Sphaira is hbmenu alternative. It currently has feature parity with hbmenu (that is, launches homebrew + nxlink) whilst adding quite a few features.

---

HomeBrew​

The main menu tab, it lists all the .nro found in "/switch/". From there, you can launch, sort, delete, create a forwarder etc.
You can navigate to the other menu tabs using "L" and "R", explained below.

FileBrowser​

By pressing "L" from the main menu, you can access the file browser. You can Cut, Copy, Delete, Rename etc.
You can select multiple files / folders by using the "ZR" button and then se the above functions of that group of files.

Forwaders can be created if the selected file has a file assoc, see below for more details.

Appstore​

sphaira features an appstore, using the api from https://hb-app.store/switch. It can be navigated to by pressing "R" from the main menu.
The appstore is feature parity with hb-appstore app, as well as installing the manifests in the same folder as hb-appstore, in order to not break compatibility between the two.

Themes​

sphaira comes with 3 themes, abyss (default), black and white (unfinished).
custom themes can be added to "/config/sphaira/themes/", here is the abyss theme for example:

[meta]
name=Abyss
author=TotalJustice
version=1.0.0
; unused currently
preview=romfs:/theme/preview.jpg

[theme]
background=0x0f111aff
grid=0x0f115c30
selected=0x0f115cff
selected_overlay=0x529cffff
text=0xffbc41ff
text_selected=0x529cffff

icon_audio=romfs:/theme/icon_audio.png
icon_video=romfs:/theme/icon_video.png
icon_image=romfs:/theme/icon_image.png
icon_file=romfs:/theme/icon_file.png
icon_folder=romfs:/theme/icon_folder.png
icon_zip=romfs:/theme/icon_zip.png
icon_nro=romfs:/theme/icon_nro.png

music can be added to a theme, as long as the music is converted to bfstm format. simply add an entry like so: `music=/config/sphaira/themes/music/bgmusic_pcm.bfstm`

Forwaders​

sphaira can create and install forwarders for any .nro. It will use the icon of the .nro and the name + author.

It can also install forwarders for files that have a file assoc. For example, if mgba is installed and a game is located in "/roms/gba/game.gba", then the "Install Fowarder" option will appear. In this case, it will try to scrape the icon of the game, otherwise it will use the icon of the .nro and the name will be a combination of the .nro name and game name.

File Assoc​

file assoc is a way to associate file extensions (.gba, .nro etc) with a homebrew app. For example, clicking on rom.gbc that has an file assoc will bring up a list of all the applications that can handle it.
This can be used for emulators, media players, text editors etc...

custom file assoc should go in the folder "/config/sphaira/assoc/"

the format is *very* simple, here is an example of vgedit.ini

[config]
supported_extensions=txt|json|cfg|ini|md|log

and again for mgba.ini

[config]
supported_extensions=gba|gbc|sgb|gb
database=Nintendo - Game Boy|Nintendo - Game Boy Color|Nintendo - Game Boy Advance

"path": (optional) fullpath to the .nro. if not specified, it uses the name of the ini, ie, mgba.ini will use mgba.nro.
"supported_extensions": list of extensions the application supports, separated by |. plea
"database": (optional) name of the rom database to use defined by the left-side of this table <https://gist.github.com/ITotalJustice/d5e82ba601ca13b638af9b00e33a4a86>..

All of the retroarch cores has file assoc built into sphaira, so if you download retroarch using the appstore, and then navigate to "/roms/gbc/game.gbc", gambatte and mgba will be available to be selected.

Games can be kept in .zip format, sphaira will peek into the .zip and find the real extension and use that for displaying icons / file assoc.

Roms​

roms should be placed in "/roms/system_name/" where system name is defined by this table right-side entries <https://gist.github.com/ITotalJustice/d5e82ba601ca13b638af9b00e33a4a86>.
this is the same layout emulation station uses. the reason for forcing roms to be in specific folders is due to many roms for different systems using the same file extension, ie, .bin / .cue or .chd.

roms placed in subfolders are allowed, for example "/roms/psx/scooby-doo/scooby-doo.bin" is valid.

Themezer​

themes can be browsed and download by going Menu Options -> Misc -> Themezer. Themes will be downloaded to "/themes/sphaira/Theme Name - By Author/".
To install themes, launch "NXThemes Installer" and browse to the selected folder listed above.

Nxlink​

For homebrew developers, nxlink is built into sphaira. You do not have to press any special buttons, just do "nxlink *.nro" and send your nro like normal, console logging works to be using "nxlink -s *.nro"
By default, this is enabled in the background, to disable it: Menu Options -> Network -> Nxlink.

---

That's most of the features spahira has. If you enjoy it so much that you'd rather it be launched over regular hbmenu, you can enable the option in "Menu Options -> Replace hbmenu on exit" where it will do just that. It will create a backup of hbmenu in "/switch/hbmenu.nro" should you wish to swap back.

Releases: https://github.com/ITotalJustice/sphaira/releases/
Bleeding-edge Releases: https://github.com/ITotalJustice/sphaira/actions
Source Code: https://github.com/ITotalJustice/sphaira

 

[Earthshine]

@TotalJustice What does the option "Disable erpt_reports" do? Does it prevent Atmosphere from writing to the erpt_reports folder even when not using Sphaira? Or is it for only preventing the reports when Sphaira is in use?

