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

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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.

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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

 

[josete2k]

I had the option enabled before updating

SD:/config/sphaira/config.ini

replace_hbmenu=0

 

[Insektaure]

I had the option enabled before updating

In this case reapply the hbmenu.nro from the atmosphere release and paste sphaira in it's original folder.

Check the content of the ini files inside config/sphaira to see if there is something called "replace hbmenu" or something like that, and delete this line.

 

[john87]

SD:/config/sphaira/config.ini

replace_hbmenu=0

I deleted the config folder you mentioned as well, but it still didn’t work. I managed to fix it another way: I downloaded Atmosphere again and replaced both the hbl.nsp (in the atmosphere folder) and the hbmenu.nro (in the root of the microSD) with the ones from the Atmosphere package downloaded from GitHub. I can confirm that Sphaira works on 21.0.0 using the official GitHub release

 

[KirovAir]

Wow I just discovered this, well done ITotalJustice. Absolute beast of an app.

 

[L0nk]

Is there any way to get Sphaira to launch on startup?

Really like the title/icon override feature (which hasn't worked since 19.xx with sys-tweak) and would love to use it as my default launch menu for games.

 

[eadmaster]

Only in the 1.0.0 patreon build

The latest v1.0.0 release on github it's still not storing the timestamps inside zip files correctly, fixed here:
https://github.com/ITotalJustice/sphaira/commit/28a6021e3425f88e1476fca3639e26858de4cea8

 

[NinStar]

It's behind a paywall for those True who would love to support the Creator TotalJustic
and the dedicated time he has put into the new features which by far is superior than this build requested by the Supporters and this project has so much potential so it's only logical that it would not be Free! so go show some love just as he did just by releasing this in the first place!

Ok, I only saw this now. This is a bit weird, but people were contributing on GitHub (including myself, I was maintaining one of the localizations), putting it on Patreon all of sudden without telling others about this change feels off-putting, I genuinely assumed he abandoned it after he deleted his Discord all of sudden.

Even a simple update to the readme telling people about this change would be enough in my opinion.

 

[jelbo]

Since 1.0.0 I can't install .nsp's anymore jusing NS-USBloader v7.2 or 7.3 using the Awoo protocol. No idea why it doesn't work. With the same setup the previous version works fine.

 

[StevensND]

Since 1.0.0 I can't install .nsp's anymore jusing NS-USBloader v7.2 or 7.3 using the Awoo protocol. No idea why it doesn't work. With the same setup the previous version works fine.

Why you don't use MTP install instead?.

 

[jelbo]

I will. The reason I don't prefer it is a feeling MTP is a flaky protocol.

 

[Z_Tetriminos]

* add github downloader, add entries in `/config/sphaira/github/name.json`

I don't get how I should do this, anyone got an example config?

 

[AlM2023]

Why you don't use MTP install instead?.

I have the same issue.

 

[tehrzky]

why sometimes forwarder icon scraping doesnt work wven though i already put a correct name. how to fix this?

ex. Final Fight One (USA).gba

 

[Heavenseyes]

why sometimes forwarder icon scraping doesnt work wven though i already put a correct name. how to fix this?

ex. Final Fight One (USA).gba

If it won’t scrape the game icon when installing the forwarder, you can manually set the path to the icon in the Forwarder Creation menu.

 

[Earthshine]

Since 1.0.0 I can't install .nsp's anymore jusing NS-USBloader v7.2 or 7.3 using the Awoo protocol. No idea why it doesn't work. With the same setup the previous version works fine.

Same here. NS-USBloader works fine with Tinwoo but not not work with Sphaira. Tried reinstalling usb drivers, different cable, different usb port on my pc, etc. Notta. Nothing makes it work in Sphaira.

Why you don't use MTP install instead?.

For me personally, I can't use Sphaira with MTP because it cannot install nsz files compressed with level 22 compression. I would have to use DBI's MTP which CAN install the same files, but that then defeats the purpose of having an AIO app like Sphaira in the first place. Also, DBI's MTP is slower on my end than using Tinwoo & NSUSBloader.

Anyone know why NS-USBloader is no longer working with Sphaira?

 

[catap6]

Sphaira MTP upload is failing as soon as a game/NSP hits 4GB transferred.
Any solution to this?

 

[OrGoN3]

Sphaira MTP upload is failing as soon as a game/NSP hits 4GB transferred.
Any solution to this?

Install it over mtp instead of uploading it to your SD card that can't fit a file larger than 4gb on it.

 

[catap6]

Install it over mtp instead of uploading it to your SD card that can't fit a file larger than 4gb on it.

That's what I'm doing.

 

[Reploid]

Have we figured out why the dude got deleted?

 

[OrGoN3]

That's what I'm doing.

And it's falling every time at 4gb with every file you try to install?

Are you using applet mode or full ram mode?

Error codes?