Gaming on Android has taken huge steps in recent years. Going beyond the more casual free to play titles that do well in the Play Store, we've seen phones and dedicated systems able to emulate 3DS, Switch, and more recently even Wii U games. That isn't where it stops though, with PC game emulation becoming more and more mainstream. Originally only available via apps like Winlator that required huge amounts of tweaking and DRM-free titles to be installed, Android users are now able to make use of simple frontends to access their existing PC gaming library.

GameNative is my personal app of choice for this, providing a clean interface that not only lets you access your Steam library, but also syncs your cloud saves to make the experience as seamless as possible. If there was one thing holding it back, it was that it didn't support achievements. At least until version 0.8.1 launched at the end of last week. Along with a slurry of bug fixes, GameNative users will now be able to unlock achievements as if playing on a standard PC setup, with these syncing to your Steam account without issue. With this ultimately still being emulation on Android, not every game is going to work perfectly, but it's a free to download app that you'll likely be surprised with if you do decide to give it a shot.

The full changelog, as well as the APK installable, can be found on their GitHub releases.

GameNative Download

 

[Scarlet]

Or just let people enjoy things the way they want to. People like checklists

It’s a weird thing. I do like them on some games because it encourages me to look at aspects I might have otherwise overlooked. Having said that, I do also like playing games on Nintendo platforms that don’t have achievements because I find it easier to call a game complete at an arbitrary point, as opposed to having a pre determined list of achievements say so.

Both can be nice.

 

[SecureBoot]

It’s a weird thing. I do like them on some games because it encourages me to look at aspects I might have otherwise overlooked. Having said that, I do also like playing games on Nintendo platforms that don’t have achievements because I find it easier to call a game complete at an arbitrary point, as opposed to having a pre determined list of achievements say so.

Both can be nice.

Totally fair take. It does suck when you're mentally checked out of a game, but the 100% is eluding you

 

[bonkmaykr]

It actually works

I'm guessing this has something to do with Steam Frame getting an x86 translation layer to run Proton?

It wasn't nearly this easy back in my day, WINE for Android used to be utter shit. I'm surprised it runs as well as it does.

 

[RAHelllord]

It actually works
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I'm guessing this has something to do with Steam Frame getting an x86 translation layer to run Proton?

It wasn't nearly this easy back in my day, WINE for Android used to be utter shit. I'm surprised it runs as well as it does.

Yeah, Valve has been helping with FEX and proton a lot, both of which do a lot of the heavy lifting there.
Hopefully Valve will release their own solution for android directly, though I do like that GameNative supports GOG as well.

 

[Flame]

What a wonderful world we live in now! I mean forget about fascism, inflation, tarrifs and war, we have participation trophies and for those who cannot achieve anything in real life, we now have achievements in Steam!

No better substitute for self-esteem than Achievements in Steam™

 

[NostalgicMillennial]

FYI: anyone on Pixel don't bother with GameNative. It just. Doesn't work.

 

[RAHelllord]

FYI: anyone on Pixel don't bother with GameNative. It just. Doesn't work.

Yeah, gamenative largely requires a snapdragon processor for best results. Google uses their own tensor chips which use a different GPU type than Qualcomm does. Phones with MediaTek chips or Samsung's exynos will also struggle.

However there are apparently a bunch of games that should work, depending on the exact model you have: https://www.reddit.com/r/EmulationO...mes_that_work_on_gamenative_on_a_pixel_phone/

Also make sure you enabled the option to automatically load the known config for an installed game. If you didn't enable it you might want to change that, then open the game's page, hit the gear icon, and select "Use known config" to apply it manually.

 

[lordelan]

Tbh I didn't even know GameNative did not have achievements yet. It's (apart from Cloud Saves) the only reason I use it on my phone as opposed to running Android alternatives from the Play Store.
Where GameNative really shines over its big competitor GameHub (which unfortunately is still better in terms of compatiblity and a just "install and enjoy" kinda experience) is that it's open source whereas GameHub was rumored to collect data for China. Then again they drastically reduced required permissions of their app after the community's shitstorm and people using GameHub Lite instead for that very reason.
GameNative also supports other stores like Epic which (in theory) lets you play Rocket League. I still have graphic issues with that one though.

with PC game emulation becoming more and more mainstream

With this ultimately still being emulation on Android

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is not emulation but just a translation/compatibility layer that redirects syscalls like (and at the same time on top of) Proton/Wine.

 

[Scarlet]

Tbh I didn't even know GameNative did not have achievements yet. It's (apart from Cloud Saves) the only reason I use it on my phone as opposed to running Android alternatives from the Play Store.
Where GameNative really shines over its big competitor GameHub (which unfortunately is still better in terms of compatiblity and a just "install and enjoy" kinda experience) is that it's open source whereas GameHub was rumored to collect data for China. Then again they drastically reduced required permissions of their app after the community's shitstorm and people using GameHub Lite instead for that very reason.
GameNative also supports other stores like Epic which (in theory) lets you play Rocket League. I still have graphic issues with that one though.

Correct me if I'm wrong but this is not emulation but just a translation/compatibility layer that redirects syscalls like (and at the same time on top of) Proton/Wine.

GameHub just straight up didn't work for me, so GameNative ended up being my only choice. Having had a quick read into it you are right on the translation layer too, I tend to get it mixed up with emulation. I'll try to note it for future posts though.