OpenEmux
OpenEmux
Your retro collection,
ready to play.
Add the games you own. OpenEmux sorts them by console, with covers, on Linux, Windows and Android.
What's new in this version ↓ ▶ Watch the video (44 s)
Free and open source · MIT licensed · AppImage, .deb, .rpm & Flatpak on Linux · installer & portable ZIP on Windows · APK on Android (GPLv3)
Inspired by OpenEmu for macOS, but not a fork: a separate codebase with RetroArch as the emulation backend. More about that.
A big library that stays fast, and your games before the downloads.
OpenEmux 1.23.4 is about speed, on desktop and Android, and about the moments where the app used to leave you guessing.
- A big library, fast. With 3000 games, “All” opens in under a second instead of three, and the app holds close to half the memory.
- Your games before the downloads. Pick your ROM folder and the library opens; a console’s emulator comes down the first time you play it. A launch shows “Starting…”, and then how long you played.
- Recently played, game details and TV mode. Resume where you left off, find a game’s core, shader, saves and play time in one place, and play from the couch with F11 or the Guide button.
- Android: smaller, faster, and pause with the pad. The APK is smaller and starts in about half the time, and holding Start on a controller opens the pause menu.
- Pick your ROM folder.
- Your games show up at once.
- Play, and its emulator comes down.
Earlier releases
- 1.23.3 Pick the shape of each on-screen button on Android, with rounded triangles and a pressed look.
- 1.23 Anchor mode and combo buttons for the on-screen controls on Android: games that need two buttons at once can be played on glass.
- 1.22 Change and edit the skin from the pause menu, save states with their whole picture, and keep playing while a game arrives.
From one device to another.
On the same Wi-Fi, send a game from your computer to your phone, or back. No account, no cloud, no cable.
Every console, as cartridges.
Each console has a page with its games on their own cartridges. Switch to covers or a list when you like.
Games shown are fictional and for illustration only. They are not real games for these consoles, and their artwork was created with AI.
A controller for each console.
On Android, every console has its own on-screen controller, in portrait and in landscape. Connect a gamepad and it steps aside.
Games shown are fictional and for illustration only. They are not real games for these consoles, and their artwork was created with AI.
Android 8 or newer, 64-bit (arm64). The Android app is a fork of RetroArch, so it is licensed under the GPLv3; its source is at openemux-android.
Each game on its console's cartridge
In the cartridge view, the games you added show up with their label art on the cartridge of their console. The cartridges below are an example of that view.
Installing
There are packages for Debian, Ubuntu and Fedora, an AppImage, a Flatpak, an installer for Windows and an APK for Android. On first launch OpenEmux sets up the rest.
Linux
Sandboxed, auto-updating
Install RetroArch from Flathub:
flatpak install -y flathub org.libretro.RetroArchAdd the OpenEmux repository and install OpenEmux:
flatpak remote-add --if-not-exists --no-gpg-verify \ openemux https://guilhermefeitosa66.github.io/openemux-flatpak/repo flatpak install -y openemux io.github.guilhermefeitosa66.OpenEmuxUpdates arrive with
flatpak update.
Installing the downloaded bundle instead? After step 1, run:
flatpak install -y ./OpenEmux-*.flatpakAny distro
Download it with the button above.
Make it executable and run it:
chmod +x OpenEmux-*-x86_64.AppImage ./OpenEmux-*-x86_64.AppImageNo FUSE? Prefix with
APPIMAGE_EXTRACT_AND_RUN=1.
Debian / Ubuntu
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS or newer.
Download it with the button above.
Install it from the folder it was saved to:
sudo apt install ./openemux_*_amd64.deb
Fedora
Fedora 40 or newer.
Download it with the button above.
Install it from the folder it was saved to:
sudo dnf install ./openemux-*.x86_64.rpm
Windows Beta
Both builds carry GTK 4, the Python runtime and RetroArch itself, so there is nothing to install alongside them. Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. It is new — if something misbehaves, open an issue.
The usual way
Download it with the button above.
Run
OpenEmux-*-setup.exeand follow the installer.Installs for your user only, so no administrator prompt. The builds are not code-signed yet: SmartScreen will warn, and More info → Run anyway gets past it.
Nothing installed
Download it with the button above.
Unzip it anywhere and run
OpenEmux.exefrom theOpenEmux\folder inside. Settings, library, saves and covers stay in itsdata\folder and nothing goes to your user profile, so it works from a USB stick. Moving the folder to another drive letter or place keeps everything.
