Updated Hyperspin Android app in 2026?

[sonkun]

5 hours ago, mrfomt said:

If you open the Hyperspin menu (R+L+R3+L3) and select the emulator there, it will generate the correct launch parameters for you.

I didn't even know about this trick, simply doing that fixed Dolphin for me instantly, games now work thank you for this. I also decided to switch over to the RetroArch core version of Dolphin, that core now works with the "fastmem" setting on without crashing.

The only one left now is PS2, I tried using that trick above to auto generate settings on both "Aether" and "Nether" selection choices but they both give me a error message when launching from the wheel. I guess I'll also try to get that new Sega Model 3 emu "Super3" set up at some point as well.

I also didn't know these newer model Shields no longer come with 500gb internal storage it's reverted back to just 16gb so that caught me off guard even though all my roms are all on external anyway.

[dreamw]

Does this hyperspin work on regular tablets, not shields?
If not, why don't you make one for regular tablets? There are plenty of pretty powerful smartphones and tablets out there now.

[reznnate]

I'm actively working on broad compatibility.    I just bought an Ayn Odin for testing.  When this app was written 10yrs ago, the mobile gpu driver situation was _terrible_.    Things are much, much better now but still very complicated due to the large number of products and different drivers shipping out of China.    My renderer is relatively basic and I've shifted some of the 'hardware acceleration' complexity onto the (faster) cpus.   It probably won't work everywhere but some of the Shield dependencies are unnecessary now.    I should have a test build ready in a week or two.

[dkfabledk]

I loooove that this is being worked on, really. I love HyperSpin and really missed using my Shield as my arcade machine!

I do have one issue — video playback in the wheel doesn't seem to work. Even though the ini file (auto-generated by the batch setup) contains:

[video defaults] path=/storage/DE7F-BE37/Hyperspin/Media/Nintendo Entertainment System/Video/

...the video area stays black when scrolling through games. The MP4 files are present in the correct folder and play fine in a file manager, so it's not a codec issue. Am I missing something, or is this a known issue in beta5?

 

I can see attract mode is working correctly — it navigates into a game wheel and attempts to show the video, but the screen stays black. So the video playback logic seems to be there, but the actual playback isn't working.

 

Interestingly, wheel art display correctly — these are also located under the same Media folder structure. So the app can clearly find and read the Media folder, just not the video files.

[reznnate]

I'm still actively implementing features that I missed.   The video path .ini setting is working now.  I'll have another beta for testing this week.  Lots of new features.. hopefully not too many new bugs.   Feedback is appreciated.

[dkfabledk]

Great news, looking forward to the new beta! Thanks for the quick response and for all the work you're putting into this!

[reznnate]

Posted the new beta6 build.  Consider this a release candidate.   I changed a lot trying to make things more user-friendly.    Lots of new features that might be confusing since they're unique to Android.   Hopefully this version 'works' directly with existing windows drives and setups people have lying around.   Let me know if my user guide isn't clear or if you find bugs (I'm aware of several I haven't fixed yet...).

[sonkun]

On 5/5/2026 at 4:49 AM, reznnate said:

Posted the new beta6 build.  Consider this a release candidate.   I changed a lot trying to make things more user-friendly.    Lots of new features that might be confusing since they're unique to Android.   Hopefully this version 'works' directly with existing windows drives and setups people have lying around.   Let me know if my user guide isn't clear or if you find bugs (I'm aware of several I haven't fixed yet...).

First thing I tested was PS2 using Nethersx2 and it loads games off of the wheel now so that system is now good to go again. Other than that everything seems to be working good. Has settings for the Super3 (Sega Model 3) been added in by chance? I've yet to add that wheel into my setup but plan on it soon.

[reznnate]

I haven't tested Super3 yet but I do have setup parameters for it.   It's possible you may need to tweak the .ini directly if it doesn't work.   Specifically

uri_type=0-3

 

[sonkun]

3 hours ago, reznnate said:

I haven't tested Super3 yet but I do have setup parameters for it.   It's possible you may need to tweak the .ini directly if it doesn't work.   Specifically

uri_type=0-3

 

Yeah I just tried tweaking the initial using what you suggested and games won't launch. I'm guessing something needs to go in that parameters line maybe or something else in the exe path perhaps.

[reznnate]

Emulator worked outside of launcher?  You will need to give Super3.apk file permissions first.   Then it worked for me.

[sonkun]

20 hours ago, reznnate said:

Emulator worked outside of launcher?  You will need to give Super3.apk file permissions first.   Then it worked for me.

Yeah permission were enabled, not sure what happened but it's working now, games launch from the wheel. Well when I open a game it first opens the app itself, brings me to the game list home screen and then auto launches the game right after. To get back to the wheel I have to exit the game then exit the emu itself to get back to the wheel.

Other than that everything is working, the way these updates are coming HyperSpin Android seems to be making the best comeback as the best frontend again imo.

[reznnate]

For me, it launches directly into game, but then as you say, the emulator seems to lack a direct-quit button so requires exit game emulation, exit emulator.   

