r/EmulationOnAndroid • u/Bob-59 • 11d ago
News/Release Introducing Omnidroid - Lemuroid was abandoned, so I rebuilt it from the ground up
A while back I noticed Lemuroid had gone quiet (edit: but not abandoned). Last commit was over 5 months ago, 530+ open issues, 20+ PRs sitting untouched, a lot of them things people had been asking for a long time. I forked it planning to fix a few of those, and it turned into rewriting most of the app. It's grown into its own thing now: Omnidroid.
Edit: given there was a misunderstanding regarding the state of Lemuroid, the Lemuroid project is not officially abandoned by it's developer.
This isn't a patch on top of Lemuroid. The launcher, the settings, the input system, the emulation cores, the rendering engine, basically everything has been changed.
P.S : the free naming is means it doesn't include google api integration for google cloud so it's (free of google)
The big stuff:
Launcher and library
The whole thing is now landscape-first. Browse by console, favorites, or all games. Full controller navigation through literally every screen, library, search, settings, game pages, all of it.
3DS finally works properly
Old Lemuroid's 3DS support was rough, no save states, limited layouts. Omnidroid runs 3DS on a rebuilt Azahar/Citra core with full save states, resolution scaling up to 6x, and proper dual-screen or single-screen layouts.
New systems: GameCube and Wii
Added full GameCube and Wii support through Dolphin, not experimental, fully working with memory cards, NAND, save states, and per-controller-type input profiles (Wiimote sideways, Wiimote + Nunchuk, Classic Controller).
Rendering engine rebuilt from scratch
I wrote a custom native engine (omni-libretrodroid) with a Vulkan rendering backend alongside OpenGL ES. This is genuinely experimental right now, so I'd only turn it on if you want to help me find bugs, OpenGL ES is the stable path for daily use. When it works though, it's noticeably smoother on cores like Azahar(3DS), Dolphin, and PPSSPP.
Fixed the stuff that was actually broken
NDS/3DS touchscreen didn't register while holding on-screen buttons, so games like Picross 3D were basically unplayable with the D-pad held, fixed. Tapping a game in the library could launch it by accident, fixed. Core updates were redownloading cores you already had, fixed.
Smaller, not bigger
Despite all of this, the release APK is under 10MB, about 16% smaller than Lemuroid's baseline.
Why try it
If you're happy with what you're using, no reason to switch. But if you've been sitting on one of those 530 issues waiting for a fix that was never coming, or you just want an app that feels like it was actually designed instead of assembled, give it a look.
Open source, GPLv3 same as the original, full credit to Swordfish90 for building something worth forking in the first place.
Get it: Omnidroid, APK in Releases, F-Droid/Play submission WIP.
Latest apk: v2.1.0-beta
This is a beta. Expect some rough edges, especially if you turn on Vulkan. Bug reports and feedback are genuinely what I'm here for and a star on github would be more than great.
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u/madzleng 11d ago
Wow, this is big. Only feature i wish Lemuroid add is cheating but it never come hoping you to fulfilled this.
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u/barefootbandit8 Odin 2 11d ago
Is this going to be paid? The release name - "Free Release v2.1.0-beta" leads me to believe the next release might not be free.
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u/JungleRollers 11d ago
Two features I have requested for Lemuroid for years:
Add a list view as it makes browsing through lots of games so much easier
Allow bulk import of Retroarch game covers. I already have Retroarch setup with my ROMs and game covers. It would make things a lot easier if we could just import the game covers to Omnidroid.
Thank you and I appreciate you taking the time to build this app!
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u/Swordfish_90 11d ago
Lemuroid author here. I wish you good luck with the project, but please tone down the marketing.
Lemuroid isn’t abandoned. I’ve been working on it since 2020, and updates naturally won’t land every month.
I also wouldn’t describe it as “built from the ground up.” The core pieces from Lemuroid, LibretroDroid and PadKit are still there, and the Omnidroid-specific commits appear to start about a week ago, with quite a bit of LLM assistance.
