Emulation has really come into its own over the past few years, thanks to a resourceful development community. Right along with it, we’ve seen a host of new Android-based emulation and retro game devices that can take advantage of these software marvels. Of course, you can also just use those emulators on your Android phone or tablet — no special handheld needed. It shouldn’t come as a surprise, then, that you can play Nintendo Switch games on your Android phone with the help of the appropriate emulator. You can even run some of the essential apps that exist for Nintendo Switch players.
It’s important to point out that retro emulation, in general, is a contentious practice, because while the emulation itself is legal (for now, at least), downloading or distributing game ROMs — the images or files of the games — infringes upon copyright laws and is illegal. But emulation doesn’t equal piracy, and emulators are not illegal if they do not contain copyrighted code and you’re emulating your own media, such as game backups. However, Nintendo took the stance that emulation itself is unlawful in its lawsuit against Yuzu, a now-defunct Switch emulator. Since winning that lawsuit, the fate of emulation in general is up in the air. Interestingly, arguably the best place to start with emulators is through a fork of Yuzu, Eden, which is like an offshoot of the original software.
How to play Nintendo Switch games on your Android phone
The open-source Nintendo Switch emulator Eden is a great place to start your emulation journey. Available on GitHub, and the official website, you’ll need to install the application on your device from your preferred source and complete some initial setup to get it running optimally. You’ll see three versions available if you download Eden from GitHub, and you’ll most likely want to go with the Android Standard version. However, if you have an older device running an Adreno 6xx chipset, then go with Android Legacy.
Before you can play any games, you’ll also need the latest Nintendo Switch firmware file, as well as a prod.keys file, specific to each Switch console, the latter of which acts like an encryption key to decrypt games before running. Unfortunately, we cannot provide you with links to either of these files. But you’ll want to use at least version 19.0.1, and the firmware and key versions must match.
Once you have those files, transfer them to a storage location on your Android device — and make sure you remember where they are. It’s best to keep everything related to Eden in a named folder, either on internal storage or an external SD card. When you first open Eden, you’ll be asked to give it device permissions, related to nearby devices, so select Allow. Then, Get Started > Grant Permission (for notifications) > Allow. Next, you’ll be asked to select the storage location for the prod.keys and firmware files. Finally, you’ll need to add games to play, or rather specify the directory where you’ve stored your Nintendo Switch game images. After that, you can start playing. Now you can get some use out of that old Android tablet.
What to know about playing Nintendo Switch games on your Android phone
The game’s performance is largely going to depend on how powerful your Android phone is, along with its hardware like the CPU, GPU, and RAM. Handhelds will likely run better than most old phones, but it will still depend on the hardware inside. That’s not to say older Android phones cannot run emulators or Eden, but you may have mixed results in terms of the experience. Obviously, the latest Android phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S25 series, should provide good quality and high performance for most games.
Moreover, Eden may require further tinkering to get some games to work optimally, and in some cases, to get them to work altogether. The best place to find solutions to any problems you’re having is to engage with the emulation community. The Eden website lists several places where you can go to discuss your experiences, ask questions, and learn from others. Plus, depending on your interest, your retro gaming journey doesn’t have to end here. There are emulators for many older systems available; a great example is Retroarch, which can turn your Apple TV into a Nintendo 64 emulator. Retroarch can actually emulate many other systems, too. Let the games begin.
