New Project turns Nintendo Switch games into native iPhone, iPad and Mac apps

A new open-source project called nxnative converts Switch games you own into native apps for iPhone, iPad and Mac, and Nintendo has nothing to do with it. TechSpot reports that there’s no emulator involved: each game’s original code runs directly on Apple’s chips. The result is a game such as Tears of the Kingdom that sits on your home screen with its own icon, like any other app.

Why it works without an emulator

The trick comes down to silicon. The Switch and recent Apple devices both use Arm-based processors, so a game’s instructions already speak the iPhone’s language. PC ports don’t get that head start. Most PCs use x86 chips, so their code has to be translated first, which TechSpot contrasts with the recent AI-built Link’s Awakening PC port.

Only the Nintendo-specific parts need replacing. According to the nxnative README, the project borrows its native-execution approach from d2r-mobile, an earlier effort built around Diablo II: Resurrected. A small host program stands in for the Switch’s operating system, while the console’s graphics calls are translated to Apple’s Metal API instead of Nintendo’s own graphics interface. TechSpot adds that nxnative still relies on code from the Ryujinx emulator to translate each game’s graphics.

Which games run

TechSpot says the tool only gained attention over the weekend, after tech account Techjunkie Aman posted about it on X. The GitHub page already lists more than 60 tested games, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Metroid Dread and Super Mario Odyssey. TweakTown puts the count at 61 playable on iPhone and iPad.

Some games get faster than they ever were on the console. With a specific game update, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom and Fire Emblem Engage can jump from the Switch’s 30fps to 60fps. Results vary, though. TweakTown reports that some titles glitch or fail to launch: Dark Souls Remastered runs smoothly offline despite occasional vertex glitches, and Doom Eternal didn’t boot in testing. The same report says amiibo support and online play are missing.

What you need to set it up

This isn’t a download-and-play app. You supply your own game files and the decryption keys extracted from your own console, then run a build script on a Mac with Xcode. The initial build can take up to an hour. The finished app has to be sideloaded with a tool such as AltStore or Sideloadly, because it isn’t distributed through the App Store.

Hardware limits are strict. The apps run only on an iPhone 15 Pro or newer, or an iPad with an M1 chip or newer, and both need iOS 26 or iPadOS 26. Older iPhones can’t handle the compressed textures these games use.

Mac builds

The project was designed for iPhone and iPad, and the Mac version is almost a side effect. TechSpot says a Mac app needs just one extra command during the build. YouTuber Andrew Tsai built several this way and, according to TechSpot, got Monster Hunter Rise running at a locked 60fps on a base M1 MacBook Air with 8GB of RAM. He also ran the console-exclusive tactics game Unicorn Overlord natively.

nxnative isn’t the only project doing this. TweakTown points to MacNativeGames, which targets Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom specifically and, per that report, offers Mac extras such as MetalFX upscaling and ultrawide support. nxnative takes the broader approach, with one pipeline for a much larger library.

Nintendo’s history with this kind of tool

TechSpot stresses that the project isn’t affiliated with Nintendo and distributes no game data, since every build starts from user-supplied files. That doesn’t guarantee safety. The Yuzu emulator didn’t distribute games either, yet its developers agreed in 2024 to pay Nintendo $2.4 million to settle a lawsuit. Ryujinx went offline a few months later after Nintendo contacted its lead developer.

TweakTown reports that Nintendo has also used DMCA takedowns against demo videos of MacNativeGames running Tears of the Kingdom, including one of Tsai’s, while the GitHub repositories remain up for now. Nintendo’s enforcement is active elsewhere too: we covered the $4.5m default judgment against a Reddit moderator in a Switch piracy case. For the official route, Nintendo has laid out Switch 2’s third-party lineup.