PWA Setup

TinyEmulator can be installed as a Progressive Web App for offline use.

Current Configuration

TinyEmulator includes a manifest.json for PWA installation:

{
  "short_name": "TinyEmulator",
  "name": "TinyEmulator - Retro Game Emulator",
  "icons": [
    {
      "src": "favicon.svg",
      "sizes": "any",
      "type": "image/svg+xml"
    }
  ],
  "start_url": ".",
  "display": "standalone",
  "theme_color": "#000000",
  "background_color": "#ffffff"
}

Install on Desktop

Browser	Method
Chrome / Edge	Click install icon in address bar
Firefox	Add to Home Screen
Safari	Share → Add to Home Screen

Install on Mobile

iOS (Safari)

1. Open https://play.tinyemulator.com in Safari
2. Tap Share button
3. Select "Add to Home Screen"

Android (Chrome)

1. Open https://play.tinyemulator.com in Chrome
2. Tap menu (⋮)
3. Select "Add to Home Screen"

Offline Capabilities

TinyEmulator caches the following for offline use:

Resource	Cache Strategy	Purpose
WASM Cores	Cache-first	Emulator cores (nes, snes, gba, etc.)
Game ROMs	IndexedDB (BrowserFS)	User-uploaded ROMs
Save States	IndexedDB + Cloud	Local + cloud sync
Favorites	localStorage	Offline favorites list
Cover Images	Blob cache	Cached cover art

Service Worker (Future Enhancement)

To add full offline support, add a Service Worker:

// sw.js
const CACHE_NAME = 'tinyemulator-v1';
const CACHE_URLS = [
  '/',
  '/index.html',
  '/assets/index.js',
  '/assets/index.css',
  '/cores/nes-core.js',
  '/cores/snes-core.js',
];

self.addEventListener('install', (event) => {
  event.waitUntil(
    caches.open(CACHE_NAME).then((cache) => cache.addAll(CACHE_URLS))
  );
});

self.addEventListener('fetch', (event) => {
  event.respondWith(
    caches.match(event.request).then((response) => {
      return response || fetch(event.request);
    })
  );
});

Register in index.html:

<script>
  if ('serviceWorker' in navigator) {
    navigator.serviceWorker.register('/sw.js');
  }
</script>