Modders get Android working on the Nintendo Switch

Modders have gotten Android working on the Nintendo Switch. Not all functions can be used yet, but the system works in principle. It is the first time that Google’s OS works on Nintendo’s tablet.

According to developer Max Keller, he and co-developer Billy Laws have got wifi and bluetooth working, but not the gpu yet. “It’s laggy now because the GPU drivers aren’t working yet, so the CPU does the graphics. A fix is ​​being worked on,” Keller wrote on Twitter. He also has a short demo video posted. The touchscreen and Joy-Cons work, although with the latter only the buttons are used and not the joysticks or built-in sensors. As far as is known, the two have not yet released any software or installation instructions.

The Nintendo Switch soc, an Nvidia Tegra T210, has a CPU with the ARM architecture that Android is compatible with. Nevertheless, it took almost two years before Android was running on the hybrid console of the Japanese game maker. It is a build of Android Q, probably the one that was leaked in January by XDA-Developers.

If Android runs completely on it, the Switch can serve as an Android tablet, with all the possibilities that entails. An obvious one is the ability to play ROMs of console and handheld games through an emulator, for example in cases where those games aren’t available on an unmodified Switch.