Clock Signal vs vAmigaWeb

Clock Signal is a free emulator for running classic software on Linux and macOS without first having to learn the original machine or emulator controls. It supports systems including the BBC Micro, Apple II, Atari 2600, Commodore Vic-20, early Macintosh, MSX, Sega Master System and ZX Spectrum. When you provide disk, tape or ROM media, it can identify and configure a machine, issue the commands needed to start the software, and speed up loading where possible. It does not import or take ownership of your files. The emulator processes video signals such as composite video and generates audio at the emulated machine’s source rate before filtering it for host output. Its README gives typical audio latency as 5–10 ms; display latency depends on host hardware. It aims for cycle-accurate emulation, which it says it achieves in some cases. Acorn Archimedes, Commodore Amiga and early PC compatible emulation is less complete than for the other listed systems. A BIOS is required. The project is MIT licensed, with macOS releases using Cocoa and Metal and Linux builds available through Qt, OpenGL or SDL options.

vAmigaWeb is an Amiga emulator for iPad, iPhone, Android, and web browsers. Compiled to WebAssembly, it uses the same cycle-exact core as the vAmiga Mac version. The progressive web app can be installed and run offline; on iOS, installation is through saving it to the home screen. Touch controls include a virtual keyboard, configurable joystick, and customizable overlay buttons and key mappings, and external game controllers are supported. It can load multiple disks and ZIP archives, including multivolume archives, and supports ADF, HDF, ADZ, and HDZ disk images. A Kickstart system ROM is required; free AROS and EmuTOS replacements are offered, while copyrighted Commodore Kickstarts are not provided. Snapshots and settings use local browser storage. The app requests persistent storage to reduce automatic eviction when the browser grants it, but private or incognito windows do not allow saving. Other tools include a live memory viewer, RetroShell command line, activity monitors, and DMA bus visualization. Workspaces store connected disks and settings and remain compatible across vAmigaCore upgrades, unlike snapshots, which may not. The project is free and open source under the GNU General Public License.