Back in February, Max Keller demonstrated Android running on the Nintendo Switch which he managed to port together with Billy Laws (ByLaws) although some of the Switch’s function didn’t work. Ever since then, we haven’t heard much but now, ByLaws shared a video demonstrating GPU acceleration which has rekindled interested in Android on the Switch!

Android on the Switch: Previous and Current state

In February, the Switch’s Android port had the basics working just fine although GPU acceleration was still being worked on

As mentioned above, Android on the Switch was in the spotlight this February but sadly, no publicly downloadable builds were made available. This port, which was based on Android Q, had a couple of issues including no GPU acceleration and incorrect colour output but now, things seem to back in motion as ByLaws appears to be working on the Android for the Switch again!

ByLaws’ recent work came to light through a Reddit thread highlighting the presence of a public video that was shot yesterday.

Now, it seems that GPU acceleration on Android on the Switch is working to some degree!

This video (linked below) features a Nintendo Switch in docked mode being controlled by a mouse with what appears to be graphical acceleration which is demonstrated by a very smooth UI as opposed to the February demonstration video (in which GPU acceleration wasn’t present). The Switch is not seen in the video but considering the video is from ByLaws and that he commented on the Reddit thread, there’s enough evidence to assume that the device in question is indeed Nintendo’s latest console.

Through a comment on the thread, ByLaws stated that the everything has been redone which means that some things which were previously working might not be working at the moment but this may change if there’s further development.

What can I do with GPU acceleration on Android? When can I expect to get Android running on my Switch?

Some games like PUBG aren’t available natively for the Switch so a properly working Android port could expand its game library quite a bit!

Obviously, GPU acceleration on Android for the Switch is a pretty big deal as it allows for:

• An Android experience that is much smoother and compatible with many more applications
• The ability to play Android games on the Switch such as PUBG Mobile, Shadowgun, Tekken Mobile and other titles
  • Undoubtedly, the Switch would be able to run a lot of Android games pretty well thanks to its Nvidia Maxwell-based GPU
• Turning your Switch into a better media consumption device since Android has much better applications than Horizon OS for doing such stuff
• The DraStic emulator (DS) and other Android-exclusive software will become runnable on the Switch

Right now, there is no ETA on when a working build of Android for the Switch will be released if it’ll ever be. However, Billy Laws stated that he plans to release his work, at least on the GPU acceleration thing, when it’s ready which shows that a fully working Android build may come to fusee-gelee vulnerable Nintendo Switch consoles eventually.

Conclusion

As stated above, there’s no word on when anything will be released so don’t hold your breath for anything. For now, the only things you can do is follow Max Keller on Twitter and check the Switch Hacks subreddit along ByLaws’ Reddit profile for further updates.

If you want to read about more interesting stuff for the Switch, you might be interested in checking out the recent sharing of the prototype of Universal Wrestling Corporation (unreleased NES Game) on Hidden Palace or that Godot and Ren’Py got ported to the console.

GPU acceleration on Android running on the Nintendo Switch video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/MKSs3oERVFEW7gwd9