Citra emulator for iOS
Citra emulator for iOS is an experimental open-source Nintendo 3DS emulator/debugger written in C#.
Citra emulator is written with portability in mind, with builds actively maintained for iPhone and iPad devices.
This applications emulates a subset of 3DS hardware and therefore is useful for running/debugging homebrew applications, and it is also able to run many commercial games.
Content summary
Info
Features
The name of Citra is derived from CTR, which is part of the model number of the original 3DS.
Some of these do not run at a playable state, but we are working every day to advance the project forward.
Citra emulator has an active team of open-source developers; over 150 people have worked hard on the project since its founding in 2014.
All Pokemon games now work properly; Pokemon X/Y now runs properly with HLE audio as well as LLE audio.
You can expect many games to run slowly, though and to exhibit some gameplay and graphical glitches.
If you’re interested in 3DS emulation as an experiment, you may gain something out of trying Citra MMJ emulator for Android.
Citra emulator can run most games at variable speed, depending on your hardware configuration.
However, not all games are created equally and therefore some games will run at full speed while others might suffer from slow emulation; you may also experience some slowdowns.
On Citra emulator certain games, animated particle effects (such as smoke, fire, trails, etc.) or text may not render properly, showing up instead as a jumbled mess of triangles, sometimes covering large parts of the screen.
This is caused by a missing feature in our GPU support (Geometry Shaders) which is used by games to render these kind of effects.
Citra emulator is licensed under the GPLv2 (or any later version); refer to the license.txt file included.
System requirements
In order to run the application correctly, it is necessary to meet the minimum requirements given in the table below.
| OS | iOS 12.0 (or later) |
| Device | iPhone 8 / iPad 5th (or newer) |
| CPU | Apple A11 Bionic (or higher) |
| Jailbreak | Not required |
| Storage | 32 MB free |
It is still possible to install the app on devices not mentioned above, but we cannot guarantee its proper functioning.
We recommend backing up the device on which the app will be installed before performing any installation of third-party apps not from the official apple store.
Download
The latest version of this app is available on the link button below.
How to install
If you already have AltStore installed on your iOS device, you can go directly to the next steps.
Install AltStore
You can install applications on iPhone and iPad using .IPA files with AltStore (without jailbreak).
AltStore app requires a Windows or Mac computer for the initial installation of the AltServer software.
- Download AltServer on your computer from the button below
- Install AltStore to your iPhone (or iPad)
- Launch AltStore to begin downloading apps
- Leave AltServer running, and AltStore will do the rest
The latest version of AltServer is available for Windows and Mac os on the link button below:
The AltServer software supports the following operating systems:
- Windows 10 (or newer)
- macOS Mojave 10.14.4 (or newer)
Install App
- Download the IPA file from the download section
- Connect your iOS device to a computer using a USB cable (or enable Wi-Fi – Wi-Fi Sync in iTunes and make sure both your device and computer are on the same Wi-Fi network)
- Open AltServer on your computer as an administrator
- Open the AltStore app on your iOS device
- Tap on the + icon in the top left corner of the My Apps tab
- Tap on the IPA file of the app you wish to install from the downloads
- If you are using the AltStore for the first time, you must enter your Apple ID and password to begin the installation.
The installation process will start right away and you will be able to see the installed App under My Apps in AltStore; you can also find it on your home screen as well.
Last update
There will be frequent updates which you can grab from the download section.
The last version implements the following new features:
- Implements a GPU shader cache, which improves performance and reduces framerate “stuttering”
- Fixes various GPU related crashes
- Merges latest fixes & improvements from upstream Citra
- Added compatibility with hundreds of games
- Enhanced graphics, such as resolution scaling and texture filtering (these optional features work best on high-end devices)
- Support for external gamepads
- Support for various built-in features, such as the camera, microphone, and motion controls
This application is from a third-party developer, so an automatic update won’t be available.
You will need to manually update the app by installing the new version from the IPA file; the previous app will be replaced automatically.
All the updates have the latest fixes and optimizations, but their constantly changing nature means that little testing has been done on them and unknown bugs may appear.
License
We are not affiliated with any software house company.
All patents and trademarks are owned by their respective holders.
- Nintendo 3DS is a trademark of Nintendo Co., Ltd
- iOS is a trademark of Apple Inc.
- AltStore is property of AltStore LLC
All the apps and games are property and trademark of their respective developer or publisher and for home or personal use only.
FAQ
This content can answer the following questions:
- How to install Citra emulator on iOS?
- Can I run Citra emulator on iPhone and iPad?
- How to download Citra emulator IPA?
- Is Citra emulator safe and legal?
- Is Citra emulator available for iOS?