First Launch

First Launch Setup

Argosy's first-run wizard walks you through everything it needs to get from a fresh install to a playable library. You can revisit most of these steps later in Settings, so it's fine to skip something and come back.

Wizard steps

1. Storage permission — Argosy requests access to your device storage so it can manage ROM files, saves, and downloads.
2. Global ROM path — pick the folder where downloaded ROMs should land. See Storage and Paths for how this interacts with per-platform overrides.
3. RomM connection — enter your server URL (e.g. http://192.168.1.100:8080 or your public domain), username, and password.
4. Library sync — select which platforms to sync from your RomM library. Games appear in the library but are not downloaded until you launch them or batch-download a collection.
5. Core downloads (optional) — opt into downloading Built-in Emulator cores up front so you can play immediately without the first-launch download prompt per platform.
6. Save sync — opt into saving your game saves to RomM so they follow you across devices. Covered in detail on the Save Sync page.
7. RetroAchievements (optional) — sign in with your RA username and password to track achievements. See RetroAchievements.

RomM connection notes

Your RomM server must be reachable from the device. If you're on the same LAN, use your server's local IP. If you're connecting from outside your network, you need to expose RomM externally (reverse proxy, VPN, Tailscale, etc.) — Argosy doesn't provide a tunnel.

If the connection test fails, double-check the URL (including http:// vs https://), the port, and that RomM is actually reachable from a browser on the same device.

Usage stats permission (later)

After the wizard, you may be prompted to grant Usage Stats access. This is a separate Android system permission that lets Argosy detect when an external emulator has closed so it can end your play session and trigger a save sync. The prompt sends you to Android settings — find Argosy in the list and enable access.

Usage Stats is optional. Without it, play time tracking for external emulators is best-effort.

Skipping steps

You can skip optional steps (core downloads, save sync, RetroAchievements) and enable them later from Settings. Storage permission, ROM path, and RomM connection are required to get past the wizard — there's no local-only mode on a fresh install.