Android
The APK is not on the Play Store yet: download it from Releases and allow your browser or file manager to install apps when Android asks. Android 8 or newer, 64-bit.
Install the APK
Download it with the button above.
Open the downloaded file and confirm. Updates are installed the same way, over the previous version.
Let it download the cores
The first time it opens, the app downloads the emulator cores. Then put your ROMs in Import, or in Android/data/com.openemux.mobile/files/roms on the phone.
Verify your download
Every release ships a SHA256SUMS file. Put it next to the artifact you downloaded and run:
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missingOK means the file is exactly what was published. Anything else means it is corrupt or tampered with — don't run it.
On Windows, PowerShell prints the hash and you compare it by eye with the matching line in SHA256SUMS:
Get-FileHash .\OpenEmux-*-setup.exe -Algorithm SHA256All files on the Releases page →
Prefer building it yourself? make bootstrap && make run — see the build instructions.
Everything else
Built on RetroArch
Under the hood, the emulation is done by RetroArch. It is powerful, but its menus and settings can be a lot for someone who just wants to play. OpenEmux takes care of what is around it: organizing your games, downloading the cores, and setting up controls and shaders.
Your games, by console
The games you add are grouped by console, with cover art downloaded from the libretro thumbnail archive.
Ready on first launch
The first time it opens, OpenEmux creates its configuration and downloads the cores your consoles need, usually in about ten seconds. The rest keep downloading in the background.
Controls per console
Set keyboard and gamepad buttons for each console in one panel. OpenEmux passes them to RetroArch when a game starts.
Shaders per console
Choose a CRT or scanline shader for each console from a short list, without going through RetroArch's shader menu.
BIOS checklist
Shows which BIOS files each console needs and which ones you already have, so a missing file does not end up as a game that silently fails to start.
Linux first
Linux is OpenEmux's main platform. The app is built with GTK4 and Adwaita, follows the GNOME guidelines, and every change is tested on Linux first. Windows is supported too, with a build still in beta.
A skin for every console
Each of the 31 consoles has its own on-screen controller, laid out like the original pad, in portrait and in landscape. A strip under the picture saves, loads, turns on turbo and speeds the game up.
Cartridges and covers
Games show up as cartridges with their labels, or as covers and a list. The shelves can be put in any order.
Ready after one download
The app does not carry the cores: the first time it opens, it downloads the ones every console needs from the RetroArch buildbot, with the system files PSP and GameCube use.
Gamepad too
Connect a controller and the on-screen skin steps aside: the game takes the whole screen, and the menus follow the D-pad and buttons.
Light and dark
Follows the phone's theme, or pick one in Settings.
Eight languages
The same languages as the desktop app, following the phone or chosen in Settings.
RetroAchievements
Sign in once in Settings and every game unlocks achievements on your RetroAchievements profile, with hardcore mode when you want it.
Play the games you own
OpenEmux is a frontend for RetroArch, made so that someone who just wants to play does not have to learn RetroArch's menus first. It is not a source of games: it ships no games, no ROMs and no BIOS files, and never will.
- Use only content you legally own. Dump your own cartridges and discs, or use backups of games you purchased.
- Piracy isn't what this is for. Downloading copyrighted games you don't own is illegal in most countries.
- Emulation helps preserve history. A lot of gaming's art, music and design lives on aging hardware. Keeping it playable is worthwhile, and it works best when it respects the people who made these games.
31 systems
Each system runs on RetroArch's own cores, and has its own cover art, controls and shader settings in OpenEmux.
Inspired by OpenEmu, powered by RetroArch
OpenEmux is inspired by OpenEmu, the emulator frontend for macOS. OpenEmu only runs on macOS, so OpenEmux tries to offer something similar on Linux, and now on Windows too. It is not a fork and shares no code with OpenEmu: it is a separate codebase in Python, GTK 4 and libadwaita, and the emulation itself comes from the RetroArch and libretro projects. The console icons are OpenEmu's artwork, credited under OpenEmu's BSD license. The Android app is an independent design (there is no OpenEmu for phones). OpenEmux is not affiliated with or endorsed by the OpenEmu Team. None of this would exist without the work of all these projects. ❤️
OpenEmux is free software
It is free to use, and the code is open under the MIT license. If you would like to help, bug reports, translations, code and ideas are always welcome. On r/OpenEmux you can ask for help, share your setup or follow what is being worked on.