Being true to their promise, switchroot has released their highly anticipated method of bringing Android to your Nintendo Switch console. This marks the first public release of LineageOS 15.1, and is based on a build of Android that runs on the Nvidia Shield TV. By flashing the installation image to your micro SD card, you can use Android 8.1 Oreo on the Switch, in both handheld and docked mode. Some of the features include audio support, allowing the Joy-Cons to connect through bluetooth, offering CPU and GPU performance profiles, and more.

As this is a beta release, you should be aware that there are a few bugs. Some notable issues are that sleep mode battery life is lacking, certain apps have problems with being controlled with the Joy-Cons, the screenshot function is disabled, wifi can be spotty, and a few other quirks.

If you're interested in playing around with this release, you can follow the instructions below to get started, with the download links being available in the source.

LineageOS 15.1 for Nintendo Switch by switchroot. This is the first publicly available Android ROM for the Nintendo Switch. Based on the Nvidia Shield TV builds it brings a smooth and powerful Android experience to your Switch in both handheld and docked mode.

1. Pick the image that corresponds to the size of your SD card. You can use an image that is smaller than your card. You’ll end up with the remaining space unused on your card.
2. Write the image to your SD card with e.g. balenaEtcher Do not extract the image, Etcher can handle the compressed image just fine! WARNING: This will overwrite any contents on your card! The progress bar/percentage might go haywire in Etcher, but you can ignore that. The flashing will still work and Etcher will let you know when it’s done. It can take up to an hour depending on your SD card’s speed. Also make sure not to format any of the partitions when Windows prompts you to after flashing.
3. Download GApps for Android 8.1. from OpenGApps, use ARM64. Put the file on the first partition of your new SD card
4. If desired download the "Shield-ifier" zip and place it also on the SD card. This will make your Switch identify as Nvidia Shield TV and install the Nvidia app.
5. Load hekate and boot to TWRP by holding VOL+ when you select the Android config.
6. Flash GApps zip, optionally flash other zips
7. Reboot to hekate and boot into Android
8. Complete the inital setup. For the Nvidia app to work make sure to update it from Play Store!

Source

 

[Smoker1]

USB drives work with dock. I have a 4TB hard drive connected to the USB 3.0 port on the dock.

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TV launcher v3.1.1 and HALauncher v2.0.3.0 both work. Currently have TV launcher replace the default launcher.

Dont know why, but I cant get a USB Thumb Drive to come up.

 

[grootus]

Dont know why, but I cant get a USB Thumb Drive to come up.

FAT32 should be supported. Use Stickmount for other file systems like NTFS.

 

[Megaleg]

Tried to pair joy con's this morning and they paired with no problems.... Bizarre.

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Cyberflix works great

 

[Jayro]

Why did they go with a crusty-old version of Android, (4 MAJOR versions behind, mind you) instead of a nice and fresh Pie build?

 

[smf]

Why did they go with a crusty-old version of Android, (4 MAJOR versions behind, mind you) instead of a nice and fresh Pie build?

AFAICT LineageOS 15.1 is Oreo 8.1.0, what 4 MAJOR versions have been released since then?

I've been looking to make the switch to LineageOS 16.0 on my phone & it's only just about becoming stable enough to consider it.

 

[Jayro]

AFAICT LineageOS 15.1 is Oreo 8.1.0, what 4 MAJOR versions have been released since then?

I've been looking to make the switch to LineageOS 16.0 on my phone & it's only just about becoming stable enough to consider it.

Last I read, it was a 5.1.1 release, my bad.

 

[smf]

Last I read, it was a 5.1.1 release, my bad.

Maybe a more recent version wasn't stable on the Android Shield when they started.

Android development is mostly outsourced to teenagers doing precarious git cherry picks, it's a wonder it hasn't completely collapsed on itself already.

 

[Xen0]

Is this detactable for Nintendo? Any word on online play and bans so far?

 

[Cyan]

this doesn't run the Switch OS at all, this is not an android homebrew emulator. Horizon is not available, switch games are not available.
It's not detectable or risking a ban, because you don't really run any nintendo's program, it doesn't connect to nintendo's servers.
it's Android, using the switch hardware and Tegra to run Android Oreo8.1/nvidia Shield ROM like a phone or tablet.

 

[burial]

So....what are all the cool things about this? Games? Emus?

 

[Cyan]

android, on a switch hardware.
that's all, it's for fun of being possible.

game, emu, media player, etc.

 

[burial]

android, on a switch hardware.
that's all, it's for fun of being possible.

game, emu, media player, etc.

The last time I touched an Android, or any cellphone really, was that old Sony phone with the buttons. So could you catch me up to speed?

 

[Deleted User]

has anyone tried some klwp themes with this?

 

[oBluEx]

I can play any DS game perfectly! Old School Runescape runs PERFECT! Half-Life 2 works like a dream!

 

[phillyrider807]

So....what are all the cool things about this? Games? Emus?

The main things you can do now that you couldn't on Horizon

Media player(Netflix/Plex etc)
Gamestreaming(Moonlight and Geforce Now both work)
PS4 Remote play
Emulators(Drastic Dolphin)

 

[CameronCataclysm]

Going to be giving this a go later on today. Anyone messing around with Dolphin? Specifically GC games?

 

[gamemasteru03]

Going to be giving this a go later on today. Anyone messing around with Dolphin? Specifically GC games?

I tried windwaker in performance mode it almost ran at fullspeed.

 

[maddenmike95]

Going to be giving this a go later on today. Anyone messing around with Dolphin? Specifically GC games?

I have not tried any GameCube games yet but I did try out a couple Wii games. I got Mario galaxy running and in keeps jumping in between 30-35fps, but the game seems kinda choppy. The native FPS for that game is 30 so I don’t know why it’s choppy and still getting those FPS. Maybe I have to mess with the battery performance profiles and tinker with the dolphin settings. I’m going to test like 10 different games when I get home from work later and report back.

Edit:
As far as I know, this is the only way of overclocking at the moment, here’s the quote from the source page.
Quote:
Q: How to switch performance profiles?
A: Go to Settings -> Battery -> Power Profiles. The options are Balanced = 1 GHz CPU / 468 MHz GPU, Quick = 1.4 GHz CPU / 768 MHz GPU and Performance = 1.7 GHz CPU / 920 MHz GPU. Keep in mind that the high performance profiles use MUCH more battery

 

[tomman321]

Pocket Camp works if you install it from an apk, but I'm getting error code 10102 on the title screen of Pokemon Masters.

 

[WhoIAm]

I got Mario galaxy running and in keeps jumping in between 30-35fps, but the game seems kinda choppy. The native FPS for that game is 30 so I don’t know why it’s choppy and still getting those FPS.

Actually Mario Galaxy runs at 60FPS, that’s probably why it’s slow for you. It’s Sunshine that’s 30.