Your games, in four ways.

From the Files app, AirDrop or another app

Open the Importer from the in-game menu and choose Select Files. You can pick one file or many at once, including ZIP bundles and Retropa packs. Each import produces a result card that says what was added, skipped or rejected, with a next step when something failed.

• Game Boy, GBA, NES, Super NES, ZIP and 7Z files can also be opened in Retropa directly from AirDrop or the share sheet of another app.
• If a file sits in iCloud Drive, let it finish downloading first — a placeholder cannot be imported.
• Renaming a file does not change which system it belongs to.

Over Wi‑Fi from a computer

Choose Portal in the in-game menu and start it. Retropa shows a local address; open it in any browser on a computer on the same Wi‑Fi network. Drop games, ZIP bundles, 7Z arcade sets, Retropa packs and skins into the Import tab — mixed selections are fine. The Portal also manages your library, BIOS files, storage, skins and settings from the big screen.

• The Portal only answers devices on your local network. Stop it when you are done.
• Keep Retropa open while transferring; iOS may suspend the Portal in the background.

With the built-in browser

Open Browser from the menu, go to a site that offers files you are allowed to download, and download as usual. Retropa intercepts ROM and ZIP downloads and sends them to import, then removes the temporary copy. Favorite sites stay one tap away, and the Download Center shows progress.

From the Homebrew catalog

The catalog lists homebrew, public-domain and redistributable demo games for the systems Retropa supports. Pick one and it downloads and imports on its own — a quick way to try skins, filters and controls before you bring your own library.

File formats by system

Each system accepts its own file types. Handheld and console games can also arrive inside ZIP or 7Z archives; arcade sets stay zipped exactly as they are.

BIOS files

The default cores for Game Boy, GBA, NES and Super NES run without a BIOS. Some alternative cores and systems use one. Settings › Emulation › Cores › BIOS Management groups every BIOS by the core that uses it and marks each one present or missing. If a game needs a file you have not added, Retropa stops at launch and takes you straight to the right entry.

• A BIOS for one system never substitutes for another.
• Retropa does not provide BIOS files.

Arcade sets

Arcade games arrive as ZIP or 7Z archives named after the game's set. A clone set may also need its parent set, and some boards need a shared BIOS archive. Keep archives intact rather than extracting them.

• When a set is incomplete, Retropa lists the exact missing file names and tells you to add them to the right archive and import again.
• QSound files such as dl-1425.bin and qsound.bin are treated as arcade BIOS, separate from a game's own files.
• CPS III uses NO-CD sets. Running arcade games needs Retropa Plus.

Saves and covers

In-game saves and save states stay with each game. Save states belong to the core that made them, so switching cores keeps them on disk but hides them from the other core. Cloud Saves backs up and restores your save data with iCloud Drive, and save files can be imported and exported.

• Covers are matched by the file's own hash against an offline game database, so most libraries fill in by themselves.
• Cover Harvester (Retropa Plus) lets you pick art from a web page, and the Portal can edit titles and metadata.