RetroArch is popular, with 6.6 million installs. Users are divided: 3.9 stars from 39,674 ratings.
RetroArch is made and published by
Libretro.
AppBrain is an independent app data site and isn't affiliated with Libretro.
The app name, icon, screenshots and description belong to Libretro and are shown as
published on Google Play.
About RetroArch
RetroArch is an action app developed by Libretro.
Install Statistics
RetroArch has been installed 6.6 million times. In the last 30 days, the app was installed 120 thousand times.
User Ratings
RetroArch is rated 3.85 out of 5 stars. The rating is based on 40 thousand ratings.
App Information
RetroArch is freely available from Google Play. The app size is 180.28 MB. The latest version available is 1.22.2 (2026-08-26). The last update was on August 26, 2026.
Technical Requirements
The app has a content rating of Everyone. The app has been available on Google Play since January 2014.
Description by Libretro(from Google Play)
RetroArch is an open-source project that makes use of a powerful development interface called Libretro. Libretro is an interface that allows you to make cross-platform applications that can use rich features such as OpenGL, cross-platform camera support, location support, and more in the future.
It comes with its own built-in collection of applications to provide you with a 'one-stop-shop' for entertainment.
Libretro and RetroArch are perfectly suited for creating games, emulators and multimedia programs. If you want to learn more, go to our website (listed below).
IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ!!! This version of RetroArch differs from the one available on our website (www.retroarch.com) in that there is no Core Downloader, in compliance with the Google Play Store's policies. This version supports 50 cores max. If this is not enough for your needs, there are two options:
* Get RetroArch Plus, also available for free on the Play Store (this supports up to 127 cores). This version requires Android 8.0 or higher. * Get RetroArch from our website (www.retroarch.com) and download the APK and install it. This version has the Core Downloader and is considered the 'full-fat' version.
Pros of the Play Store version vs. the website APK: * Automatic weekly updates of both cores and RetroArch. Cons of the Play Store version vs. the website APK: * Only 50 cores supported max
FEATURES: * Eye-candy menus to choose from! * Scan files / directories and add them to game system collections! * View database information about each game once added to a collection! * Download programs ('cores') online * Update everything! * Download Game & Watch games and play them with our exclusive Game & Watch emulator! * Built-in input remapping * Ability to remap controls * Ability to enter and load cheats * Multi-language support! * Over 80+ programs('cores') now and counting! * Play multiplayer with NetPlay! * Take screenshots, save states and more!
* No DRM * No restrictions on usage * Open-source * No push ads * No spying * No ads period
Join us on discord for support and netplay matchmaking https://discord.gg/C4amCeV
Visit our Youtube channel here for tutorials, gameplays, news and development progress! https://www.youtube.com/user/libretro https://www.youtube.com/RetroArchOfficial
For info and help, see our documentation site - https://docs.libretro.com/
Get a detailed PDF report for RetroArch with download trends, rating history,
and key performance statistics — useful for competitive research or tracking your own app.
Learn more
Are you the developer of this app? Join us for free to see more information about your app and learn how we can help you promote and earn money with your app.
I don't understand why you're not allowed to queue multiple core downloads at once, on PC you can queue up every single core on the list, so you can do something else while you wait for the downloads to finish, here it makes you wait until one is fully installed before it lets you select another turning a 5-minute process into 30+ minutes even though it lets you queue up the other updates. Makes no sense. Really, there should be a "download all cores" option both here and on PC, no reason not to.
★★★★☆Vanessa Aikin· Aug 19, 2026
Okay this app does not work with talk back unfortunately due to the opengl rendering, and I need an update within the next 2 months that adds full Talk Back support does not work with talk back screen reader
★★★★☆Michael Quinonez· Sep 17, 2026
I like this app a lot but recently I had updated the game, and it removed all my saves and my cheats not work at all and now when I use a cheat it won't work amd all the games I had played were not in my history and when I went to replay them hoping that it had my saves still it did not and now all my progress for three 100% completed games are gone
★★★★☆Tyler H.· Sep 26, 2026
Most versatile emulator you can get for free (no ads a big plus) but NOT very user-friendly. Menus are difficult to understand, navigating your files in-app is difficult. Highly recommend especially for Game Boy, GBC, and GBA emulation, but you will likely need to watch a tutorial on how to get it set up. Honestly if the developer gave it a face-lift it could easily be a 5/5, there would be zero room for competition. But it's free with no ads, so I won't complain much
★★★★☆Noah Brady· Feb 15, 2026
PLEASE I BEG OF YOU ADD SD CARD SUPPORT TO THE MOBILE VERSION OF PETRARCH AS WELL AS THE PLUS MOBILE VERSION I BEG OF YOU ITS ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS EVERY OTHER VERSION OF THIS IS BETTER
★☆☆☆☆Luigi Mario· Jul 24, 2026
Saving stopped worked on recent updates. In game saves aren't saved after closing a game, and save states now get stuck on 0% when before they were instant with no progress % at all. There's also confirmation for menu options (like closing a game) only they sometimes don't work and lock you on that menu. I'm using mgba core if that helps. But seriously, I hate when updating an app completely breaks it. I regret updating.
★★☆☆☆Orion Parsons· Jul 12, 2026
Most unintuitive emulator I've ever used roms just show black screen, so I tried installing a bios and ended up just giving up because absolutely nothing would work or make any sense whatsoever also the directory where the bios supposedly goes is locked down by yoyr phone by default
★☆☆☆☆Paweł Mateusz Zimny· May 7, 2026
Totally waste of time, use only if you really MUST but peeper that it can crash in every moment, and you need master degree to run even easiest machines. Forgot about doing anything with on-screen controls, forgot about safety of your saves, it is even problem with plug in pad after reconnecting. And do not forget about warnings about safety during installation version from their website (which looks like some kind of spam farm).
★☆☆☆☆Heet888· Mar 12, 2026
Guys please download the app from website, the app from play store doesn't have like half of the cores and whenever I launch a game it crashes, the app from website works way better.
Subscribe to see full ranking history in this country
AppBrain offers valuable information about your app and those of your competitors. Join AppBrain for free and claim this app to view more ranking data, view history etc.
Each subscription will automatically renew 3 days before the expiration date for
the same time period. Subscriptions can be cancelled at any time before the renewal.
