Getting help

Email emma@savvylabs.co.uk and we usually reply within a couple of days. You can also tap Report a problem inside the app — from a game's menu, the "something went wrong" screen, or Settings → Help & Legal.

What is Backlight?

Backlight is a calm, private, ad-free player for the classic 16-bit handheld .gba files you already own. It plays games you import from your own device. It does not include, find, or download games.

Adding your games

Tap + in your library and choose one or more .gba files (or a .zip containing them) from your device. Backlight copies them into its own private storage and builds a library entry for each.

Where do games come from? You provide them — for example by backing up cartridges you own, or from homebrew stores that sell new handheld games. Backlight never links to game-download sites and has no "get games" button.

If a file won't import, it's usually because it isn't a valid .gba file, it's larger than the 32 MB cartridge limit, or the archive couldn't be read safely.

Saves and save states

Battery saves happen automatically and are written whenever you leave a game, so your in-game progress is kept the way the original cartridge would keep it.

Save states snapshot the exact moment you're in. Use the quick menu (swipe down on the screen) to save a state, load one, or take a screenshot. There's also an automatic state each time you leave a game, so you can pick up exactly where you left off. Saves and states are stored on your device.

Controllers and on-screen controls

Play with the on-screen controls — you can move, resize and fade the buttons and turn haptics on or off in Settings → Controls. Connect a Bluetooth or USB controller and the on-screen buttons step aside automatically; you can remap buttons from the same screen.

Display and orientation

Backlight draws the picture with integer scaling for a crisp, pixel-accurate image, and supports both portrait and landscape. Choose your scaling and orientation in Settings → Display.

BIOS

Backlight runs on a built-in high-level BIOS by default, so it works out of the box. If you prefer, you can supply your own BIOS file; it's validated and kept only on your device. Backlight never bundles or downloads a console BIOS.

Your privacy and your data

Backlight has no account, no ads, and no trackers, and collects no personal data. Everything stays on your device. See the Privacy Policy for the details, and the "Delete your data" page for how to remove games, saves and states.

Open source

Backlight is built on the open-source mGBA core (MPL-2.0). The full licence list, and a link to our core source, is in the app under Settings → Help & Legal.

Support