nxnative: Not a Switch Emulator but a Native Port for iPhone, iPad and Mac, Now with Switch 2

nxnative is not an emulator. It is a native porting tool: it takes your own Switch game, rewrites the game's code to run directly on Apple silicon, rebuilds the graphics on Metal, and packs the result into a standalone app. It officially supports iPhone and iPad (iOS/iPadOS 26+, A17 Pro or M1 and newer) and Apple silicon Macs. The so-called PC version can only build packages; games cannot run on x86 PCs. Android support comes from community ports. On 2026-11-01 the official site listed 109 playable Switch games, 19 of them upgraded to 60 fps. Since October 31 it also supports the Switch 2: as of November 5 there are nine games, including Donkey Kong Bananza, Mario Kart World and Star Fox, tested on Mac only, with iPhone and iPad untested.

How it differs from an emulator

Emulators like Eden and MeloNX translate Switch instructions while the game runs. That runtime translation is why iOS emulators need JIT. nxnative takes another route:

• CPU: The Switch and Apple chips both use ARM64. At build time, nxnative rewrites each game's NSO code modules, "only where Apple's kernel requires it" in the site's words, and lets the code run directly on the CPU.
• System: A host layer stands in for Horizon, the Switch OS, and provides threads, memory, the filesystem, audio and system services.
• Graphics: The game's NVN and Vulkan calls are implemented on Metal. Maxwell shaders are translated to SPIR-V and then to Metal Shading Language at build time.
• Per-game profiles: Each game has a small profile of constants and shader tables. The code reads the profile instead of hard-coding any game.

So it is closer to "port the game into an app" than "install a player that opens any game." Switch 2 games work the same way: the Switch 2 is ARM64 too, and nxnative turns the game into a native program rather than emulating it.

Origins and lineage

• Created by seedds. The repository was created on 2026-10-13 under the MIT license (bundled third-party code keeps its own licenses).
• It grew out of d2r-mobile, a project for bringing Diablo II: Resurrected to phones. The shader side uses Ryujinx's shader translator, and the project credits yuzu, LibHac, SPIRV-Cross and others.
• It is not a fork of yuzu or Ryujinx, and it is a different kind of software from Eden or Ryubing. Like Hydra on Mac it talks to Metal directly, but Hydra is a true emulator.
• A ring of community projects has grown around it: Mac GUI builders NX2Apple, NX Play, NxNative Launcher and LumaNX; a branch targeting iOS 16.1 and 17; a tvOS builder; and Android efforts such as nx2android, nxnative-android and Banana Native. None of these are maintained by nxnative. As of 11-05, NxNative Launcher's repository and its author's account can no longer be opened.

Supported devices (as of November 5, 2026)

Getting started (overview)

Build environment: a Mac with macOS 26.6+, Xcode 27.2, Homebrew and arm64 Python 3.12+. iPhone builds also need Xcode's iOS platform component. Free disk space should be about twice the game size plus 10GB. The first build takes 30–60 minutes; later builds reuse finished work.

1. Follow the guide on the official site, nxnative.dev, to install nxnative and its tools on your Mac.
2. Put your game files (base game, update and DLC) in one folder and have your keys ready. See keys and firmware explained. Switch 2 games are built from an unpacked game folder (not an NSP) and don't need prod.keys.
3. Run the official build script and choose either an unsigned IPA for iPhone/iPad or a Mac app.
4. On iPhone or iPad, sideload with AltStore, Sideloadly or LiveContainer, and turn on Increased Memory Limit in your sideloader for larger games. If an IPA is too large to install, the site describes a build option that moves game assets out for a one-time copy.

If you'd rather avoid the terminal, the community Mac app NX2Apple wraps these steps in a window. Sideloading basics are in our iPhone and iPad setup guide, and Mac specifics are in the Mac setup guide. The official steps don't include enabling JIT, though the project hasn't explicitly said JIT is never needed. For how JIT works with MeloNX, see iOS JIT and StikDebug.

