emulator Archives

BetaBeacon

February 28, 2026

Don’t buy a new phone just for gaming, last-gen flagships still perform just as well

The Xiaomi 17 Ultra and its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor perform similarly to the last year's Xiaomi 15 Ultra and its Snapdragon 8 Elite in popular Android games and emulators. The newer processor offers slightly lower power consumption and potential future-proofing for upcoming games, but overall, there is not a significant performance difference between the two models.

BetaBeacon

February 18, 2026

Cyberpunk 2077 launched via emulator on Android and heated the processor to 100 degrees

The streets of Night City were too "hot" for mobile gaming as a blogger demonstrated running Cyberpunk 2077 on a smartphone, reaching temperatures up to 100°C due to thermal limitations.

BetaBeacon

February 18, 2026

GameHub will give Mac owners another imperfect way to play Windows games

The main reason behind the release of GameSir's Windows emulation tool was to boost sales of its controllers.

AppWizard

February 14, 2026

Google launches early Android 17 Beta for Pixel devices targeting app scalability

Google has launched the first Beta of Android 17 for Pixel devices, skipping the traditional Developer Preview. The Android Beta program is available for Pixel devices starting from the Pixel 6 to the Pixel Tablet, allowing users to enroll via the Android Beta website for an Over-The-Air update. Android 17 focuses on app scalability across various devices and includes performance improvements with a new garbage collection method and camera functionality upgrades. The full release timeline is flexible, expected several months after a Platform Stability milestone in March, likely after the Google I/O event in May and possibly coinciding with the Pixel 11 launch in August. Users can enroll in the Beta through the Android Beta website, but may experience instability, and those without a Pixel can use the Emulator in Android Studio.

BetaBeacon

February 10, 2026

Download Google Play Store (free) for Android, APK and Web App

The Google Play Store is essential for Android users to access a wide collection of trusted and regularly updated applications.

BetaBeacon

January 29, 2026

GameNative now supports Epic Games on Android — here’s how it works

GameNative has released an update that allows users to integrate Epic Games Store games on their Android devices. The process involves logging in to an Epic Games account through a browser and pasting an authentication key into GameNative. Multiplayer games are not currently supported, but this feature may be added in a future update. GameNative is an open-source emulator that regularly updates drivers to improve compatibility with different storefronts. Users may need a powerful device with ample RAM to run games smoothly.

BetaBeacon

January 29, 2026

GameNative Adds Epic Games Support On Android

After installing the newest nightly build, users can integrate their Epic Games account with GameNative by signing in through a secure browser window, syncing their library, and picking games directly from Epic's servers. Multiplayer is currently disabled due to networking and anti-cheat issues. Performance on Android devices depends on hardware specifications, with modern flagship SoCs recommended for smooth gameplay. GameNative uses open-source tools to translate x86-64 CPU instructions and DirectX calls for Android play. Epic Games support on GameNative allows mobile gamers to access their free and purchased titles from the Epic store on their phones. The Epic integration is available in GameNative's nightly channel, with plans for future stable releases to include library filters and multiplayer support.

BetaBeacon

January 27, 2026

Forget emulators, native ports of PS2 games may be closer than ever

A new tool called PS2Recomp has gained significant attention for statically recompiling PS2 games into modern C++ code to create native PC ports with better performance than traditional emulators.

Winsage

January 26, 2026

Windows Terminal Preview 1.24 Fixes Paste Hangs, IME Bugs

Microsoft released Windows Terminal Preview version 1.24.10212.0 on January 24, aimed at fixing bugs and improving stability before the upcoming stable release, version 1.25. Key updates include: - Caption buttons now dim when the terminal window loses focus, aiding users in identifying the active window. - Custom themes' background colors are no longer overridden by transparency effects. - Compatibility with Chinese and Japanese Input Method Editors (IMEs) has been restored, enhancing usability for international users. - Security improvements have been made to reduce vulnerabilities, particularly against use-after-free bugs. - Stability fixes address crash scenarios, including issues during startup and when pasting large text blocks. - The distribution package has been simplified by removing the outdated TerminalAzBridge executable.

AppWizard

January 22, 2026

Arm-Based Windows 11 PCs Can Now Download and Play Games from the Xbox App

Microsoft's Xbox app on Windows 11 now supports game downloads on all ARM-based PCs, expanding functionality beyond cloud gaming for Qualcomm-powered devices. This update follows an initial rollout for Xbox Insiders in August, coinciding with Epic Games' compatibility of its Easy Anti-Cheat system with Windows on ARM. The Prism emulator was updated in December to support more x86 games on ARM devices, and the Xbox app now includes a Windows Performance Fit feature to assess game performance based on hardware. Over 85% of the Game Pass catalog is compatible with ARM PCs, with ongoing efforts to increase support. Emulation performance has improved on Qualcomm Snapdragon X Series chips, with further enhancements expected from upcoming X2 series chips, although native ARM64 game versions are still anticipated.