If you guys aren't tripping over lots of bugs and don't have other features or change suggestions, I'll post a release candidate soon.  If you have other Android devices with external storage support (sdcard or usb ports), give them a try.   My goal is to support all the new gaming handhelds coming out of China.  

[sonkun]

21 hours ago, reznnate said:

For me, it launches directly into game, but then as you say, the emulator seems to lack a direct-quit button so requires exit game emulation, exit emulator.

Yeah that emu is quirky in itself, even configuring the buttons is a hassle but that's something I'll deal with when I have time. For me it also launches directly into the game as well it just shows me the home screen for about 3 seconds before the game actually starts, it's all good.

I'm not sure what bugs are there but imo I say iron out as many bugs as you can before putting an official release out. No need to rush anything I rather have the best version of this app that can be produced.

[reznnate]

As you can tell,  I've been looking for ways to improve Hyperspin1 for my Android handhelds and arcade cabinet.   In the next build, I've added proper sound support, windows desktop support (rocketlauncher, LEDBlinky), and a cache/index system for slow media (can be enabled/disabled).  Also, I added the ability to stack multiple themes for a game if many good themes exist (i.e. dkong.zip, dkong_1.zip, dkong_2.zip).   It just randomly selects one.

But mainly looking for bugs I've missed.   Testing on a fast PC versus slow Shield has helped find a few (a/v sync has been a bitch!).   Testing of features and additional hard drives is relatively easy now.   All of the app settings are copied and mods happen in \Settings_Android.  Nuke files in that folder (or entire folder) to 'reset'.

I should have a new update next week.   While I'm not planning to disappear for 10yrs , I'm running out of things to fix/add and my short-attention span is starting to engage. 

 

[dkfabledk]

After a completely fresh install of beta 6, the Settings_Android/ folder on my USB drive stays completely empty — even after running Batch Emulator INI Setup.

 

HyperSpin seems to store configuration somewhere internally on the device instead of on the USB drive. Is this a known issue in beta 6, or am I missing something?

[sonkun]

20 hours ago, reznnate said:

In the next build, I've added proper sound support, windows desktop support (rocketlauncher, LEDBlinky), and a cache/index system for slow media (can be enabled/disabled).  Also, I added the ability to stack multiple themes for a game if many good themes exist (i.e. dkong.zip, dkong_1.zip, dkong_2.zip).   It just randomly selects one.

Nice, so many new additions. The only thing I wish could be possible is to be able to play collection wheels with games on multi systems like snes, megadrive, nes like the Castlevania wheel collection. I think you said in a previous post you won't be touching on that tho I think.

Also in this latest build I notice if I press the home button on the Shield and then reopen HyperSpin I can no longer move up or down any wheels. I can enter and exit the wheel but can't move unless I force close the app and reopen it. This didn't happen on the previous build.

[reznnate]

12 hours ago, dkfabledk said:

After a completely fresh install of beta 6, the Settings_Android/ folder on my USB drive stays completely empty — even after running Batch Emulator INI Setup.

 

HyperSpin seems to store configuration somewhere internally on the device instead of on the USB drive. Is this a known issue in beta 6, or am I missing something?

The folder should be in your Hyperspin folder, next to the other /Settings folder.   I haven't seen an issue were they were written somewhere else.  What does your folder structure look like?  Is this on Shield?

[reznnate]

5 hours ago, sonkun said:

Nice, so many new additions. The only thing I wish could be possible is to be able to play collection wheels with games on multi systems like snes, megadrive, nes like the Castlevania wheel collection. I think you said in a previous post you won't be touching on that tho I think.

Also in this latest build I notice if I press the home button on the Shield and then reopen HyperSpin I can no longer move up or down any wheels. I can enter and exit the wheel but can't move unless I force close the app and reopen it. This didn't happen on the previous build.

I'm not familiar with this.   On PC, Rocketlauncher defines different emulators per game rom?

As for that navigation issue, sounds like my bug.  I'll look into it.   Thanks for reporting it.

[dkfabledk]

Yes, this is on Shield TV. Here is my folder structure:
\\192.168.1.67\Sandisk Ext\Hyperspin\
- Databases/
- Emulators/
- Media/
- Settings/
- Settings_Android/ (empty)
After fresh install and running Batch Emulator INI Setup, Settings_Android/ stays completely empty. The app seems to work and finds my content, but writes nothing to the folder.

 

I also tried removing the old Settings/ folder completely to see if it was interfering, but Settings_Android/ still stayed empty after running Batch Emulator INI Setup.

 

I attached a screenshot of Batch Emulator INI Setup results — it shows 37 systems as 'already configured' and 4 fixed, but the Settings_Android/ folder is completely empty. It seems like HyperSpin thinks the systems are configured, but isn't writing the files anywhere I can find.

[sonkun]

22 hours ago, reznnate said:

I'm not familiar with this.   On PC, Rocketlauncher defines different emulators per game rom?

Yeah this was a mistake on my part. I've only used HyperSpin strictly on the Shield TV never touched it on pc so I completely forgot about Rocket Launcher.

I don't think there's anyway to do it on Android where let's say one game on a wheel will load up with a RetroArch Megadrive core and a different game on that same wheel will load up using a snes RetroArch core or a completely different stand alone emulator.