader-list.md.
Sound crackles. Set Controls & audio → Audio latency to Safe. Missing dialogue or music: see docs/audio-troubleshooting.md.
The menu says "The game stopped". The graphics driver lost the GPU or the game hit a fatal error. Your saves are
kept; progress since the last save is lost. The details are in totk.log; please include it in a bug report.
The game opens directly, without the menu. Long-press the app icon and choose Settings, then turn off Open the game directly next time with X.
Can I use my phone's own GPU driver or another Turnip build? Another Turnip build: Game data → Graphics driver.
Pick its AdrenoTools .zip as downloaded, or the 64-bit ARM .so inside it; Use the bundled driver resets it.
The system driver does not work (see Requirements).
- docs/architecture.md: how the Android port works.
- docs/building.md: building the APK from source and running the tests.
- docs/developer-settings.md: what the menu writes, and
totk.envdeveloper switches. - docs/companion.md: the dual-screen companion in detail.
- docs/benchmarks/: measuring performance against the recorded baselines.
- games/totk/android/README.md, APP.md, VULKAN.md, DEBUGGING.md: the full developer notes.
This project builds on the work of others:
- MacNativeGames by ly05010419 and its contributors (MIT): the native Tears of the Kingdom port for Apple silicon this project is derived from (runtime, Horizon host, rewriter integration, shared shader list, tests).
- kitcatkode/MacNativeGames: the Android port of MacNativeGames (Linux / Android runtime, Vulkan backend, first APK) that this Android project started from.
- D2R Mobile (MIT): the way of running Switch games natively, the NSO
rewriter (
games/totk/third_party/d2r), the Horizon host and the NVN graphics layer (games/totk/third_party/d2r_gfx) started as its generic parts; the translator front end too. - Ryujinx (MIT): the shader translator (
vendor/ryujinx: Ryujinx.Graphics.Shader, Ryujinx.Common, Spv.Generator) and the audio effect reference. - Mesa Turnip (MIT): the bundled Vulkan driver for Adreno GPUs.
- hactool (ISC, SciresM) with mbedTLS, cJSON and LZ4; Capstone (BSD-3-Clause); zstd (BSD-3-Clause); libwebp (BSD-3-Clause); libopus and libvpx (BSD-3-Clause); Noto Sans (SIL OFL 1.1).
- lsfg-vk-android (MIT), SMAA (MIT), AMD FidelityFX FSR 1 (MIT), Snapdragon GSR (BSD-3-Clause), deko3d (zlib), bcdec, the NVN API header by h1k421, nxnative, nx2android, LASRecomp-Android-Plus, TOTKRecompAndroid, texture decoders from texture2ddecoder, AssetStudio, mikunyan, bimg and Pillow, the .NET runtime (NativeAOT), SPIRV-Cross and LLVM libc++.
Every bundled component, its version and its licence are listed in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and shown in the app under About → Open-source licences. libvpx and libwebp also carry Google's patent grants (PATENTS files, included there).
MIT (see LICENSE). Third-party code keeps its own license: THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md.
You must own the game. Use this project only with a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom that you bought, and with keys and system files dumped from your own Nintendo Switch. This is an independent, non-commercial project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda and Nintendo Switch are trademarks of Nintendo.
The repository and the APK contain no game content and distribute none: no game program, art, text, audio, shaders or keys, and they do not help to obtain them. Everything the game needs is made on your own device from your own files. What the repository does hold is the information needed to make the port work: the patch code, the addresses and hashes used to check your files, and the shared shader list, which names shaders and bind states but contains no shader code. The game data the app builds is for your own use only; do not share it.