Nintendo Switch gets unofficial Android 10 support from SwitchRoot

android 10 on nintendo switch.png

The SwitchRoot team has successfully ported Android 10 to the Nintendo Switch. This build is based on the LineageOS 17.1 for NVIDIA Shield TV which, compared to previous releases, is faster, more responsive and includes new features such as deep sleep and an Android TV build. This release is also available in two versions where the 'Tablet' build works best in portable mode and supports the full Android app library, and the 'Android TV' build supports both docked and portable modes for media but may not support all apps and games.

An official changelog for this release can be found below:

  • Android 10 based on Lineage 17.1
  • OTA updates.
  • Full Joy-Con and Pro Controller support with analog sticks and rails.
  • Hori Joy-Con support.
  • Deep sleep that can last for weeks.
  • An Android TV based build.
  • Reworked fan profiles for quieter operation.
  • Optimised dock support with resolution scaling.
  • A rewritten charger driver supporting USB-PD and third party docks.
  • Optimised touch screen driver.
  • Easier install via hekate partition tool.
  • Reworked, simpler, power profiles.
  • Much improved WiFi driver with less dropouts.
  • Shield TV remote app support for easy docked control.
  • Reboot to payload support.
  • Improved Bluetooth accessory support.
  • Auto rotation support.

Additionally, there are a couple of known bugs which the SwitchRoot team shared:

  • Shield games are broken, DO NOT BUY THEM.
  • Sleep may not work on a small proportion of devices, you can flash the alarm disable zip to try and mitigate this.
  • BT audio might stutter on some headphones.
  • You might need to reboot for Bluetooth to work on a small proportion of devices.
  • Default keyboard can't be used with a controller.
  • Some apps don't like the Joy-Con D-Pad.

SwitchRoot member bylaws posted a complete installation guide, with download links and tips over on XDA and is linked below.

:download: Android 10 Nintendo Switch Installation Guide
 

RatherSimple

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This is rather going to be a stupid question but what would be the benefits if you got Android on switch -other than GeforceNow. I know a bit that Android has a good emulators but just briefly. Would it be a good emulator device? Would love to hear ideas what could be done with it.
 
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The Real Jdbye

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the Switch is getting more unofficial Android support than my Android phone officially does smh :unsure:
Official support is always kind of crap. That's why we have xda-developers :)

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

This is rather going to be a stupid question but what would be the benefits if you got Android on switch -other than GeforceNow. I know a bit that Android has a good emulators but just briefly. Would it be a good emulator device? Would love to hear ideas what could be done with it.
Dolphin works fairly well. Paper Mario TTYD runs near perfectly for example. Closest thing we have to an official remake/remaster/port. Haven't tried Android 10 yet so maybe it runs even better there.
Also you can of course use Kodi or other media players if you like to watch TV shows/movies when not at home and you find your phone screen to be a bit small for that.
 

ganons

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In general. It basically made my smartphone almost useless and lag a lot. Worse, I couldn't say no, it upgraded by force.

Which phone?

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

Guessing Wii games lag on dolphin? Ie Mario Kart and Galaxy.
 

angelo93

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Noob question here,
Since you need to create a partition to get this to work, will my EMMC partition be wiped if I make a new partition for android? I read through the installation guide and watched a couple of installation videos, but none of them mentioned anything about it.

Nevermind, I just ended up re-partitioning my SD card just to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible.
 
Last edited by angelo93,
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keven3477

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Actually impressed, been using this to play honkai and geshin(some lag on cut scenes) and there is minimal lag. however, i dont know if this is an issue with the switch touch screen hardware or lineage but for some reason the touch screen freezes/stops momentarily which is kind of annoying for these kind of games. anybody know if this is fixable and or how?
 
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Zumoly

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It's really an interesting experience so far. Since joycons don't lag or desync I'm actually enjoying having casual android games on my switch.
To be fair I was going to quit but octopus app made the switch a lot more enjoyable. It can give controller support to apps that don't support it: Take *Spot it* for instance, I'm having so much fun with it with my wife. She uses the touch screen while I use the joycons as a mouse.
You should definitely check octopus app!!!
Besides that I'm testing ppsspp also which is running some long time favorites and guess what? From HOS partition!
Dual booting AMS & Android is proving interesting!
 

beeswax

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Does this support GameStream and/or Moonlight so we can stream games from PC?

edit: I've installed it and while the 'Nvidia Games' app which you'd normally use for official Gamestream support errors out, Moonlight works great at 60fps!
 
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