Blip Launcher

Blip turns any Android device into a game console. One shelf, real box art, achievements on the covers, and an interface you drive entirely with a controller. You bring the files and the emulator apps — it brings everything else.

It is a launcher, not an emulator, and it does not come with games.

POINT IT AT A FOLDER

Pick the folder your ROMs live in and it recognises each subfolder by its name, or by its files when the name says nothing. You get a table — system, games, emulator, core — and nothing joins the library until you say so. It knows 54 systems, which apps play each one and which core to load.

WHAT YOU GET

• Art that turns up on its own — covers, backgrounds, logos, descriptions, manuals — drawn from several places. Anything it gets wrong, you fix by hand.
• Art fitted to each platform: tall cases, square cartridges, wide discs. Nothing stretched or cropped.
• Shelf, grid or list, for ten games or a thousand.
• Folders read wherever they are — internal storage, SD card, USB. Zipped ROMs are fine, and multi-disc sets and regional copies arrive as one game.
• Any emulator, even one it has never heard of: a platform or a single game can carry its own launch command. PC games, streaming and Android apps share the shelf.
• A self-hosted RomM server's library beside your own folders, its games downloaded on demand.

ONE BUTTON BACK INTO YOUR GAME

It opens on the last game you played, its art filling the screen and one button to continue. Below it, the rows you choose: most played, favourites, weeks of playtime, storage and battery.

YOUR TROPHIES, ON THE COVERS

Connect your RetroAchievements account and every game carries its progress while you browse. The full list — points, rarity, unlock dates, what is next — sits on the game's page, and each copy says if the site supports it. Nothing is written back.

YOUR SAVES, ON EVERY HANDHELD (BETA)

Sign in to Blip Cloud and your saves follow you between devices: a newer save comes down before the game starts, yours goes up when it closes, and a replaced save is backed up first. Free up to 100 MB; the account is optional and can be deleted at any time.

A THEME HERE IS NOT A COLOUR SWAP

A theme sets colours, corners, fonts, glass and the filter over the art. Three come built in, each in light and dark — the 16 bit one squares every corner for the handhelds built to look like 1994. More wait in the online gallery, and you can make your own at themes.goblip.co.

BUILT FOR A CONTROLLER, NOT ADAPTED TO ONE

Every screen works with a d-pad and four buttons, and the hints along the bottom say what each one does. Buttons answer to the letter printed on them. No touchscreen required. Set it as the home app and the shelf is the first thing the device shows.

TWO SCREENS, ONE DEVICE

On a dual-screen handheld like the AYN Thor the game you are looking at fills the top panel and the library sits under your thumb. While you play, a tap on the lower panel shows what you launched, your time so far, its manual, and the way back.

NO ADS, NOTHING WATCHING YOU

No analytics, no telemetry. Looking for artwork sends a game title and nothing else, and your saves leave the device only if you sign in to Blip Cloud.

WHERE IT RUNS

Any modern Android device — a retro handheld, a phone or a tablet. Built and tested on the AYN Thor and the Retroid Pocket. No root, no special hardware. Nine languages.

FREE, WITH A ONE-TIME PRO UNLOCK

The app is free and carries no ads. One purchase, once, unlocks RetroAchievements and RomM; everything else, Blip Cloud's free plan included, costs nothing.

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This app is a launcher, not an emulator. It does not include, host, sell or download game files of any kind. You supply your own files and your own emulator apps.