I have tested Folium 3DS Emulator with on my (old) iPhone XR running on iOS 18 Beta 2 and it run buttery smooth! Check out the steps so you can achieve the same results.
- This guide shares the detailed step by step how you can get Folium 3DS emulator for FREE legally, install, run and play 3DS games on your iPhone or iPad.
- 3DS mentioned within this article refers to Nintendo 3DS.
- This tutorial though intended for iPhone, but works the same for iPad.
- For other interesting articles, check it out here Raspberry Pi, Linux, Windows, Xbox, PS5, Nintendo Switch, other gaming, iOS, Tech or more at JILAXZONE.
- If you find this article / content inside is already obsolete, do let me know by commenting on the comment section below so that I can update the article to reflect the latest process/news. Thanks.
Yes, you read it right. As of when this article is written, I tested Folium 3DS emulator that I download for FREE legally, testing it on my iPhone XR (which was the iPhone released back in 2018 with 3GB of RAM – so it’s pretty old iPhone) running on iOS 18 Developer Beta 2 and able to run New Super Mario Bros 2 smoothly. Check out how I did it and how you can do the same, so you too can play the 3DS games buttery smooth on your iPhone or iPad. In case you have any queries, feel free to throw your questions on the comment section down below.
Although Folium is able to run GBA, NDS and 3DS games, this article is focusing on the 3DS emulator portion. In any case you need to play GBA and NDS games on your iPhone or iPad, I would highly recommend you use the following emulator for them:
GBA & NDS Recommendation #1: RetroArch
| App Store Link | RetroArch on Apple App Store |
| Sideload Link | RetroArch via Sideload at JILAXZONE |
GBA & NDS Recommendation #2: Delta
| App Store Link | Delta on Apple App Store |
| Sideload Link | RetroArch via Sideload at JILAXZONE |
What is Folium 3DS Emulator? A brief History
As this article title suggested, Folium is an 3DS emulator made for iOS and iPadOS. Folium has a little bit complicated history, but to cut it short (and to my understanding), it was all started with EmuThreeDS (link), which was a direct forked from Citra – the 3DS emulator for PC and Android, then evolved into Limón (link), before finally evolved into Folium today – all is coming from the same developer: official-antique or antique_codes or Jarrod Norwell.
In the current form, Folium – consists not only 3DS emulator, but also GBA and NDS emulators as well. However, like I mentioned earlier, this article is only focusing on the 3DS emulator core.
Where to get Folium?
As of when this article is written, there are 2 types of Folium 3DS Emulator, in short: paid-but-easy-to-install and free-but-not-so-easy-to-install.
Type 1: paid-but-easy-to-install – Get it from Official App Store
All you need to do is visit the link below and get Folium installed within few taps. If you are installing this type of Folium, then the rest of the articles is not for you, however you need to ensure you get the newer (or even the latest model) of iPhone or iPad to ensure Folium can run at acceptable speed.
| Pros | Cons |
| 1) Easy to install, just tap/click on the link, and buy from the Apple App Store. | 1) Cost you $4.99 2) Require newer iPhone or iPad to run at acceptable speed |
Type 2: free-but-not-so-easy-to-install – get it from Folium official website
To get Folium for FREE, visit its official website (link provided below), then find the “Download” button (ensure you are visiting the website from your device instead of computer).
| Pros | Cons |
| 1) Run games at acceptable speed even on older iPhone and iPad (tested on my iPhone XR) with JIT turned on 2) It’s totally FREE. Cost $0. | 1) Installation is not straight-forward as you need to sideload to install it on your iPhone or iPad (steps provided below). |
This article is made for the Type 2: free-but-not-so-easy-to-install as I will provide you the detailed step by step to get Folium 3DS Emulator installed for FREE, enable JIT and run the games smoothly.
This article does NOT encourage you, NOT to support the developer. Even after you finally managed to install the FREE version and get it to run the 3DS games smoothly, please do consider supporting the developer – so that he (or his teams) can continue enhancing the emulators for us.
