iDroidDS vs melonDS

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.

melonDS is a free, open-source emulator focused on Nintendo DS emulation, with builds listed for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Its feature list includes a nearly complete CPU, video, and audio core, a JIT recompiler, an OpenGL renderer with 3D upscaling, joystick support, savestates, RTC, microphone, and lid controls. The project also lists DLDI support. Wi-Fi features include local multiplayer and online connectivity, but are a work in progress and may not work with all games. DSi emulation and GBA slot add-ons are also in progress. DS emulation requires configured BIOS and firmware files; DSi emulation additionally needs a DSi NAND image. melonDS uses raw save files and can import saves from DeSmuME, DraStic, or a flashcard, but does not support the special save memory type used by WarioWare DIY and Jam with the Band. Direct online connectivity requires libpcap or WinPcap, Ethernet, and administrator or superuser privileges; indirect mode does not require Ethernet or those privileges. The software renderer is more accurate but more CPU intensive, while OpenGL may be faster but less accurate.