About GoGBA

What is GoGBA?

GoGBA is a Game Boy Advance (GBA) game emulator designed for mobile devices. Our goal is to provide a quiet, reliable, and immersive gaming experience for classic GBA titles like Pokémon, Fire Emblem, and Golden Sun.

Our Philosophy

GoGBA is built around a simple principle: focus, stability, and comfort. We prioritize:

  • Quiet: No ads, no pop-ups, no distractions
  • Reliable: Your saves are safe and never lost
  • Immersive: Clean UI with transparent buttons and minimal animations
  • Comfortable: Dark themes designed for long gaming sessions

We believe in quality over features. GoGBA focuses on doing the essentials well, rather than overwhelming you with unnecessary options.

Key Features

  • Seamless Experience: Open the app and continue playing instantly. Your progress is always saved.
  • Reliable Save System: Automatic saves every 10 seconds, plus saves on exit and when backgrounded. Atomic writes prevent data corruption.
  • Dark Themes: Five carefully designed dark themes optimized for eye comfort during long sessions.
  • Clean Interface: Minimal, distraction-free UI with transparent virtual buttons.
  • Flexible Layout: Portrait or landscape mode with orientation locking.
  • Speed Control: Adjust game speed from 1x to 3x.
  • Multi-language: Support for 24 languages including English, Chinese, Japanese, and more.
  • Custom Covers: Search and select game covers from the libretro database.

Technical Details

Platform Support

  • Android: Android 7.0+
  • iOS: iOS 15.0+

Core Technology

GoGBA uses:

  • libretro vbanext core: A high-performance GBA emulation core
  • Flutter: Cross-platform UI framework for consistent experience across platforms
  • Riverpod: State management for reliable app behavior

Performance Optimizations

  • 60 FPS frame rate control for smooth gameplay
  • Refresh rate control on Android (automatically set to 60Hz during gameplay)
  • Efficient rendering with stream-based game screen updates
  • Cover image caching for faster library loading

Privacy & Data

GoGBA is designed with privacy in mind:

  • All data is stored locally on your device
  • No account required
  • No data collection or tracking
  • Game files and saves never leave your device

For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

Legal Notice

GoGBA is an emulation tool. You are responsible for ensuring you have the legal right to use any ROM files you load into the app. We do not provide, distribute, or facilitate access to ROM files. Please only use ROM files for games you legally own.

For more information, see our Terms of Service.

Open Source Components

GoGBA uses several open-source components:

  • libretro vbanext core: Licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL)
  • Flutter: Licensed under the BSD 3-Clause License
  • Various other open-source dependencies as listed in the app's license information

You can view the full license information within the app by going to Settings → About → License.

Contact

For questions, feedback, or support, please contact us:

Email: hamberluo@gmail.com

Visit our Support page for frequently asked questions and troubleshooting help.

Version History

GoGBA is actively developed and improved. Key features include:

  • Complete GBA emulation with libretro vbanext core
  • Local ROM file access via SAF (Android) and File Picker (iOS)
  • Game library management with list/grid views
  • Reliable save system with automatic saves
  • Virtual button controls with haptic feedback
  • Multi-language support (24 languages)
  • Dark themes optimized for long sessions
  • Game cover search and selection
  • Performance optimizations for smooth gameplay

Future Plans

Planned features for future updates include:

  • Virtual button position and size customization
  • Enhanced error handling and recovery
  • Additional performance optimizations

We focus on stability and user experience first, adding new features thoughtfully and carefully.