What is Winlator?
Winlator is an Android application that lets you run Windows (x86_64) applications and games on ARM-based Android devices. It combines several powerful open-source technologies to achieve this:- Wine — translates Windows system calls into Linux equivalents
- Box86/Box64 — translates x86/x86_64 instructions to ARM instructions
- Mesa GPU drivers — provides Vulkan and OpenGL support via Turnip, Zink, and VirGL
- DXVK / VKD3D — translates Direct3D calls to Vulkan for better performance
- PRoot — runs the Linux environment without root access
Key features
Container management
Isolate each Windows environment in its own container with independent settings, Wine prefix, and drive mappings.
Graphics translation
Choose from Turnip (Vulkan), VirGL, or Zink drivers, and pair with DXVK, VKD3D, or WineD3D for DirectX games.
Box86/Box64 presets
Switch between Stability, Compatibility, Intermediate, and Performance presets to tune the x86 translation layer.
Custom input controls
Design on-screen control overlays and bind physical gamepad buttons to Windows input events.
Per-game shortcuts
Create shortcuts with individual settings per game — screen size, graphics driver, Box64 preset, and more.
Virtual drives
Map Android storage directories to Windows drive letters (D:, E:, etc.) for easy file access.
Supported hardware
Winlator targets Android devices with ARM64 (arm64-v8a) processors. For the best graphics performance, a device with an Adreno GPU is recommended, as the Turnip Vulkan driver is specifically designed for Adreno hardware.Winlator requires Android 8.0 (API level 26) or higher.
Technology stack
| Component | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Wine 9.2 | Windows API compatibility layer |
| Box86 / Box64 | x86 → ARM instruction translation |
| Ubuntu Focal RootFS | Linux userland base |
| Mesa (Turnip, Zink, VirGL) | GPU drivers |
| DXVK | Direct3D 9/10/11 → Vulkan |
| VKD3D | Direct3D 12 → Vulkan |
| D8VK | Direct3D 8 → Vulkan |
| CNC DDraw | DirectDraw → OpenGL (for old games) |
| PRoot | Rootless Linux container |
| ALSA | Audio subsystem |
Getting started
Installation
Download the APK and get Winlator installed on your device.
Quickstart
Create your first container and launch a Windows application in minutes.
Credits
Winlator is built on the shoulders of many open-source projects. Special thanks to:- Wine — the core Windows compatibility layer
- ptitSeb — author of Box86 and Box64
- Mesa — Turnip, Zink, and VirGL GPU drivers
- DXVK — Direct3D to Vulkan translation
- VKD3D — Direct3D 12 to Vulkan
- D8VK — Direct3D 8 to Vulkan
- CNC DDraw — legacy DirectDraw support
- Termux Pacman — GLIBC patches
- PRoot — rootless container execution