What resume does
Press Home mid-game, browse, then pick the same game again: if it is still open in its emulator, Tandem brings the emulator back to the front exactly as you left it. A highlighted game that is still running shows a ● Running badge, and the A hint says Resume. A resume counts toward play time but not as a new play.
Why it needs Shizuku
Android doesn't let apps see which other apps are running. Shizuku lets an app you
allow run a few commands with adb-level rights. Tandem uses only these:
ps -A -o NAMEanddumpsys activity activities, to see which emulators have a game open.am force-stop <emulator package>, to close an emulator before switching games (see below).
What counts as running
A game counts as running only while its emulator has a window open (in front or in Recents). For emulators with a separate game screen (Eden, Azahar, Dolphin, Cemu, DuckStation, AetherSX2, melonDS, Winlator), that screen must be open; their menu alone doesn't count. A process Android keeps after you close a game is never shown as running or asked about.
Setting it up
- Install Shizuku and open it.
- Start it. Without root, use Start via wireless debugging and follow its pairing steps (Wi-Fi is needed to start, not to keep running).
- Allow Tandem: on Tandem's setup screen (Resume games step) if Shizuku is already running, or later in Shizuku's list of authorized apps.
- Settings › Play & stats › Playing › Resume running games shows Ready once it works.
Shizuku doesn't survive a reboot on most devices; start it again after restarting.
How Tandem decides
An emulator holds one game at a time, whatever the system: RetroArch runs every core, and GameNative or Winlator run every PC game. Games in different emulators can stay open side by side.
When you press A on a game, Tandem:
- Asks Shizuku whether the game's emulator is running.
- If it is, and the last game Tandem started there is this one, brings it to the front. That is a resume.
- If it is running a different game, closes the emulator first, then starts the new game. Some emulators ignore a new game while another is open, so this is the only reliable way to switch.
- With Close previous game on, also closes every other running emulator.
- Otherwise, starts the game normally.
Warning
Steps 3 and 4 close emulators the way Android's Force stop does. Anything unsaved in those games is lost. Save first, or use the emulator's save states.
Close previous game
Settings › Play & stats › Playing › Close previous game (on by default) closes other emulators when you start a game, so a game left in the background doesn't use memory and battery. Turn it off to keep games in different emulators open; the game switcher (hold Select) lists them.
Tandem asks first
Before closing anything, Tandem asks. If a game is still running and starting the one you picked would close it, a question names the running game (or each of them, with cover and session time):
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Resume the running game (highlighted first) | Goes back to it. Nothing is closed. |
| Close and start the new game | Press A twice. The running game is closed and the new one starts. |
| Cancel (B) | Back to the library. |
| Don't ask again (Y) | Stops asking. Nothing is closed this time; press A again to start. |
This applies wherever you start a game: grids, search, collections, Up next, the Start panel, the game switcher and widgets. In private mode a hidden game is shown only as A hidden game is still running.
A game whose file was deleted is never named; the question names its emulator instead.
Settings › Play & stats › Playing › Ask before closing a game brings the question back or turns it off.
Troubleshooting
The badge never shows. If Resume running games says Allow in Shizuku, Shizuku isn't running or Tandem isn't allowed in it.
The game restarted anyway. Android may have closed the emulator in the background to free memory, or the emulator quits when you leave it; check its settings for a "pause in background" option.
It resumed the wrong thing. Tandem only knows the last game it started in that emulator. If you opened another game from inside the emulator, close the emulator and pick the game again.