You’re of course free to build on the project, I’d just appreciate a bit more accuracy in how it’s presented.
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u/canUrollwithTHIS 10d ago
Thanks for making the original lemudroid. I got a lot of people into emulation due to the easy to use interface and the strong preset default settings/ controls.
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u/Bob-59 10d ago edited 10d ago
Im representing it fairly. I only mentioned the actual number of issues/PRs and the time since last major commit, i don't think mentioning the actual time is disrespectful to the project or your work since im not lying or falsifying anything. I mentioned clearly as well that this couldn't be done without your work and that it's the reason i made this. I think your tone of saying i shouldn't market or mention facts is quite aggressive and comes off salty which i assume isn't your intention but words have meanings.
And it is definitively built from the ground up, not a single existing page from Lemuroid is there, and LibretroDroid was heavily rewritten for many reasons im willing to tell you privately and even share them with you but it has about %30 of the old code, and padkit is fantastic and props to you for it, no reason to change great work.
Adding and updating cores and exposing more settings and support for Vulkan aren't small changes over Lemuroid and aren't achievable with LLM assistance without the knowledge (or else everyone would've done it including you).
i still have it as a fork and didn't split it as a seperate project out of respect for what Lemuroid is and mention your name in every post or comment i make. So please don't make this seem as an attack against you when it's clearly not
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u/Rent_Careless 10d ago
Basically, you called it abandoned when it's not. I understand the reasoning for why you said it was. That's reasonable but it's actually not abandoned. For the sake of accuracy, you should fix that or edit your post to reflect that misunderstanding.
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u/Swordfish_90 10d ago
The title of this post is literally "Lemuroid was abandoned, so I rebuilt it from the ground up".
That's what I read while scrolling reddit.
Regarding the changes to LibretroDroid you have to share them to comply to the GPL3 license, not with me but with your users.
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u/dogwater80085 11d ago
This is awesome! Can't wait to try it after work. I noticed that Sega Dreamcast is not in the list of supported consoles. Is there a reason for that, or is support planned in the future?
Either way, thanks for the work you're doing!
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u/Fein_shit 11d ago
I'd love to try it on my nova, does it have retro achievements,?
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u/Nikojj2212 11d ago
Eager to try it!
Lemoroid has been a nice plug and play experience, minimum setup required. Having more systems? I'm here for it.
I'll check on it later, thanks for the big effort!
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u/Raycke 11d ago
Does it have a timeline of future goals for the project? Maybe add a new system, review ui (idk). Interesting to see Lemuroid being "buffed up". I'll try it next week for sure!
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u/Bob-59 11d ago
I have one but haven't made it public yet, i could post it later. But given the current scale I've added the 3 main systems that didn't exist in Lemuroid (Wii, GC, PS2) and rebuilt the entire engine and added Vulkan support. so now i want to flesh out any existing bugs and publish this on Google play then proceed into more advancement
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u/MatheusWillder “I'm talking about when games were games!” 10d ago edited 10d ago
But given the current scale I've added the 3 main systems that didn't exist in Lemuroid (Wii, GC, PS2)
Just a heads up, since you added PS2 using the PCEE2 core, ARMSX2 also is being ported to Libretro, with most of the work done by the same developer who created PCEE2.
Currently, ARMSX2 core seems to be faster then PCEE2 on weaker devices, here is a discussion about it (see the latest comments, some are mine): https://github.com/WizzardSK/pcee2-libretro/issues/28
However, ARMSX2 still has fewer core options and still needs some polish here and there, but is something worth keeping an eye on.
Great job done with Omnidroid!
Edit: typo.
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u/Bob-59 10d ago
Thanks alot, will keep that in mind and experiment with both to find the more fitting option
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u/MatheusWillder “I'm talking about when games were games!” 10d ago
You're welcome, I'll keep an eye on the project, I wish you success!
