Save Sync

Save Sync

Argosy syncs your game saves to your RomM server so you can stop on one device and continue on another. Sync runs automatically in the background; most users never have to think about it.

What syncs

• Battery saves (SRAM, game-internal saves)
• Quick save states (from the quick-save hotkey)
• Numbered save states (from the in-game menu)
• Platform-specific live saves (Switch, 3DS, Vita, PSP, Wii, Wii U, PS2, GameCube, Dreamcast — format-specific handling)

Save state thumbnails do not sync.

Which emulators sync

Sync quality depends on the emulator:

• Built-in emulator — full sync support.
• RetroArch — full sync support; Argosy reads save paths from retroarch.cfg automatically.
• Other external emulators — sync works only if the emulator stores saves in a path Argosy can access. Some emulators store saves in private directories (especially on Android 11+); Argosy will show "Access blocked — set a custom save path" for those, and you'll need to configure a save path the emulator can write to.

PS2 folder memory cards

When a PS2 emulator (AetherSX2, NetherSX2, ARMSX2, PCSX2) is using folder memory cards, Argosy needs to know which card to sync against. With one folder card present, it's auto-selected. With two or more, you'll be prompted to pick at first launch — the selection is also editable in Settings.

PS2 sync works with folder-type memory cards only. The default card most PS2 emulators create is a single .ps2 file image, which Argosy cannot sync per-game — create a folder-type card in the emulator's card manager and assign it to Slot 1.

ARMSX2 note: if you picked a custom system folder in ARMSX2's setup wizard, your memory cards live in <that folder>/memcards instead of the app's default directory. Point the emulator's Save Path in Argosy's settings at that memcards folder. Folder-type cards on a custom system folder require ARMSX2 Refresh 2.4.8 or newer.

Dreamcast VMU saves

Dreamcast sync works through the built-in emulator, which gives each game its own memory card.

Ownership across accounts

If multiple RomM accounts are paired on this device, the bytes at a save or save-state path carry no account information by themselves, since the path comes from the ROM and is the same no matter who is playing it. Argosy stamps who last wrote a save internally and will not let a different account silently adopt it: switching accounts archives the outgoing account's saves and states off disk before placing the incoming account's own copies back, so progress is never mixed even though both accounts use the same on-disk path.

Save Sync itself and its settings (below) are shared across every account on the device; it is the saves and their sync bookkeeping that are kept apart. See Accounts for the full breakdown of what is shared and what is not, and what switching does when it is interrupted mid-run.

Secure Saves

Secure Saves sits next to Save Sync in Settings > Saves and is on by default. It controls how Argosy handles the saves it syncs:

• On (default) — Argosy manages and enforces save files through its own save cache. This is the right mode when Argosy is your primary launcher.
• Off — Argosy stops enforcing its cache and instead detects and syncs save files in place, wherever they are written. Turn it off if you want to use Argosy purely as a downloader and save manager while you launch and play from a different frontend.

When sync runs

• On game exit — the current save is uploaded to RomM.
• On game launch — Argosy checks for a newer save on RomM and pulls it if found.
• Background worker — runs every 6 hours (with a 1-hour flex window) to catch any queued work.
• Manual — Settings > Saves > Save Caches lists saves waiting to upload with a button to sync them now.
• On ROM download — if you download a game from RomM that already has a save, it's fetched alongside the ROM.
• Switching emulators — if you launch a game in a different emulator than last time, Argosy migrates your latest save to the new emulator's configured path before the game starts.
• Manual save selection is respected — if you restore an older save from the save manager, pre-launch sync won't replace it with a newer server version. The pin clears when your next play session uploads a save, or when you make a different manual selection.

If you're offline, changes queue locally and upload when the connection returns.

Save slots

A game can carry more than one save. Save As in the save manager names a new slot and switches to it, and the slot list lets you move between them.

A slot you create is kept from the moment you make it, before anything has been written into it, so the name stays in the list and your next save lands in it. Empty slots are local to the device -- there is nothing to sync until something is saved.

Archival saves

Saves uploaded from older clients (before slot-based syncing) appear in the save manager under Archived rather than as your active autosave. You can preview each one, restore it, and use Save As to promote it into the active slot — at which point it becomes part of normal cross-device sync.

Conflict resolution

When the server supports it (RomM 4.9 and newer), Argosy uses the server's per-device sync state to decide whether your local save is the latest version, the server's is, or there's a real conflict — the launcher only prompts you when the two clearly disagree. Older RomM servers skip the pre-launch check; background sync reconciles after each session instead.

When a conflict prompt does appear, you pick the winning save directly from the list of candidates rather than a blind keep/overwrite choice.

RetroAchievements hardcore conflict

If you have a local save that was made outside hardcore mode and the server save was made in hardcore mode (or vice versa), Argosy stops and asks what to do:

• Keep Hardcore — upload your local save and discard the server version. You keep earning hardcore achievements.
• Downgrade to Casual — pull the server save. You'll keep your progress but achievements from this point count as casual only.
• Keep Local — skip the sync for this session; play with your local save.

Hardcore mode requires save integrity, so the app cannot silently merge across modes.

Path overrides

Save and state paths default to sensible locations per emulator, but you can override them per platform.

Go to Settings > Platforms > [Platform] > Storage & Sync:

• Save Path — where battery saves live. Tap to browse for a folder. The reset button reverts to the default.
• State Path — where save states live. Same behavior.

An overridden path shows a "(custom)" suffix. For RetroArch platforms these fields are read-only information pulled from retroarch.cfg.

A single game can also override its save path via Per-Game Settings > Save Path on the game's detail page (file-based emulators only). The per-game path takes precedence over the platform override, and sync reads and writes that game's saves there. It is tied to the game's current emulator; changing the game's emulator resets it.

Sync status

Each game's detail page shows its sync status (synced, pending, failed, not configured). If a sync fails you'll see a toast with the error; the next background run retries automatically.

Offline use

Once a game is downloaded, you can play without a RomM connection. Local saves queue and upload the next time you're online. You can also mirror a full library offline by pre-downloading games through the Collections batch download.