RetroArch 1.7.8 for iOS and tvOS Now Available!

I’m in the process of trying to get buildbot to build RetroArch and iOS cores automatically. But in the meantime, I can manually upload them to buildbot for download.

Link to the IPAs:

iOS: https://buildbot.libretro.com/stable/1.7.8/apple/ios/RetroArch.ipa

tvOS: https://buildbot.libretro.com/stable/1.7.8/apple/tvos/RetroArch-tvOS.ipa

You can use Cydia Impactor to install with apple ID, or re-sign it with a resigning tool like iResign.

The app has the latest versions of the cores preinstalled. There are some new ones supported for iOS - most notably MAME 0.212, Mesen and Mesen-S (if you’re into Mesen).

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Hello. Could you please make IPA with newer xcode or smthg like that for iPad Pro 11 Fullscreen support? Thanks!

Ah! Yes I noticed that the app isn’t full screen on the iPad Pros. I know what to do there, you’ll see an update soon. Thanks!

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Update 8/27/19: updated RetroArch for iOS to use “Launch Storyboards” instead of “Launch Images” - this will give proper support for all screen sizes, including iPad Pro 11.

Hi! Tried the tvOS version on my ATV4K yesterday. I am on tvOS 13 latest public beta. All works except Core loading. It simply doesn’t load any. By loading a rom it than says failed to load core. Signed the app by Dantheman’s latest App signer on Catalina. Pushed the App by using latest Xcode Beta.

How can I/we load our roms please?

Thanks

URBANsUNITED

Now looks great. Thanks!

Whats the best way to update the RetroArch version on my iPad without losing all my roms and saved game data?

Also if I can ask this is there any good tutorials for signing the app so I don’t have to use Cydia impactor every 7 days?

I turned my Apple ID into a free developer account also downloaded Xcode and downloaded some program to sign but I can’t figure out what I’m doing and there aren’t many videos or information when I google search.

Ultimately I would like to update and understand a way to always preserve my roms and save data and not have to resign ever week. I’m very fearful of losing all my saved progress on games. Happened once already :frowning:

If you use Cydia Impactor every 7 days you shouldn’t lose your saves/settings. For 1.7.8, I fixed the RetroArch iOS app to retain your settings when you re-install/update the existing app.

You might have been running into the case where you’d do a reinstall and your saves wouldn’t load because the “savestate” directory was pointing to the wrong location. Your saves are still there, but RetroArch was still pointing to the wrong file location. This was really annoying and I fixed this so that your history, favorites would work after you reinstall.

You can’t get around the 7-day limit with a free developer account. You need to pay for a developer account to have the 1-year limit.

Here’s a doc on how to install using Xcode: https://docs.libretro.com/guides/build-ios/

It needs to be updated because I made some changes for the 1.7.8 release, but Cydia Impactor is the easier way to do it.

Also another question if that’s ok; what’s the best method for when you get a new device and want to transfer all your roms and saves?

I’ll be encountering most of these scenarios so want to make sure I have my ducks in a row :slight_smile:

So if I may ask, when updating for another 7 days or updating RetroArch to a new version (such as the one form this post),do I just do the same as I did when I first installed it? Drag the new .IPA file into Cydia etc and will it overwrite the old version or relicense for another 7 days. I guess I don’t know the process for doing so.

And that’s what I thought, that a paid developer account was needed. That’s sucky :frowning:

Oh and one other question (last one for now I promise) is there a way to point the retroarch iOS saves to to my iCloud account? Would be super cool if there’s a way or a feature in the future so can play on all my devices!

Also another question if that’s ok; what’s the best method for when you get a new device and want to transfer all your roms and saves?

You can:

  1. Use iFunBox or iExplorer to transfer all files in RetroArch to your computer.
  2. Re-install RetroArch using Cydia Impactor.
  3. Use iFunBox or iExplorer to copy files back to the RetroArch app folder.
  4. You might need to make sure your directory settings are pointing to the right location (Settings -> Directory)

So if I may ask, when updating for another 7 days or updating RetroArch to a new version (such as the one form this post),do I just do the same as I did when I first installed it? Drag the new .IPA file into Cydia etc and will it overwrite the old version or relicense for another 7 days. I guess I don’t know the process for doing so.

Yes same process - drag .ipa onto Cydia Impactor every 7 days.

Oh and one other question (last one for now I promise) is there a way to point the retroarch iOS saves to to my iCloud account? Would be super cool if there’s a way or a feature in the future so can play on all my devices!

Native iCloud support is 99% not likely to happen for RetroArch. iCloud support for non-app store apps is shaky at best and it requires you to mess with icloud settings in xcode when building, and its a huge pain. I’m not going to be adding iCloud support anytime soon. You can use the Files app to copy files from your iCloud drive to RetroArch.

Hi,

thanks for your work but compared to 1.7.7 a lot of Overlays are missing. The GBA Overlay was a lot better before. I had to switch back to 1.7.7.

Thx for the build!

I just installed the IPA using Filza and AppSync and it works ok.

But I would like to Load Content located in system directories (/var/private/mobile/Documents), as I did with Retroarch 1.7.7 from Cydia, but I can’t. It says “Directory not found”.

tvOS related core loading issue have been found

We can hope for a working ipa soon!!! :star_struck:

Hey everyone, just got an iPad Pro 2018 running iPad OS 13.1 beta.

I’ve downloaded this version using Cydia Impactor and was curious if I’m missing something. Is there a way to use the ROM/bios files from an external flash drive through a dongle on Retroarch? Obviously, the new iPad OS supports a lot more file formats, flash drives, etc than it used to. I have tried a 256GB flash drive & a 16GB one. No luck so far. Anyone out there have luck using a flash drive for this purpose?

Awesome thanks I’ll give it a whirl!

thanks for your work but compared to 1.7.7 a lot of Overlays are missing. The GBA Overlay was a lot better before. I had to switch back to 1.7.7.

Try Online Updater -> Update overlays to get the full list of overlays. I only included a minimum set in the ipa.

Is there a way to use the ROM/bios files from an external flash drive through a dongle on Retroarch?

I can look into this more but as far as I know, the only way you can work with files from external drive is through the Files app. You can copy files from the drive using the Files app to the RetroArch folder.

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You can’t access that directory unless you’re jailbroken. The Documents directory is something like /var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/[app uuid]/Documents. It should be visible when you choose “Load Content”.