So, by all means, do give your generous support to the developer.
Steps overview
These are the high-level steps available on this article, to install the free-but-not-so-easy-to-install Folium 3DS emulator. While I fully recommend the steps to be done in sequence as shown below, but feel free to jump around to section that interest you.
1) Prerequisites: Things you need to prepare.
2) Detailed steps installing FREE Folium 3DS Emulator on your iPhone and iPad. Contains step by step on what you need to do to get Folium installed.
3) Make Folium run buttery smooth – Enable JIT on Folium. Contains steps you need to do to play the games buttery smooth.
4) Recommended Folium Settings. Sharing on what settings I used to run the games buttery smooth.
5) Controllers Recommendation – Play better with Controller! My recommendation on physical controllers you can use to play the games in more enjoyable settings.
6) Other retro game emulators available on iPhone (and iPad and iPod Touch). In case you need other emulators available on iPhone and other iOS / iPadOS devices.
Prerequisites
These are the things you need to prepare to get the FREE Folium 3DS Emulator installed and running. If there are certain things you don’t have / don’t know yet, don’t worry, as part of the installation and configuration steps, all the download links and how to create / configure them are shared in detail.
Criteria 1) Install SideStore on your iPhone & iPad
This is the most important prerequisite, and you can’t skip this since the FREE Folium 3DS Emulator requires sideloading to get it installed on your iPhone or iPad. SideStore is a fork from AltStore (that doesn’t require computer to refresh once installed) which enables your iPhone / iPad to sideload apps that are non-existent in Apple App Store. So, using SideStore, we are going to sideload the FREE Foliums 3DS Emulator.
In case you are still preferring to use AltStore instead of SideStore, you can follow the steps to get AltStore installed on your iPhone/iPad here:
Criteria 2) Get the Nintendo 3DS games / ROMs / Homebrew ready
Folium 3DS Emulator supports the following 3DS game formats: .3ds, .app, .cia, .cci and .cxi.
So, either you want to play retail Nintendo 3DS games or homebrew, ensure you are using those supported formats. And due to legal reasons, I won’t detail much here to get your 3DS games. Google here is your best friend. You may want to start with this: https://www.google.com/search?q=dumping+nintendo+3ds+games or https://www.google.com/search?q=nintendo+3ds+homebrew+games.
I have to remind you this: Please DO RESPECT the Console Maker, Game makers, Developers, Publishers by always buying and playing the originals on their original systems. Without you supporting them, there won’t be any good and great systems and games in the coming future.
Criteria 3) Get aes_keys.txt ready
aes_keys.txt is used by Folium 3DS Emulator to decrypt and run the 3DS games. Similar to 3DS Games, due to legal reason, you should create aes_keys.txt by dumping it directly from your own Nintendo 3DS console. Here’s some of the instruction for more readings:
| From Citra (Pioneer of Nintendo 3DS emulator) | https://citra-emulator.com/wiki/aes-keys/ |
| From Google Search | https://www.google.com/search?q=AES+KEYS+FOR+3DS&oq=AES+KEYS+FOR+3DS |
aes_keys.txt sample (taken from https://citra-emulator.com/wiki/aes-keys/):slot0x0DKeyX=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x0DKeyY=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x0DKeyN=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x18KeyX=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x1BKeyX=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x25KeyX=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x2CKeyX=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x2DKeyX=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x2DKeyY=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x2DKeyN=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x31KeyX=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x31KeyY=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x31KeyN=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF slot0x3DKeyX=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF common0=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF common1=0123456789ABCDEF0123456789ABCDEF |
Criteria 4) Transfer the Nintendo 3DS games / homebrew and aes_keys.txt to your iPhone and iPad
Follow these 2 methods to transfer your Nintendo 3DS games / homebrew and aes_keys.txt into your iPhone or iPad.
