It's been a while since the last major update, and we've been working hard during that time to bring many improvements to the emulator. In fact, by a decent margin, this is Azahar's largest update ever!
Please take a look at the changelog below to see what we've been working on and learn about the new features which are available.
As previously announced and explained in an announcement on our Discord server, this release increases the minimum Android version from Android 9 to Android 10.
Devices running Android 9 will no longer be able to update beyond Azahar 2123.4.1.
See the announcement post for additional information.
This causes the cartridge to appear inserted on the emulated HOME menu, and otherwise act as an inserted cartridge would on real hardware.
Implemented texture filtering while using the Vulkan renderer. | @jbm11208 #1116, @jbm11208 #1513, @PabloMK7 #1561
Added support for secondary screen opacity while using the Vulkan renderer. | Briar @OpenSauce04 #1255
Improved HLE NWM support. | @lannoene #1375
This enables multiplayer functionality with use of the LLE DLP module in several new games, including Luigi's Mansion, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, and Mario Kart 7.
Implemented HLE DSP sleep and wakeup functionality. | @PabloMK7 #1529
This fixes an issue where games could have bugged sound when opened from the HOME menu.
Added new SMDH region free patch setting which is enabled by default. | @PabloMK7 #1541
This functions similarly to the region free patch from Luma3DS.
Improved memory mode handling, allowing extended memory games to be launched from the HOME menu. | @PabloMK7 #1534, @PabloMK7 #1560
Improved plugin memory management, allowing launching applications with plugins from the HOME menu. | @PabloMK7 #1554
Changed unimplemented GAS mode behaviour, fixing visual issues in the Monster Hunter games when a blur effect is used.
Fixed garbled HOME menu graphics when suspending an application. | @PabloMK7 #1518
Fixed a long-standing issue where microphone input could sound slowed-down or stuttery. | @PabloMK7 #1610
Various improvements to stereoscopic 3D settings and functionality. | @DavidRGriswold #1212
Implemented AM:CancelImportProgram, allowing emulated CIA installations to be cancelled mid-way. | @PabloMK7 #1535
Improved implementation of MemorySystem::GetPhysicalPointer, resulting in a very minor performance improvement. | @PabloMK7 #1587
Moved the plugin framebuffer address ownership from the plg:ldr service to the memory system, resulting in a very minor performance improvement. | @PabloMK7 #1572
Fixed a possible crash in the Vulkan renderer caused by malformed geometry shaders. | @PabloMK7 #1585
Switch to using xxHash instead of CityHash64 and improve ShaderSetup hashing behaviour, resulting in a minor performance improvement. | @PabloMK7 #1592
Implemented game-specific fixes for broken geometry shaders in the following SEGA 3D Classics titles: Thunder Blade, After Burner, Power Drift.
The play_time.bin file has now been moved from the log directory to the sysdata directory. | @OpenSauce04 #1310
Android
Increased minimum Android version to Android 10. | @OpenSauce04 #1368
Added support for compressing and decompression ROM files. | @ne-kle @PabloMK7 #1458
Implemented background color, second screen opacity, and audio emulation settings from the desktop build. | marsia @rtiangha @OpenSauce04 #1254
Fixed an issue where Discord could break secondary screen detection on dual-screen devices. | @DavidRGriswold #1455
This prevents images related to Azahar from showing up in the Android gallery.
VSync is now disabled by default on Android due to reasons explained here. | @DavidRGriswold #1456
This results in a noticeable reduction in input latency with little to no effect on the visual appearance of games.
This change applies retroactively to existing configurations; VSync will be automatically disabled after updating if it was previously enabled.
Fixed an issue where resetting input bindings to their default value wouldn't actually clear the binding. | @DavidRGriswold #1463
Fixed a bug where the secondary screen opacity setting was being applied in layouts other than the custom layout. | @DavidRGriswold #1496
Fixed an issue where certain external gamepads would have inverted axis controls. | @DavidRGriswold #1483
Affected gamepads will have to be re-bound after updating the emulator.
The emulator UI's refresh rate is no longer limited 60hz on phones with a higher set refresh rate. | @ne-kle
During emulation, the display refresh rate is still limited to 60hz to preserve battery life.
Fixed the Toggle Controls menu having flickering on the bottom edge and having misaligned list clickboxes on certain Android devices. | @OpenSauce04 #1598
Fixed a bug where the screen size could be detected incorrectly. | @DavidRGriswold #1495
Desktop
Implemented batch compression and decompression functionality. | @PabloMK7 #1503
Improved consistency of capitalization and colon usage in the UI. | @RedBlackAka @OpenSauce04 #1306
Prevented refreshing game directory while emulation is powered on, avoiding a race condition. | @PabloMK7 #1553
Skip Vulkan in API quick selection if unavailable. | @RedBlackAka #1618
Docker
Added new Docker image download option to release files. | @OpenSauce04 #1493
This docker image contains the azahar-room executable, allowing local multiplayer rooms to be hosted.
Technical
ARM macOS binaries are now built using macOS 26 runners. | @OpenSauce04 #1412
Added new game launch stress testing functionality to the desktop build behind the new ENABLE_DEVELOPER_OPTIONS CMake option. | @OpenSauce04 #1442
Various minor internal improvements to the Android performance overlay. | @OpenSauce04 #1367
Fixed build failure on unix-like operating systems introduced by Qt 6.10.0. | @OpenSauce04 #1441
Moved DSP memory ownership to the memory subsystem. | @PabloMK7 #1520
Updated dynarmic to the latest version. | @PabloMK7 #1569