Nvidia Shield TV dongle only supports 32bit apps

The 2019 Nvidia Shield TV dongle does not support 64bit applications. This causes some apps and games to not work on the device, including the Dolphin emulator. All Android TV apps do work on the dongle. The Shield TV Pro does support 64bit apps.

The use of Android TV 32bit has already been noticed by several Reddit users, AndroidPolice writes. Topics about the lack of 64bit support for the dongle have also appeared on the Nvidia forum. The Shield TV dongle and the Shield TV Pro use the same Tegra X1+ soc, although the Pro variant has 3GB of RAM. The dongle has 2GB of RAM. Nvidia has probably chosen for that reason to provide the cheaper variant with a 32-bit operating system. The Shield TV Pro, in turn, runs 64-bit Android TV. The original Shield TV devices from 2015 and 2017 also support 64bit apps.

Nvidia has an overview on its website with applications that do not work on the Shield TV dongle. This includes some Shield games like Borderlands 2, the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot, Half-Life 2, and Metal Gear Solid 3. These games don’t work because they require at least 3GB of RAM. Also, the Dolphin emulator, which allows users to play Wii and GameCube games, will not work on the Shield TV dongle. This is because Dolphin requires a 64bit architecture as the in-game performance on 32bit is subpar according to the developers. Pretty much all other Android TV apps work flawlessly on the Shield TV dongle.

The Nvidia Shield TV dongle