Adding Nintendo 3DS games & aes_keys.txt to your iPhone or iPad WITHOUT using Computer
Step a) Using the step detailed here: Configuring Safari Download Folder on your iPhone at JILAXZONE, on your iPhone, set your Safari default download folder into On My iPhone > Downloads.
Step b) Once you have set the download folder, now open Safari on your iPhone. Head to the game repository, then choose the game that you want to add (read: download) into your iPhone. Tap on the game title or “Download” button to start download the game from the game repository. Folium 3DS Emulator doesn’t supports games in the .zip format. If you game is in .zip format, there will be extra step (detailed below) you need to do. Follow the same for aes_keys.txt.
Step c) Safari will start downloading Nintendo 3DS game / aes_keys.txt into On My iPhone > Downloads folder.
Step d) This is optional step and to be done only if your Nintendo 3DS games / aes_key.txt is in zip format. Go to Files app, navigate to On My iPhone > Downloads. Tap on the .zip file to start extracting the Nintendo 3DS games into either .3ds, .app, .cia, .cci or .cxi format.
You are all set.
Adding Nintendo 3DS games & aes_keys.txt to your iPhone or iPad WITH the help of Computer
| Before Start: 1) iTunes – Ensure you have iTunes installed on your Computer. It’s required to transfer your Nintendo 3DS games / aes_keys.txt into your iPhone. 2) Data Transfer Cable (Lightning cable or USB-C cable) – Required to connect your iPhone to the Computer so iTunes can recognize it. |
Prepare the Nintendo 3DS games in the format supported and/or aes_keys.txt in .txt format, then do the following steps to transfer any Nintendo 3DS games and aes_keys.txt from your computer into your iPhone:
Step a) Plug your iPhone to your Computer.
Step b) On your Computer, open iTunes. On iTunes screen, click on your iPhone icon located on top section to show your iPhone details.
Step c) On iPhone detail screen inside iTunes, on the left side of the iTunes screen, click on “File Sharing”.
Step d) On File Sharing section, click on “Folium” or any apps that enables you to store the files into them. Click “Add File…” to add the game. If you can’t find the “Add File…” button, scroll the iTunes File Sharing screen a little bit down.
Step e) Locate your Nintendo 3DS games (or aes_keys.txt) to add and then click on “Add”. Add only Nintendo 3DS supported format games.
Step f) Once finished transferring the game, click on “Done” button, then click on “Eject” button to safely remove your iPhone from your Computer.
Whichever method you are using – with or without computer, you should be able to get any Nintendo 3DS games and/or aes_keys.txt into your iPhone or iPad.
Detailed steps installing FREE Folium 3DS Emulator on your iPhone and iPad
These are the detailed steps how you can install and configure Folium 3DS Emulator so you can play Nintendo 3DS games / Homebrew on your iPhone and iPad.
| The steps written here are tested on: a) Latest iOS – at the time this article is written is iOS 18 Developer Beta 2 and using the iPhone that I currently have – iPhone XR. In case you are not on iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 yet, check the link here to get iOS 18 & iPadOS 18: Here’s how to update iPhone to iOS 18 today (iPad included!) at JILAXZONE. b) Latest Windows – at the time this article is written is Windows 11 Pro Insider Review Build 26236. In you are also using Windows and would like to install Windows 11, check the link here to get them installed: Getting Windows 11 and installing on your Computer at JILAXZONE. Should you are using different version of iOS or iPadOS and / or different version of Windows, the steps may be slightly different but should not deviate too much. Anyway, in case you have questions / issues, feel free to put them down on the comment section down below, I’ll be more than happy to help you. |
Step 1) Download Folium 3DS Emulator into your iPhone & iPad
Using your iPhone/iPad, open the link using Safari. Go and find the “Download” button. Tap on “Download” button to download Folium .ipa or .zip file into your iPhone or iPad.
| FREE Folium 3DS Emulator | https://folium.emuplace.app/ |
Tap the link above from Safari browser. Once downloaded, the file shall be stored under your Files app as something like Folium-vX.Y-Sideload.ipa.zip – where X.Y is the latest version of Folium. Tap on the .zip file so that .ipa will be extracted from it.
