This is great news for anyone who emulates on Android devices, especially those of you who appreciate cartridge and disc art, because Socket, an independently made frontend that prioritises cartridge and disc art, is now free for all Patreon followers. Originally, it was behind a paywall, but the developer wants to show his appreciation for all of the recent support by making an older version free to all.
If you're new to Socket, it's a very simple, minimal launcher for your emulators that organises your ROM library in such a way that it makes it feel like your loose collection of games. It comes with unique showcase animations for cartridges such as GAME BOY, and PSP that allow you to organise and explore your games while appreciating the art, even going as far as offering customisations to the cartridge such as transparency and sticker texture.
It's a much-welcomed contrast to all of the other over-engineered frontends coming to fruition recently, and although it's not great for collections with hundreds of games, it makes it feel fun, light and playful. The developer, Depmots, is continuously updating it with upgrades, tweaks and fixes, which is why this is now being made free.
The version being offered for free isn't the latest, but its a well refined, one, more specifically fans can download 0.3.2 for free as of today. The new 0.5.0 update brings so much-needed changes and bug fixes that polish off the application nicely. Depmots has stated that the newest changes are as follows:
Added
- Customizable backgrounds: choose a pattern (dots, gradient, lava lamp) and colors under Settings > Tweaks.
- Six new colour palettes: Ember, Forest, Grape, Mono, Ocean, Sunset.
- Touch-rotate a cartridge in inspect mode.
- "New Game Reveal Animation" toggle under Settings > Tweaks to disable the reveal animation some users found pretty annoying on repeat.
- "Fill Carousel with Duplicates" toggle under Settings > Tweaks, for platforms with few games.
- Jump directly to a previous/next new game with a dedicated control (bottom triggers).
- Thanks screen crediting Patreon supporters, linked from About.
Fixed
- N64 cartridge label aspect ratio.
- Joystick control scheme mapping.
- Scrolling while touching a slider, and vice-versa.
- App list scrolling.
I highly reccomend everyone who's into emulating on Android to check it out, it really slows down your collection in a way that is meaningful and offers a unique visual experience of your library in a way that makes you feel like a kid searching through a shoe box of cartridges and discs to find something you want to play!
