Apollo Boy help

Supported handhelds, game files, cartridge extras, music compatibility, and custom shells for Apollo Boy.

Apollo Boy plays the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance games you bring to it. No games are included or downloaded by the app.

Games and files

You can add loose files, a folder, or games inside .zip and .7z archives. Use game files you have the right to use. Apollo Boy does not play games for other systems. A modified game or an unusual cartridge can have different compatibility from the original; support for a system does not promise every cartridge feature or every game’s music engine.

Getting started covers adding games. Controls and library covers controllers, touch layouts, turbo, and screen filters. For Game Boy games, GB palette offers Game Boy Color, classic green, or gray. Colors > GBA screen provides the color treatment for GBA artwork.

Music while playing faster

Look for MUSIC 1X on a game’s card. Apollo Boy checks each game’s sound engine; compatible games keep their music’s normal tempo and pitch while play speeds up. Other games remain playable with ordinary sped-up audio.

Free includes speeds through 3x; faster speeds need Pro. Game Boy and Game Boy Color currently keep supported music at 1x through 8x game speed. For GBA, fixed speeds with supported music reach 12x; Max ♪ can go higher, up to 32x, if the game and device allow it. These are limits, not promised performance. Speeds beyond a game’s music limit play silently; Max plays without sound. The game’s card and speed selector show its limit.

See Speed and sound for choosing speeds and sound options, and Music for collecting and playing the supported songs you hear in your own games. Song discovery depends on the game’s sound engine; importing a game does not guarantee a complete soundtrack.

Cartridge sensors

Games that use cartridge sensors can use Sunlight (a manually chosen level, not your phone’s ambient-light reading), Rumble, and motion input. Under Settings… > Controls… in a game, look for CARTRIDGE SENSORS. Use Tilt the phone on Android, or the controller’s right stick for tilt; Recenter tilt (hold level) makes the current angle level. Hardware support depends on your phone or controller. Desktop builds also accept J, L, I, K for tilt.

The Game Boy Camera

For the Game Boy Camera, Camera can use Android’s back camera, its mirrored front camera, a PNG picture cropped to the middle, or off. Desktop builds use a picture. Android asks permission before camera use; the camera runs only while the game is open and the app is in front. Apollo Boy does not record or upload the camera feed. See Privacy.

Cheats and achievements

With Pro, GBA cheats accept GameShark, Action Replay, CodeBreaker, and raw codes; Game Boy and Game Boy Color use GameShark or Game Genie codes. A code must match the game and revision. Cheats are suspended while linked to another player.

RetroAchievements supports matching GB, GBC, and GBA sets in Casual mode. Apollo Boy does not offer Hardcore achievements and is not yet a verified RetroAchievements emulator; that service can identify it as an unknown emulator. See Achievements for sign-in and matching games.

Multiplayer

Apollo Boy connects two handheld games with an emulated link cable. Each player controls their own game and keeps their own progress. It supports nearby play, online rooms, and direct invite links. Requirements differ from apps where two players share one console: read Apollo Boy multiplayer.

Custom shells

The shared Making a shell guide explains themes. Apollo Boy Pro imports current .apollotheme files, or .zip files containing a format-1 theme.json, through Style & Layout… > MY THEMES > Import a theme…. Both portrait and landscape shell art (or recipes) are required. Old shell.json packs are not compatible.

Boy’s shell layout has a 3:2 game area and L/R shoulder controls. GB and GBC pictures keep their 10:9 aspect within that area, so leave room for the surround. Art covers the screen, centered and cropped to fit; the game, name plate, and controls are drawn over it. Tablets and different screen shapes change how much art remains visible: check both orientations and leave important art away from the edges.

These existing templates describe Boy’s full handheld layout on a phone:

• Upright, 1080 × 2340: the game is approximately y=94–814, with the plate below to y=900.
• Sideways, 2340 × 1080: the game area is the middle 1620 pixels, leaving art on both sides.

They are guides for that screen size, not fixed positions on every device. Try Creamsicle, Midnight Arcade, and Sunset Bands: example themes with art for both orientations. Open them through Import a theme…. The existing ZIP download URLs also work and contain the same themes.

Saves, purchases, and support

See Saves and backup before moving devices, pricing for Free and Pro, and Help and support for troubleshooting. Contact support… opens an editable email; it does not attach logs, saves, or games.

Policies: Privacy, Delete your data, and Terms of Service and License.

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