Emulators on tvOS

tvOS

Developer	Apple Inc.
Initial release	Apple TV Software 1.0 (2007)
Latest release	/ tvOS 26.6 (2026)

tvOS is Apple, Inc.'s streaming media player operating system. It is a derivative and counterpart to iOS, and a sibling operating system to iPadOS. It was introduced with the Apple TV as Apple TV Software in 2007, then revamped and rebranded to tvOS 4th generation Apple TV as tvOS 9 (to match then current iOS 9 numbering scheme). With tvOS 9's introduction, Apple opened the platform to third-party developers and introduced the tvOS App Store. It continues to be updated and runs on the Apple TV 4K (5th generation) and Apple TV 4K, 2nd generation (6th generation).

Before diving in;

• See each Wiki Category Consoles, Computers and Arcade for individual dedicated system pages to see more detailed comparisons and information about software emulators. Dedicated system pages provide more up-to-date listings and in-depth information on specific aspects like hardware features, peripheral support, and compatibility etc.
• Some games have Game engine recreations and source ports that run on tvOS, which can be the better than emulators for their specific games.

Background information

Reasons to emulate on tvOS include: powerful processing (Apple Silicon) and graphics (leveraging (typically) the Metal API), instant large screen TV set-up, and support for Nintendo Switch Online controllers, PlayStation 4 and 5 controllers, and Xbox One S and X/S controllers (along with MFi, Siri Remote and multi-player support). Reasons not to or to be cautious about emulating on tvOS include: difficulty of installation (requires either a Jailbreak (not available on all Apple TV models or tvOS versions), a sideloading (see Sideloadly) or building/compiling yourself and installing onto the Apple TV (via Xcode)), limited storage capacity (circumvented with cloud storage), and keeping various emulators up-to-date.

Installation methods

Xcode

Sideloadly

AirPlay

Most emulators on iOS can be screen mirrored to tvOS through native code, which doesn't provide native emulation or inputs but can provide some functionality for viewing purposes and such.

Multi-Systems

Name	Latest version	FLOSS	Active	Recommended
MAME
MAME4iOS (ArcadeMania)	git	✓	✓	✓
libretro
RetroArch	1.22.2 Website	✓	✓	✓
Provenance	TestFlight git	✓	✓	✓

RetroArch

An open-source, multi-platform libretro frontend written in C or C++. It is designed to be fast, lightweight, and portable. The tvOS port includes some features to sidestep local functionality, such as installing ROMs from a web server.

Provenance

An open-source, multi-system emulator for iOS and tvOS.

iCube

An open-source GameCube and Wii emulator.

See also

Emulators on other systems(edit)

• Calculators: Casio • NumWorks • TI • HP
• Handheld computers: Pandora • DragonBox Pyra • PocketChip
• Mobile: Android • iOS • iPadOS • MRE • Java • LineageOS • GrapheneOS
• Microcontrollers: STM32 • ESP8266 • ESP32 • TM4C
• Home computers: Commodore 64 • VIC-20 • BBC Micro • Tandy Color Computer 2 • Dragon 32/64 • Coleco Adam • ZX Spectrum • Cambridge Z88 • Atari 8-bit • Atari ST • PC-8800 • PC-9800
• Other: Rockbox • watchOS • visionOS • tvOS • webOS • iPod • UEFI • browsers • RetroFW • Arduino • PocketSprite • PICO-8 • TIC-80
• Operating systems:
  • Modern: Windows • Linux • macOS • Windows on ARM • Raspberry Pi • BSD
  • Legacy (Microsoft): DOS • Windows 3.x • Windows 9x • Enterprise Windows NT• Windows XP • Windows 7
  • Legacy (other): IRIX • BeOS • Towns OS • Classic Mac OS • NeXTSTEP • OS/2 • TempleOS • SunsOS
  • Legacy mobile (Microsoft): Windows CE • Pocket PC • Windows Mobile • Windows Phone • Windows RT
  • Legacy mobile (other): MeeGo • Palm OS • Symbian • EPOC • Blackberry OS • MediOS • Zaurus
  • Other: Amiga • AROS • RISC OS • QNX • KaiOS • KolibriOS • MorphOS • Haiku • Maemo • ToaruOS • Solaris • ZealOS • Redox • Fiwix • Minix3 • Sortix