How to set up Azahar (and melonDS) on a dual-screen handheld

The whole point of a dual-screen handheld is putting the DS and 3DS bottom screen where it belongs: on the bottom. That doesn't happen by default. Out of the box, most emulators squeeze both screens onto the top panel and leave the second one mirroring or blank. Here's how to fix that, pinned to today's versions and taken from each project's own releases and code notes. The menu names below are the ones the developers used. I haven't set these up on each device myself, so if a label has moved in a newer build, look for the same wording nearby.

Azahar vs Citra: which one?

Azahar. Its GitHub repository describes it as "an open-source 3DS emulator project based on Citra". Citra itself was discontinued, and Azahar is where active development continued. The dual-screen features in this guide are Azahar additions, which is reason enough on a two-screen device.

Step 1: check your device meets Azahar's minimum

That rules out some cheap dual-screen devices on paper, the Linux-only, 1GB Anbernic RG DS Plus among them. See can the RG DS play 3DS? for that one.

Step 2: install Azahar

1. Azahar's README recommends the Google Play Store build "for most users" for ease of updates.
2. Alternatively, install the APK from Azahar's official releases page. The README also describes a Vanilla build and installing through Obtainium for automatic updates.
3. Only use those two sources. Azahar is free and open source, so any site asking you to pay for it, or bundling it with game files, isn't Azahar.

Step 3: put the bottom screen on the bottom

Azahar added a "Secondary Screen Layout" setting on Android in August 2025, with options for System Default (mirroring), Top Screen Only, Bottom Screen Only and Side by Side. Release 2123.3 (October 2025) "primarily addresses issues experienced by users while using dual-screen Android devices". It included a fix tested on the AYANEO Pocket DS that sends touch input on the second screen back to the emulator. A June 2026 update added four more layouts and a quick menu.

1. Open Azahar's Settings and find Secondary Screen Layout.
2. Choose Opposite of Primary Screen. Per its developer, this shows "the top screen if 'swap screens' is enabled, and the bottom screen otherwise," and they describe it as "the most natural behavior when using a two-screen device."
3. Set the main screen to show the 3DS top screen, so the bottom screen lands on your device's lower panel. On devices where the lower panel is the primary display, enable swap screens instead, and "Opposite of Primary" follows it.
4. Tap the lower screen in a game to check touch input works there. That's the 2123.3 fix.
5. If you connect an external display too, the quick menu (added June 2026) lets you choose which second screen Azahar uses. It only appears when a secondary display is available.

melonDS for DS games

There's a wrinkle here that most setup guides skip. melonDS's official releases are desktop builds (Windows, macOS, Linux). The current version is 1.1 from November 2025, and the 1.0 changelog includes multi-window fixes. There's no official Android release. On Android handhelds, the widely used app is melonDS Android, a separate GPL-3.0 community port (version 2.0.1, May 2026), whose README lists a Layout Editor for arranging the two screens.

• Get it from the project's own GitHub page, not a mirror site.
• Use the Layout Editor to put the DS top screen on the main panel and the touch screen on the lower one, the same idea as Azahar's secondary-screen setting.
• Performance varies a lot by chip. Android Authority's RG DS review found melonDS didn't reach full speed on that entry-level RK3568 device. On weak hardware, try other DS emulators rather than assuming the device is broken.

The ground rules

Still choosing hardware? Retroid Pocket Duo vs AYN Thor compares the dual-screen options, and Duo vs Duo Lite explains why the cheapest Retroid isn't the one for 3DS. For every other system, see the best emulator for every console.