The Nintendo Switch is a great system, it could be getting even greater though as it can now double up as a nifty little mobile tablet.
The Switch is a console that returned Nintendo to its Wii glory days. While the Wii U had terrible sales figures, the Switch has done a lot better. Part of the reason the console has done well is its versatility, both in the console itself doubling as a portable device, and in the games themselves being more diverse.
The device however has just become even more versatile as it can now run Android, making it double up as a mobile device, just don’t tell Nintendo.
Unsurprisingly, this isn’t a new patch Nintendo has shipped out, it’s the work of hackers and it’s far from official. Using an SD card with all the right things on it, you can load up the Nvidia Shield TV operating system called LineageOS 15.1, this itself is based on Android 8.1.
What this means is that once you get LineageOS 15.1 installed onto your Switch via an SD card, you can do all the things on you Switch you could do on any Android device.
Tutorial (remember this is at your own risk)
The Switch, unlike the consoles before it, doesn’t have a web browser for example. Now it does, it also has Netflix, Spotify. The best thing? All this can be done in both handheld or docked modes, as well as the Joy-Cons also working.
Hook this new beefed up Switch to Steam and you can stream video games from your PC to your Switch and then play anywhere in the house thanks to the device’s portability.
In our minds, we’re looking to this kind of tech one day muscling its way into the Switch Lite, doing that would give you the perfect gaming/Android hybrid device. Not that we’re telling you to go out of your way to hack your devices and make Nintendo sad.
Nintendo isn’t going to want to know you if any problems happen to your console because of this meddling, it’s also not even possible unless you have a console made after June 2018. There’s also reports of dodgy battery life, WiFi issues and connection issues.
Take a look at the video from XdaDevelopers for a hands-on take of the port:
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