Dual Screen

Dual-Screen

Some emulation handhelds have a secondary display (a top screen, a companion mini screen, a stacked second display). Argosy can use that second display while you play.

What the second screen does

• Library browsing on the second screen while a game plays on the main screen — you can queue up your next game without pausing the current one.
• Game detail view on the second screen for reference during play.
• Dedicated game output for platforms with an intrinsic two-screen layout (Nintendo DS, DSi).

Behavior varies by handheld. Argosy detects available displays on startup and enables the matching features.

Enabling dual-screen

Argosy enables dual-screen support automatically on supported handhelds. There is no manual "turn it on" toggle — if your device is recognized and a secondary display is connected, the relevant features appear.

The 2.0 companion experience

2.0 rebuilt both screens around a showcase-and-control split:

• Top screen: a large showcase for the selected game — box art (3D when available), artwork, and playtime stats. Menus and pickers you trigger from the bottom screen open here.
• Bottom screen: the interactive carousel, collections, and library grid, driven by touch or controller.
• During play: the companion screen shows session info with touch quick actions — save state, screenshot, and load state — without opening the in-game menu.

Swapping displays

Which physical screen is "main" vs "companion" is configurable:

• Settings > Displays > Display Roles — Auto, Standard, or Swapped.
• The R3 quick settings panel has a Swap Displays toggle for switching on the fly.

Emulators can also target a specific screen per platform via the Display Target option in platform settings, or per game via Per-Game Settings on the game's detail page. The dual-screen game detail OPTIONS tab exposes the same Display Target row, plus a Save Path row for viewing or resetting a per-game save path (setting a custom path is done from the main screen).

Apps on the top screen

On the Apps screen, Y launches the focused app on the top screen (leaving the bottom free), and the Select context menu offers the same plus reorder. The dual-screen home app bar behaves the same way.

Pinning a game to the second display

From a game's detail page, you can pin the game to the secondary display so launches target that screen instead of the main one. Useful for:

• Nintendo DS / DSi — so the top and bottom screens show on their respective physical displays.
• Running a secondary game (emulation) on one screen while using Argosy on the other.

Pinning is per-game.

Known limitations

Dual-screen launch has a few rough edges tracked for fixes:

• The standard loading interstitial and launch sound may not play when a game launches on the secondary display — the dual-screen path bypasses the regular launch screen.
• Detecting when an external emulator (like RetroArch) has closed is less reliable across displays, so Argosy may take longer to notice you've exited a game on the secondary display.
• Nintendo DS touch is tied to the DS bottom screen. melonDS only accepts stylus taps when the bottom screen is part of the active layout, so a single-screen "top only" layout disables touch - even after you swap which physical display shows it.

If you hit odd behavior on a dual-screen device, report it at GitHub Issues with your device model — dual-screen support is maintained per-device.