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Let us answer the question before anything else, because it has a short answer and almost nobody says it plainly.
RecompLauncher has no Android version. It is Windows, Linux and Mac only. There is no APK, no beta, no sideload trick and nothing on the way that has been announced. If you have been searching for "recomp launcher android" and finding download pages, those pages are not it, and some of them are worth being suspicious of.
The good news is that the thing you actually wanted does exist. Three launchers run on Android, one of them was built for Android first, and on a cheap Linux handheld the right answer is a fourth thing entirely. That is the rest of this page.
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Why the Confusion Exists
Three things collided in October and November 2026 and produced one very popular search with no answer behind it.
The name moved. The project now called RecompLauncher started life as RecompStore, running on jailbroken PS5 consoles, and crossed to the PC in October 2026. Both names are still attached to work by the same people, and RecompStore for the PS5 still exists separately. So "recomp launcher" is a name people learned from PS5 and Windows coverage.
The category is new and generic. "Recomp launcher" reads like a category, the way "video player" does. People type it expecting a class of app, then land on the name of one specific program that happens not to be on their platform.
Android is where the handheld audience is. Most people asking this question are holding a Retroid, an AYN or an Anbernic Android device. Almost everything written about recomp launchers assumes a desktop.
We untangle the four differently named projects in Recomp Launcher, RecompStore and Ports Launcher: which to use. This page is only about the Android question.
What Actually Runs on Android
| Launcher | Android | Catalogue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recompa | Yes, Android only | Over 250 projects across more than 20 systems | Built for Android first. Needs Android 8.0 or newer. Free, open source, no ads |
| Quiver Launcher | Yes, alongside Windows, macOS and Linux | Around 2,000 projects | The largest catalogue of the four. No published minimum Android version |
| Ports Launcher | Yes, alongside desktop | 492 entries | Its interface needs a working OpenGL driver, which is exactly what cheap Android handhelds are unreliable about |
| RecompLauncher | No | Its own curated catalogue | Windows, Linux and Mac only. This is the one you were searching for and the one that will not help |
Recompa is the answer most people are looking for. It is an Android launcher for native ports, free and open source under the GPL, and it does not pretend to also be a desktop app. Pointing an Android handheld at a launcher built for Android handhelds removes a whole class of problem, starting with the interface.
Quiver Launcher is the answer if your catalogue matters more. Roughly 2,000 projects against Recompa's 250 is a large difference, and Quiver runs on your desktop too, so one launcher covers both machines. The tradeoff is that a cross platform launcher is not tuned for a small screen and a gamepad.
Ports Launcher works and has the OpenGL caveat, which is not a minor footnote. Driver quality on budget Android handhelds is the single most common reason an app that works on a phone does not work on a handheld.
Our own position: we have not tested any of these on hardware. Everything above is what each project publishes about itself, which is the right basis for "does it exist on my platform" and a poor basis for "is it any good".
The Catch Nobody Mentions: a Launcher Is Not a Port
This is the part that disappoints people, and it is better to know now.
A launcher finds, installs and updates ports. It does not make a port run on your device. Nearly every recompiled port in these catalogues is built for x86-64 Windows or Linux, and an Android handheld is an ARM machine. Installing a launcher on Android does not give you an ARM build of a game that only has an x86 build.
So what does a launcher on Android actually get you? The subset of the catalogue that has an Android or ARM build. That subset is real and it is growing, and it is far smaller than the catalogue total suggests. Ports Launcher's own catalogue tags only 16 entries as Android specific out of 492.
The general version of this wall, including which systems have ARM builds at all, is in recompiled games on Android. Read that before you judge a launcher by its catalogue size.
On a Cheap Linux Handheld, Use PortMaster Instead
If your device is an Anbernic, a TrimUI, a Powkiddy or a Miyoo running custom firmware rather than Android, none of the above applies and the answer is better than any of them.
PortMaster is the one with tested device data. Every port in its library carries a device list that somebody actually ran it on, per device, rather than a platform badge. That is the difference between "this should work on ARM" and "this works on your RG35XX". No general purpose launcher can give you that, because nobody is testing 492 entries against 28 devices.
Our PortMaster guide covers installing it, and native ports on handhelds covers what it actually runs.
Is a Recomp Launcher Safe to Install?
A fair question for any app that installs software from the internet, and worth separating from the Android question.
What is reassuring. All four projects named here are open source, so their code is public. None of them ship game files, which is the thing that would make them legally fragile. None of them asks for an account, so there are no credentials to lose.
What to actually worry about. A launcher installs software from many separate projects, and the launcher's own audit tells you nothing about what those projects do. On Android specifically, add one more: an APK from anywhere other than the project's own releases page is a different file from the one the project published, and that is the whole attack.
So the rule is short. Get the app from the project's own releases page. Never from a download aggregator, a video description or a forum attachment. If a site offers you a "RecompLauncher APK", that is a file nobody published, because no such thing exists.
Our launchers explainer has the longer version of the safety question, including what the catalogues reveal about project maintenance.
What We Would Do
- Android handheld, want the smoothest fit: Recompa.
- Android handheld and a desktop, want one launcher for both: Quiver Launcher.
- Cheap Linux handheld on custom firmware: PortMaster, and nothing else is close.
- Windows, Linux or Mac: RecompLauncher, which is what it was built for.
- Hoping a launcher will make a Windows only port run on ARM: nothing will do that, and the reasons are in recompiled games on Android.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a Recomp Launcher for Android?
No. RecompLauncher is Windows, Linux and Mac only, with no Android build and no announced plans for one. Any site offering a RecompLauncher APK is distributing a file the project never published. The Android launchers that do exist are Recompa, which is Android only, Quiver Launcher, which has an Android build alongside desktop ones, and Ports Launcher.
What is the best recomp launcher for Android?
Recompa if you want the best fit, because it was built for Android rather than ported to it, and it needs Android 8.0 or newer. Quiver Launcher if catalogue size matters more, since it lists roughly 2,000 projects against Recompa's 250 and also runs on your desktop.
Where do I download a recomp launcher APK?
From the project's own releases page, and nowhere else. An APK from a download aggregator or a video description is not the file the project published. This matters more on Android than on a desktop, because sideloading normalises installing software from arbitrary sources.
Will a recomp launcher let me play N64 recomps on my Android handheld?
Only the ports that have an ARM or Android build. A launcher installs and updates ports, it does not translate them, and most recompiled ports target x86-64. The subset with Android builds is real and growing, and much smaller than any catalogue total implies.
Is Recompa the same as RecompLauncher?
No. They are separate projects by different people. Recompa is an Android launcher for native ports. RecompLauncher is a desktop launcher for Windows, Linux and Mac that began as the PS5 app store RecompStore and crossed to the PC in October 2026.
Do I need a recomp launcher at all?
No. Every port these launchers install can be downloaded from its own project directly, which is how everyone did it until 2026. A launcher saves you finding each project, working out which build is yours and checking for updates. On a cheap Linux handheld, PortMaster does that job better than any of them because its device compatibility data is tested.
Does RecompLauncher work on a Retroid or an AYN handheld?
Not as an app, because those run Android and RecompLauncher does not. If the device can run a Linux distribution instead of Android, the Linux build applies, which is a much bigger project than installing a launcher. For Android as shipped, use Recompa or Quiver Launcher.
Is a recomp launcher legal?
The launchers ship no copyrighted game data, which is the point. They install open source port code published by each project, and anything needing original game files makes you supply them from your own copy. That is the same position PortMaster has held for years.
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