The Skyline emulator is an open-sourced emulator of the very popular Nintendo Switch.
However, the Skyline project has been terminated by the development team due to the fear of litigation from Nintendo. What this means is that this emulator would no longer get any support from the developers who have since moved on to other projects.
Where to get the Skyline emulator
If you want this emulator, you can get it online off their webpage. It is completely free to use and has zero ads. This app was built for Android so it runs very well. It is arguably the best Nintendo Switch emulator on Android at this point.
Recommend specs for Skyline emulator
The following smartphone specifications are very much recommended if you want to play Switch games with your Smartphone.
- SoC: Snapdragon 855, Exynos 990, Dimensity 1000+ and above.
- GPU: Adreno 640, Mali G77 MP11, Mali G77 MC9 and above
- OS: Android 10 and above
- RAM: 6 to 8GB
For best results, go with a Snapdragon phone as they are best optimized for Nintendo Switch emulation.
Support
This emulator supports game files in NSP, XCI, NRO, NSO, and NCA formats. It also supports Bluetooth controllers which in my opinion is the best way to play emulated games.
How to set up the Skyline emulator
- Step 1: Install the Skyline emulator
- Step 2: Create a Skyline folder on your internal storage
- Step 3: You’ll need Prod. Keys. This is a small file that is needed to get the emulator to run. You can dump it from a Switch you own or get it online. Cut it and paste into the Skyline Folder that you have created.
- Step 4: Launch the app and follow the onscreen prompts. Choose the folder you created for the prod. keys and emulator access for games.
- Step 5: Once the emulator is up and running, you’re going to need games. You can dump these from the ones you own, from the eShop, or wherever you like online. Just be careful not to download viruses.
- Step 6: Note that most of the time, games come compressed. You’ll have to decompress them before moving them to the Switch folder that you created.
- Step 7: If you do this right, the games should pop up on the app.
- Step 8: Pair a controller. Go to the settings, input, config controller #1, and map every stick and button. You can set the emulator to handheld mode for better performance.
If you run into any problems, are confused or get stuck, feel free to contact me using the comments below.
Conclusion
The Skyline emulator is a very stable emulator for Android that you’ll enjoy if you have a phone that matches the recommended specifications.
If you use a lower midrange phone (anything from the Dimensity 700 and below), please note that your phone would not be supported. Instead consider using:
- the DuckStation PlayStation 1 emulator and/or
- the AetherSX2 PlayStation 2 emulator.
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Dear Author,
I have difficulties in setting a controller on Skyline for Android. My device is Retroid Flip, it runs on android 11. Whenever I use Skyline, the only way to use a controller is by mapping to onscreen buttons. However, if I remove on screen buttons the mapped controller stops responding.
So I tried to map the controller manually in skyline. I can not do it, buttons are either not responsive or moving to one direction only.
I thought the problem may be related to drivers but I can not install them too – in Skyline I have a notification that the system I use doesn’t support drivers update.
Do you have any recommendations? I could of course continue using skyline with onscreen buttons, but is is very annoying. The screen is too small and yet is populated by bunch of buttons.
Thank you so much for what you do and for your time.
Best regards,
Roman
After a lot of thought, I finally figured it out. The Retroid Flip whilst it can run Skyline does fall some way behind the recommended specifications.
The Retroid Flip uses:
– Unisoc T618
– Mali G52 MP2
– 4GB LPDDR4x RAM
This is well below Snapdragon 855 and 6GB that was recommended. That’s the reason why you’re running into issues.