In case you don’t know, IPA (.ipa) is short for iOS Application Package (iOS app/game file – it’s like EXE file for Windows or APK file for Android). In case you don’t know where Safari put the downloaded file, configure it here: Configure Safari default download folder for iOS at JILAXZONE.
Step 2) Install Folium 3DS Emulator to iPhone & iPad
| Before start: Ensure you have installed SideStore on your iPhone/iPad and you have downloaded the Folium 3DS Emulator .ipa file. |
Follow these steps to install Folium 3DS Emulator. If you haven’t installed SideStore, do check out the Prerequisites section above.
Step 2a) Run SideStore app.
Step 2b) Inside SideStore, go to “My Apps” tab.
Step 2c) Tap on “+” button located on the top left of SideStore screen.
Step 2d) Navigate to the download folder where you have downloaded Folium 3DS Emulator .ipa file. Tap on the file to begin installing. In case prompted, key-in your Apple ID and password – this is required for code signing.
Folium should now in-progress being installed to your iPhone/iPad, you just need to wait until it finished installing. Once finished installing, it will appear on “My Apps” tab under “Active” section.
Step 3) Move the game into Folium Game folder on your iPhone & iPad
| Before start: Ensure Folium 3DS Emulator is installed on your iPhone or iPad and you have dumped your own Nintendo 3DS games or any homebrew games into your iPhone. |
Follow these steps to move any Nintendo 3DS games or Homebrew apps/games into Folium game folder. If you haven’t dumped your own Nintendo 3DS games, do check out the Prerequisites section above.
Step 3a) Once Folium is installed, open Files app.
Step 3b) Inside Files app, navigate to “On My iPhone” > Folium > Cytrus > roms. This is where 3DS game folder is located.
Step 3c) Move your Nintendo 3DS ROMs into this location.
Once you have moved the games, you can check them by opening Folium from Home screen. If you moved the games into the correct folder, you should be able to see the games listed there, however when you tap on the game, it won’t start as aes_keys.txt is required to start the game. Check out next step for details.
Step 4) Copy aes_keys.txt into sysdata
| Before start: Ensure Folium 3DS Emulator is installed on your iPhone or iPad and you already have aes_keys.txt inside your iPhone. |
Similar how you move/copy the games, follow these steps to move aes_keys.txt into Folium sysdata folder. If you haven’t had aes_keys.txt inside your iPhone, do check out the Prerequisites section above.
Step 4a) Once Folium is installed, open Files app.
Step 4b) Inside Files app, navigate to “On My iPhone” > Folium > Cytrus > sysdata. This is where aes_keys.txt folder is located.
Step 4c) Move your aes_keys.txt into this location.
Step 5) Run Folium 3DS Emulator on iPhone & iPad
Once you have moved the games and aes_keys.txt into their respective folders, you can then try running the game by tapping on the one of the games you have with you, however the game will either crash or run super slow (well, depending on your iPhone or iPad model) – that’s because you haven’t enabled the booster required (aka JIT). Don’t worry, I’ll provide details below how you can ensure the game run smoothly.
Make Folium run buttery smooth – Enable JIT on Folium
| Before start: Ensure Folium 3DS Emulator is installed on your iPhone or iPad and you already both the 3DS games/homebrew and aes_keys.txt inside your iPhone on their respective folders. |
Follow these steps to run 3DS games using Folium 3DS Emulator a buttery smooth experience especially if you are using older generation of iPhone and iPad.
Step 1) Duplicate Folium Config
Step 1a) Open Files app.
Step 1b) Inside Files app, navigate to “On My iPhone” > Folium > Cytrus > config. Find config.ini file.