What playing is like

• Game list: 109 playable games on 2026-11-01, 19 at 60 fps, including Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Fire Emblem Engage and Monster Hunter Rise. The count went from 48 to 85 to 99 while the media coverage was rolling in.
• Switch 2 games (as of 2026-11-05, self-reported in the official game notes, Mac only): Donkey Kong Bananza runs at 60 fps in the opening areas on an M4 Pro and drops to 30 in heavy scenes; Splatoon Raiders was tested from the opening to the first beach stage; Pokémon Pokopia runs at about 60 fps through the opening and first area; Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave runs at 60 fps on an M4 Pro since 11-03 by rewriting the game's own 30 fps target, and since 11-04 offers an optional 120 fps on Mac; Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment reaches the first field at about 60 fps, without battles tested; Mario Kart World finishes the first 50cc race at 60 fps on an M6 Mac with 16 GB; Mario Tennis Fever runs at 60 fps on an M4 Pro (11-04); Yoshi and the Mysterious Book runs at 60 fps on an M6 through the first habitat (11-04); Star Fox reaches the tutorial at 56-60 fps on an M4 Pro (11-05). Only a few third-party reports exist so far. Ocarina of Time isn't in the main project as of the afternoon of 11-05 (Beijing time); there are unmerged test versions, see Ocarina of Time on emulators.
• 120 fps: besides Fire Emblem, the Switch game Mario & Luigi: Brothership can run at 120 fps on Mac since 11-04.
• Controls: Tap 2D or 3D at the top to switch touch layouts; a connected controller hides the touch buttons. In 3D, swipe the right third of the screen to move the camera. Shake the phone to shake the controller.
• Stutter: Short stutters the first time a scene appears are normal. Graphics compile once and are remembered.
• Settings: Edit Documents/env.txt in the app to switch to handheld mode, cap at 30 fps to save battery or show an FPS counter. The language defaults to English; you can pick another at build time.
• Saves: In the Files app, under the game app's folder, the save folder holds your saves. Some sideloaders give a reinstalled app a new data folder, so copy the old save folder over.

Strengths

• Game code runs directly on the Apple chip instead of being translated on the fly, and some games have 60 fps profiles.
• Each game is its own app: open it from Finder on Mac or tap it like any app on iPhone.
• Open source, extremely fast-moving, with plenty of community tools.

Known issues and limits

• Only games with a profile are supported. Other games get a survey report and a best-effort package that may not start.
• No amiibo and no online features.
• High barrier to entry: you need an Apple silicon Mac to build, and an iPhone 15 Pro or newer to play on a phone.
• Apps sideloaded with a free Apple ID expire after 7 days and need refreshing, like any sideloaded app.
• The project is only three weeks old. Features, requirements and the game list change constantly; check the official site.
• Switch 2 support is brand new: nine games, Mac-only testing, and each game tested only through its opening.

Recent timeline

Legal status

• As of 2026-11-05, GitHub's public DMCA archive has no Nintendo notice naming nxnative; the November folder, covering notices processed through 11-04, has none from Nintendo (the archive is published with a delay). Of Nintendo's October notices, the 2026-10-23 one targeted a Rhythm Heaven decompilation project.
• Nintendo has gone after Switch emulators repeatedly in 2026 (13 named in February, seven notices on August 17 alone), arguing that decrypting games with prod.keys circumvents copy protection. Building Switch games with nxnative also uses keys to read them (Switch 2 games use an unpacked folder and no keys). TechSpot and other outlets widely expect Nintendo to take notice sooner or later.
• The project's own position: the repository contains nothing from any game, and nxnative is not affiliated with Nintendo or any publisher.
• For users, the legal picture is the same as with emulators. More in are Switch emulators legal.

Who should use nxnative

• People with an Apple silicon Mac plus an iPhone 15 Pro or newer (or an M1+ iPad) who want a few of their own games as native apps: the best fit.
• iPhone only, no Mac: hard to use. Consider MeloNX.
• Windows PC: it won't work. Use Eden.
• Android phones: Eden is still the main option. Ports like nx2android (Switch games) and Banana Native (Switch 2 games, Snapdragon with 12 GB+) are for tinkerers.

For nxnative's Switch 2 support, see nxnative adds Switch 2 support: Donkey Kong Bananza runs natively on Mac; for the emulator side, see the state of Switch 2 emulation. For platform overviews, see the iOS and Mac pages.