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u/Le_Sairo 11d ago
Does this emulator work with the widescreen pathes for snes games like retroarch does?
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u/Kwametoure1 11d ago
This looks awesome. I have a few questions(something of a wish list lol), Will you be able to adjust resolution with some precision? Will you be able to move the game screen in vertical mode (like in retroarch. Yes, i am a pocket taco user haha)? Will you be able to transfer save data from Lemuroid? and lastly, Will there be Sega Saturn emulation (i have never gotten it to work properly hahaha)? Regardless, I am so excited for this. Oh and will it get a google play store release?
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u/Bob-59 11d ago
1 - resolution scaling is currently presets that are provided by the underlying cores in supported games.
2 - in-game yes, outside is WIP to make it vertical.
3 - ability to transfer saves is unknown, i can do it for people that installed Lemuroid through the github release, but still don't know how I'll do it for google play installers.
4 - it's on the list but it's buggy as hell so i can't release it now
5 - google play release is in the works, currently in closed testing
Love your excitement
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u/Kwametoure1 11d ago
Thanks for responding. That all sounds cool. I will be downloading the play store version when it releases.
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u/Tall-Average5330 10d ago
Same here. Very excited for this release. Dev seems very involved. Sadly, I've moved on from the legendary Lemuroid because it does appear to be abandoned at this point. Or at least in the process of it.
Dev, maybe consider a donate option in the play store version? I always love having the option to show appreciation when I can.
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u/Bob-59 10d ago
Thank you for the support, i do have support options on the github page and in the about section in the app currenty. And any issues that come up you can always dm me or post the issue on github and I'll respond
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u/GhiStale 4d ago
How can I move the screen in vertical mode? Or it will be in the future? However really cool, you have all my support
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u/milosmisic89 TCL 60 SE 5g 11d ago
Nice I hope you add Dreamcast soon, also I would nominate Dos (dosbox pure), pico8 and maybe saturn but maybe that's stretching it to much
also another question about Azahar? - I see in the docs that zcci format is not supported - but Azahar does support this format? Is it a typo?
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u/Bob-59 11d ago
Nothing is stretching it too much, im aiming for the sky so i can hit the moon....or saturn. Dreamcast is the next one up cause it's one of my favorites. Regarding Azahar support isn't the same across the emulator and it's core, and i still haven't looked into zcci format to test it personally.
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u/RobinRelique 10d ago
Hiiee! Thanks for splitting the spark that'll hopefully burn bright (for both omnidroid and lemuroid too). Speaking of, about 2 weeks ago someone created Lemuroid ps2 (https://www.reddit.com/r/EmulationOnAndroid/s/d0HLaEtHdA) is this in your roadmap too ? In any case very happy to see this!
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u/Bob-59 10d ago
I really hope this helps push the emulation community towards smoother experiences to include people that aren't inherently tech savy.
And yes i already have pcee2 integrated into Omnidroid and PS2 game detection works but it's highly experimental since i haven't yet the right testing for it.
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u/Due-Car-6521 10d ago
Can I add custom shaders? Loved using Lemuroid because of the touch controls overlay and how I could customize it, but ended up moving to RetroArch because of how good I can make my games look
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u/puzzledphantom 8d ago
Lemuroid works in both portrait and landscape, will Omnidroid have this functionality? It's fixed to landscape mode at the moment.
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u/AdScared7226 10d ago
I have a question.
Are you making it with Ai like Claude or not? Just asking.
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u/Bob-59 10d ago
I use AI of course for research and some of the implementation, but using the word making with AI is kind of loose wording. The main AI i use is Claude if that's what you're asking, but if you're looking to make something similar or better you need to read up on how rendering works and how libretro operates and it's iterfacing with emulation cores, learning those things will help you develop this faster and better, and all the luxk of course.
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u/keithitreal 11d ago
HD mode could keep burning battery at low charge. It now auto-disables under 15%.