Step 1c) Tap and hold config.ini file until sub-menu appearing. Tap on Duplicate. Then on the duplicate file, tap and hold and select Rename. Rename it as config_non_jit.ini. So if you are doing it correctly, you should have 2 files inside config folder: config.ini and config_non_jit.ini.
Step 2) Modify Folium Config
Step 2a) Tap on config.ini file to modify it (I’m using the help of computer, but you can use whatever apps/ways to modify it), modify the following entries:
use_cpu_jit =1
graphics_api =2
use_hw_shader =1
use_shader_jit =1
Find each entries mentioned above, then modify them as shown above (E.g.: find “use_cpu_jit” inside config.ini, then alter the value to “1”, so the result would be use_cpu_jit=1)
Step 2b) Save config.ini.
Once saved, check one more time, ensuring all the modifications are in place.
Step 3) Duplicate (again) Folium Config
On Step 1) you have duplicate config.ini and rename it as config_non_jit.ini. This time, do it again from the modified config.ini.
Step 3a) Open Files app.
Step 3b) Inside Files app, navigate to “On My iPhone” > Folium > Cytrus > config. Find config.ini file.
Step 3c) Tap and hold config.ini file until sub-menu appearing. Tap on Duplicate. Then on the duplicate file, tap and hold and select Rename. Rename it as config_jit.ini. So if you are doing it correctly, you should now have 3 files inside config folder: config.ini and config_non_jit.ini and config_jit.ini.
The reason I’m doing this (and you should too), so that you can switch the config easily. When you want to play without JIT, use the config_non_jit.ini then duplicate and rename it to config.ini. When you want to play with JIT, use the config_jit.ini then duplicate and rename it to config.ini. Got it? Hopefully you get it.
Step 4) Configure JIT for Folium
This is the step to enable booster for Folium – yes by enabling JIT – Just-In-Time compiler.
First time setup will take you about 30 minutes (depending on your device and Internet speed), but once the initial setup has been done, next time would be just about less than 5 minutes.
I’m here to guide you, so in case you are overwhelmed, confused and/or have questions, do hit me with your queries on the comment section down below.
Step 5) Run Folium 3DS Emulator on iPhone & iPad
| Before start: Ensure you have configured JIT on your iPhone and iPad. |
At this point, Folium should be started on its own, you just need to tap on which game do you want to play with.
On my own test using iPhone XR (iPhone released back in 2018 with 3GB of RAM), I can get New Super Mario Bros. 2 to run at the same speed as if I’m playing from the actual console (which I believe it run for 60fps), so the method really is working, making the game runs buttery smooth!
Recommended Folium Settings
On top of enabling JIT, here are other recommended settings based on my own experience running the 3DS games on my iPhone XR (iPhone released back in 2018 with 3GB of RAM). The reason I’m letting you know my iPhone model is to set the bar – if you have iPhone newer than mine, you should expect even better performance. Here they are some other settings I used to configure to make use buttery smooth gameplay:
Core > CPU Clock: 100%
Core > Use LLE Applets: Enabled
Renderer > Shaders > Use Shader JIT: enabled
Renderer > Shaders > Use Hardware Shaders: enabled
Controllers Recommendation – Play better with Controller!
Playing retro games is always better with controller!
While you can always use the touchscreen of the iPhone to play the games, but for greater fun and enjoyment, I would recommend you to play the games with the Controller using physical buttons – so the experience is (almost) the same as the original. Just in case you need recommendation, here they are. I am personally using Nimbus and DualShock 4 to play the games.
All controllers’ images shown below are trademarks of the respective owners.
