DSperate vs iDroidDS

DSperate is a free, public-source Nintendo DS and DSi emulator for Linux on AArch64 and ARMhf. Its CPU emulation includes ARM946E-S and ARM7TDMI interpreters, plus ARM-to-AArch64 and ARM-to-ARMv7 recompilers. Graphics include complete 2D engines, a software 3D rasteriser and optional Vulkan GPU rendering. Experimental DSi support covers DSiWare, NAND boot, an SD card folder, microphone, Wi-Fi, PictoChat and Download Play, but the DSi DSP is not emulated and DSi-enhanced cartridges run as DS games in DSi mode. Local multiplayer and Download Play work over a LAN; internet access uses a user-mode TCP/IP stack. It has ten save-state slots and a hidden automatic slot, configurable screen layouts, cheats, and remappable keyboard and controller input with stylus support. Games can run with built-in FreeBIOS and generated firmware; user dumps allow firmware boot and exact timing. It loads .nds files and .zip files containing an .nds, but not zip64, 7z or rar. The project is licensed under GPLv3 and describes its implementation as clean-room work.

iDroidDS, also called nds4droid, is a free Nintendo DS emulator for Android smartphones. It uses DeSmuME 0.9.11 as its core and lists save states, cheat support, and screen layouts for Both, Main, Touch, Portrait, and Landscape. The project is open source under the GNU General Public License, welcomes contributions, and says the emulator has no advertisements. Supported processor architectures are armeabi-v7a, arm64-v8a, x86, and x86_64. This version requires Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or newer; the README says devices with more than 512 MB of RAM and that Android version should be able to run it. Performance can vary with device hardware and the game being emulated. The repository warns that it is not the official nds4droid repository and that the project is not stable. Issues can be reported through GitHub tickets, but reports involving devices below Android 5.0 or ROMs that do not operate correctly will be closed. Dropbox save syncing and work on the OpenGL ES 2.0 and 3.0 renderers are listed as planned tasks. The software is provided as-is without warranty.