The Evolution of 3DS Emulation: Goodbye Lime3DS, Hello Azahar

Category: Emulation Guides / Android & PC

Last Updated: 2025

If you have been following the 3DS emulation scene since the shutdown of Citra, you likely landed on Lime3DS as the “safe haven” for playing your library. It was stable, fast, and kept the dream alive.

But if you go looking for a Lime3DS update today, you’re going to hit a wall. That is because Lime3DS is officially dead—but for a very good reason. It hasn’t disappeared; it has evolved.

Here is everything you need to know about the end of Lime3DS, the rise of its successor Azahar, and how to set up your 3DS library for 2025.

🍊 The Big Merge: Lime3DS + PabloMK7 = Azahar

In late 2024, the two biggest teams keeping 3DS emulation alive—the Lime3DS team and the PabloMK7 Citra Fork team—decided to stop competing. Instead of splitting their efforts, they merged to create a single, unified “super-emulator.”

The result is Azahar. (Fun fact: “Azahar” is Spanish for “orange blossom,” a poetic nod to the original “Citra” emulator.)

What does this mean for you?

• Lime3DS is Archived: The GitHub repository is read-only. No new features will ever come to the app named “Lime3DS.”
• Azahar is the Standard: All future performance boosts, bug fixes for games (like Luigi’s Mansion 2), and Android optimizations are happening in Azahar.

⚠️ The “Catch” You Need to Know (File Types)

Moving from Lime3DS to Azahar isn’t perfectly seamless. To keep the project safe from legal threats (like what happened to Yuzu), the developers of Azahar made a strict choice:

Official Azahar builds do NOT support encrypted .3ds files.

• In Lime3DS: You could often just drag and drop your dumped .3ds files and play.
• In Azahar: You must use decrypted ROMs (usually ending in .cci or .3ds but decrypted). If you try to load an encrypted file, it simply won’t show up or won’t play.

The Workaround: AzaharPlus

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of decrypting your entire library again, the community has already created a “fork of the fork” called AzaharPlus.

• AzaharPlus restores support for encrypted .3ds files.
• It functions exactly like the old Lime3DS/Citra but with the new Azahar performance engine.

🛠️ Setup Guide: The 2025 Standard

Since you are likely moving on from Lime3DS, here is how to get the best performance right now.

1. Choose Your Version

• For the Purist: Download Azahar from the Google Play Store or their official GitHub. (Requires decrypted games).
• For Convenience: Search for AzaharPlus on GitHub if you want to keep using your existing encrypted library.

2. The “Must-Have” Settings

Lime3DS was good, but Azahar is faster. Enable these settings to get the most out of it:

• Graphics API: Set this to Vulkan. It is now much more stable than OpenGL for almost all devices.
• Shader Cache: Enable “Vulkan Pipeline Cache” to reduce stuttering effectively.
• Resolution:
  • 1x (Native): For low-end phones.
  • 2x-3x: The “sweet spot” for modern Androids (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2/3) and PCs. It looks sharper than a real 3DS.
  • 4x+: Overkill unless you are playing on a 4K monitor.

3. Android Exclusive Tip (Snapdragon Users)

If you are on an Android device with a Snapdragon chip, do not use the default system drivers.

• Download the latest Turnip Drivers (Revision 17 or newer for 2025).
• Install them in Azahar settings under GPU Driver Manager. This can fix graphical glitches in heavy games like Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.

🏆 Verdict: Is Lime3DS Still Usable?

Technically, yes. If you have Lime3DS installed and it works for your games, you don’t need to delete it today. It won’t stop working.

However, if you want to play newer game dumps, use better drivers, or fix those annoying crashes in Metroid: Samus Returns, you need to migrate.

The King is dead. Long live the King.

• Delete: Lime3DS / Citra
• Download: Azahar (or AzaharPlus)

Disclaimer: This blog is for educational purposes. Always dump your own games from cartridges you legally own.