We’re opening forums for Nintendo Switch Android hacking

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Ever since Nintendo announced its portable game console, the Switch, back in 2017, console modding enthusiasts have waited for the device to be blown wide open. It only took a year for that to happen thanks to a vulnerability in the Switch’s SoC, the NVIDIA Tegra X1. The Switch modding community has rapidly grown since the disclosure of Fusée Gelée. There’s a ton of custom firmware, homebrew software, and even a full GNU/Linux distribution, but one development we’ve been eagerly waiting to see happen is an Android port. Now, thanks to the efforts of multiple developers, an Android port is nearly here for the Nintendo Switch. In anticipation of its release, we’re opening up forums dedicated to Android development for Nintendo’s portable console.

Nintendo Switch Forums

Back in February, we first heard that developers were attempting to port Android to the Switch, but at the time this work was merely a proof-of-concept. The first builds were buggy, laggy, and just plain broken, but that’s to be expected when porting an unsupported OS.

Over the last few months, however, community member bylaws, the same developer behind the L4T Ubuntu release, has put a ton of work into making the Android port more stable. We’re now at a point where almost all basic functionality, including Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, touch, sound, hardware acceleration, and Joycons, work. Android apps like Discord and Google Chrome work, but what’s even more interesting (but not really that surprising) is that apps and games built for the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV, like Portal and GeForce Now, work just fine on the Switch. Developers have even shown TWRP and Magisk booting on the Nintendo Switch!

Why wait for console ports? 😏 pic.twitter.com/efNeCJ0EAj — switchroot (@switchroot_org) June 16, 2019

Several developers have banded together to fix the remaining bugs and make the installation process user-friendly before release. We’ll be following these developments closely, but you can also follow the @switchroot_org Twitter account for updates directly from the development team.