 

[Deleted member 413168]

@TotalJustice What does the option "Disable erpt_reports" do? Does it prevent Atmosphere from writing to the erpt_reports folder even when not using Sphaira? Or is it for only preventing the reports when Sphaira is in use?

That's not in the release build. I'd recommend against using sphaira from source as things often get broken.

Yes it blocks reports from being written.

 

[Earthshine]

That's not in the release build. I'd recommend against using sphaira from source as things often get broken.

Yes it blocks reports from being written.

That's a nice feature. I only used source from actions because of "bleeding edge" comment in the op. I'll go back to release build if using source could cause problems.

 

[autumns]

i'm trying to use the github downloader function with chiaki-ng, which only has switch builds in its weekly pre-releases. these don't show up with my current chiaki-ng.json:

{
    "url": "https://github.com/streetpea/chiaki-ng",
    "assets": [
        {
            "name": "chiaki-ng.nro",
            "path": "/switch/chiaki-ng/chiaki-ng.nro"
        }
    ]
}

is there a way to make sphaira recognize pre-release releases?

 

[Deleted member 413168]

i'm trying to use the github downloader function with chiaki-ng, which only has switch builds in its weekly pre-releases. these don't show up with my current chiaki-ng.json:

{
    "url": "https://github.com/streetpea/chiaki-ng",
    "assets": [
        {
            "name": "chiaki-ng.nro",
            "path": "/switch/chiaki-ng/chiaki-ng.nro"
        }
    ]
}

is there a way to make sphaira recognize pre-release releases?

Yes I can look into that. I could add the option to show all releases, rather than just latest (which hides pre release, that's what GitHub API does).

Post automatically merged: Jul 21, 2025

i'm trying to use the github downloader function with chiaki-ng, which only has switch builds in its weekly pre-releases. these don't show up with my current chiaki-ng.json:

{
    "url": "https://github.com/streetpea/chiaki-ng",
    "assets": [
        {
            "name": "chiaki-ng.nro",
            "path": "/switch/chiaki-ng/chiaki-ng.nro"
        }
    ]
}

is there a way to make sphaira recognize pre-release releases?

Can you try the build from here https://github.com/ITotalJustice/sphaira/actions/runs/16415998142

It should show all (well, the last 30) releases available as well as the date it was published.

 

[autumns]

Yes I can look into that. I could add the option to show all releases, rather than just latest (which hides pre release, that's what GitHub API does).

Post automatically merged: Jul 21, 2025

Can you try the build from here https://github.com/ITotalJustice/sphaira/actions/runs/16415998142

It should show all (well, the last 30) releases available as well as the date it was published.

sorry just tested this now, seems to work perf for my use case, thanks!

 

[Earthshine]

Can someone please explain the install option "Convert to common ticket"? What it does, why it's enabled by default, and what the pros/cons of having it enabled vs disabled are. Thank you.

@TotalJustice sphaira used to be hidden last time I was using it often. but using latest version it is no longer hidden and is taking up a space. i saw no option to hide it in app settings and did not see a hide option in the config ini. is there a way to have it hidden again?

 

[Deleted member 413168]

Can someone please explain the install option "Convert to common ticket"? What it does, why it's enabled by default, and what the pros/cons of having it enabled vs disabled are. Thank you.

@TotalJustice sphaira used to be hidden last time I was using it often. but using latest version it is no longer hidden and is taking up a space. i saw no option to hide it in app settings and did not see a hide option in the config ini. is there a way to have it hidden again?

It converts a personalised ticket to a fake common ticket. It's enabled by default because if you want to install a game that has a personalised ticket and want to keep the personalised ticket, you would just use the eshop instead. Its optional however because someone will inevitable ask to make it optional.

You can hide sphaira via the homebrew sort options. This has not been changed in any update.

 

[Earthshine]

It converts a personalised ticket to a fake common ticket. It's enabled by default because if you want to install a game that has a personalised ticket and want to keep the personalised ticket, you would just use the eshop instead. Its optional however because someone will inevitable ask to make it optional.

You can hide sphaira via the homebrew sort options. This has not been changed in any update.

I didn't think of looking in the sorting options and the explanation on the ticket option helps. Thank you.

 

[Deleted member 413168]

I didn't think of looking in the sorting options and the explanation on the ticket option helps. Thank you.

I have thought about changing the option tbh, for example extending it further to hide other homebrew. The latter isn't that useful, however it can be used to hide "problematic" homebrew when taking a screenshot.

This is what i had so far.

The "hide" options now take effect immediately, like how it works in the filebrowser.

 

[ldeveraux]

In an effort to completely replace dbi, is there a way to clean the system. they have a 'clean orphaned files' tool that works pretty well, anything like that for sphaira?

 

[browntigerz]

deleted

 

[Tom Jones]

github repo still up there with the code and releases...but not sure what's going on here.

 

[Reploid]

github repo still up there with the code and releases...but not sure what's going on here.

another great mistery

 

[Earthshine]

deleted

github repo still up there with the code and releases...but not sure what's going on here.

another great mistery

Username change?

 

[Blythe93]

Sad to see him gone from here, does anyone know what happened?

 

[OrGoN3]

Sad to see him gone from here, does anyone know what happened?

He deleted his account.

 

[NotUsingAnAltAccount]

Oh my God, no!

ITotalJustice if you read this, thank you! Thank you for everything and especially for Sphaira

 

[Blythe93]

He deleted his account.

Any specific reason for that?

 

[XenoFredo]

Sad to see him gone from here, does anyone know what happened?

Nintendo got to him, it's over.