ES-DE gets companion app for dual-screened Android handhelds

Dual-screened gaming has been thrown back into the spotlight in the past six months thanks to the combined efforts of AYN, AYANEO, and Anbernic. Offering what could be the best emulation experience for 3DS and DS games, these systems have been relatively well-received. Running Android under the hood however, finding the best way to organise and interact with your emulated library may be a challenge.

With the most popular frontends being designed for single-screened handhelds, you're left with an awkward experience that doesn't take advantage of everything your device has to offer. Seeing this as a problem, ES-DE developer RobZombie9043 has come up with an interesting solution with a semi-official companion app for the frontend.

Once setup, this app updates in sync with ES-DE, displaying artwork and videos for your games and systems, all while still offering access to your Android app drawer. You can find a full overview of features below:

Feature List said:

Dynamic Display

• Real-time artwork display - Shows game fanart, screenshots, and marquees as you browse in ES-DE

• Video playback support - Play game videos when browsing games

  • Configurable delay (instant to 5 seconds) before video starts

  • Optional audio control (muted by default)

  • Respects animation settings (fade, scale+fade, custom)

• System view support - Displays built-in system logos, custom images, or random game artwork when browsing systems

• Smooth animations - Configurable fade and scale effects with custom timing options

• Background customization - Adjustable dimming and blur effects

App Drawer

• Full Android app launcher - Access all your installed apps from one place

• Smart search - Quickly find apps with the built-in search bar

• Customizable grid - Adjust column count to your preference

• App visibility control - Hide apps you don't want to see in the drawer

• Long-press menu - Configure launch behavior for each app

  • Open app info/settings

  • Choose display (top/bottom screen) for launching apps

  • Per-app preferences are saved

Easy Setup

• Quick Setup Wizard - Step-by-step configuration on first launch

• Auto-script creation - Automatically generates ES-DE integration scripts

Visual Customization

• Background priority - Choose between Fanart or Screenshot priority

• Animation styles - None, Fade, Scale + Fade, or Custom with adjustable duration and scale

• Logo controls - Independent on/off for system/game logos with shared size control

• Dimming control - 0-100% background darkening

• Blur effects - Optional background blur (Android 12+)

• Drawer opacity - Customize app drawer transparency

ES-DE companion is free to download from RobZombie's GitHub, though it should be noted that ES-DE itself is a paid download on Android, with a one-time fee of £4.50.

➡️ GitHub

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