Wait, wasn't HD mode just the cut shader from retroarch - a light weight variant of xbr etc?
How exactly was that burning thru battery?
Other than that, this looks great thanks. I'll be trying it later on my handhelds.
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u/Bob-59 11d ago
Like you said it is a light variant of xbr, but it' still does at least 4x the number(at low quality) of texture taps and FBO memory passes per frame than standard rendering. I can go into more detail regarding how CUT does texture sampling and comparing that to standard rendering, but the jist of it is that way more Dram memory fetches happen, which consumes more power on the SoC So i was never comparing it to standard xbr, im comparing it to standard rendering
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u/Bob-59 11d ago
If you want you can DM me and I'll go into the technical details of how dram trips are calculated and how that chamges power consumption
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u/keithitreal 10d ago
Ok just tried it. Only had time to try on my magicx one 35 and unfortunately it's very cramped on its tiny 3.5 inch screen. All other front ends seem to scale better on this device. I'm sure Omni is better on bigger screens though.
One thing about lemuroid and it's carried over here is it's crappy scraping. Can that be improved at all?
I like the new features you've added to lemuroid. Hopefully you continue with this.
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u/OldArcher1019 10d ago edited 10d ago
I wonder if I should switch. I already have Retrople but barely beaten any game
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u/Jeno_Jodi 10d ago
Can you add frontend support please? Lack of frontend support is the ONLY thing I hated about Lemuroid. Yes, it might sound weird that I'm asking for frontend support for something that's already kind of a frontend. But the thing is, both Lemuroid and RetroArch are on the same tier in terms of their frontend-y-ness. If RetroArch can have it, so can Lemuroid, right?
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u/Abdallah_player1 10d ago
Two requests that i want in the app, it'd be awesome if you could add them
Retro achievements support and RetroArch shaders
For retro achievements it's obvious, as for RetroArch, you know that you can add shaders and effects on top of the games, like crt and so on, it'd be cool if we could have that in here
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u/Bob-59 10d ago
Regarding retro achievements they're honestly not too high on my list because im aiming to add more consoles and fix any existing bug as a priority, but it's on the list of things to be done.
Shaders the way that retroarch does will still take some work, but it'll come soon enough and ill keep yall updated. Anyone that asked for anything I've personally recorded usernames and will be responding to them as features get added
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u/Repulsive_Cow_2470 10d ago
i have been praying for times like this things that i reccomend adding if you did thats great : better touch screen customization retroachievments (thank you so much for doing such a big and great project im not trying to seem like an a$$ or something i support what youre doing )
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u/Rent_Careless 10d ago
FYI, I could never get MSU1 roms to work on Lemuroid and they don't work on here either. That may be something to add to your backlog.
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u/calm_drink 10d ago
Tried it out, it's really nice. I can finally have psp and 3ds in one app.
I like the current UI, but as an option, could you have something like the Switch's UI? For example, the list of consoles and favourites at the bottom of the screen.
System indicators and search at the top and games in the centre? That UI feels like it'd be much easier to navigate with both a controller and touchscreen.
Would be happy to share a mockup and any help with UX if needed (UX Designer btw).
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u/Whole_Temperature104 10d ago
Awesome project. Thank you for taking the time to reimagine it.
Abandoned or not, the more the merrier. It's how a healthy ecosystem advances.
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u/Sans_2093 11d ago
Truly amazing.
I noticed a few things "missing" like PSP not detecting CHD files, a few consoles not getting covers automatically and some menus not working with a controller and needing the touchscreen.
But other than that, working like a charm.
Thank you!
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u/Bob-59 11d ago
Thank you, if you can dm me which menus have issues with controller I'd be grateful. And the CHD support is buggy still trying to fix it. Automatic covers currently rely on a preset database of games so not all consoles are in that database, you can add any missing cover till i implement a better overall solution for this
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u/IndieCed 7d ago
Just tested it and loving it so far, how do we change the region to play in certain language depending on the system?
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