8BitDo M30 | The Bluetooth controller that looks like the 6-button SEGA Genesis / Mega Drive controller. Get 8BitDo M30 on Amazon Get 8BitDo M30 on AliExpress Get 8BitDo M30 Android/iPhone Clipper on AliExpress |
Backbone Controller 2nd Generation with USB-C / Lightning | The controller that uses USB-C (or lightning) to connect. Very handy and portable to carry around. Get Backbone Controller on Amazon |
Razer Kishi | Best telescopic controller for iPhone. It comes with Lightning connector for passthrough charging as well as better low-latency gaming. In case you need it: Get Razer Kishi for Android on Amazon Get Razer Kishi for Android on AliExpress Get Razer Kishi for iPhone on Amazon Get Razer Kishi for iPhone on AliExpress |
SteelSeries Nimbus+ | For playing iOS games. I like it because it’s MFi certified – Made for iOS, any controller-compatible games will for sure run with this controller. In case you need it: Get SteelSeries Nimbus+ on Amazon Get Nimbus iPhone clipper on AliExpress. |
Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller | Great controller from Xbox compatible with your Xbox (of course!) as well as Windows PC, Android and iOS, recommended for those with big hands. Read here for pairing Xbox Series X|S Controller with your iPhone at JILAXZONE. In case you need it: Get Xbox Series X|S Wireless Controller on Amazon Get Xbox Series X|S Android/iPhone Clipper on AliExpress Get Xbox One Controller on Amazon Get Xbox One Controller on AliExpress Get Xbox One Android/iPhone Clipper on AliExpress |
PS5 DualSense | Awesome controller from PlayStation compatible with your PS5 (of course!) as well as Android and iOS, recommended for those with smaller hands. Read here for pairing PS5 DualSense Controller with your iPhone at JILAXZONE. In case you need it: Get PS5 DualSense on Amazon Get PS5 DualSense Android/iPhone Clipper on AliExpress |
PS4 DualShock | While DualSense is the latest PlayStation controller but doesn’t mean DualShock 4 is bad. DualShock 4 is indeed one of the cheaper alternatives to get into gaming on your Android and iOS, recommended for those with smaller hands. In case you need it: Get PS4 DualShock 4 on Amazon Get PS4 DualShock 4 on AliExpress Get PS4 DualShock 4 Android/iPhone Clipper on AliExpress |
Here’s my own setup:
Note: If you buy anything from Amazon / AliExpress using links above, I will earn a small commission at no extra cost charged on your purchases.
Other retro game emulators available on iPhone and iPad (and iPod Touch!)
These are retro game emulators available on the iOS and iPadOS platform. Some of them are available officially on Apple App Store, while the rest of them, you can install via Sideloading method – no jailbreak required. Head out to their individual links for detail step by step on how to get them installed on your device.
| Emulator | Description | Installation guide Link |
|---|---|---|
| CEMU | Nintendo Wii U emulator, workaround for iOS | CEMU workaround for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| Delta | Multiple Nintendo console emulator for iOS | 1) Apple App Store Link 2) (Sideload) Delta for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| Delta iPac | Multiple SEGA Genesis & Nintendo console emulator for iOS | Delta iPac for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| DolphiniOS | Nintendo Wii & Nintendo GameCube emulator for iOS | DolphiniOS for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| EmuThreeDS | (Early) Nintendo 3DS emulator for iOS | EmuThreeDS for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| eNGE | PS1 emulator for iOS | eNGE for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| Flycast | SEGA Dreamcast emulator for iOS | Flycast for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| iNDS | NDS emulator for iOS | iNDS for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| Play! | PS2 emulator for iOS | Play! for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| PPSSPP | PSP emulator for iOS | 1) Apple App Store Link 2) (Sideload) PPSSPP for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| Provenance | Multiple game console emulator for iOS | Provenance for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| RetroArch | Multiple game console emulator for iOS | 1) Apple App Store Link 2) (Sideload) RetroArch for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| RetroGameBot | Multiple game console emulator runs on Safari for iOS | RetroGamesBot for iOS at JILAXZONE |
| Yuzu | Nintendo Switch emulator, workaround for iOS | Yuzu workaround for iOS at JILAXZONE |
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