Android handhelds just got a massive multitasking upgrade with this launcher

Dedicated Android emulation frontends have made massive strides recently, with apps like ES-DE, Socket, and Blip elevating the Android handheld experience. Cocoon, a frontend tailored heavily for modern handhelds like the AYN Thor, has now picked up its 3.1 beta update. The highlight addition for this release is a new fast game-switching feature that lets users suspend, resume, and bounce between games seamlessly right from the home launcher.

As detailed in the Cocoon 3.1 release notes and highlighted on Reddit, the feature is powered by a new “Enhanced Device Access” mode. With Cocoon 3.1 beta installed, pressing the Home button in a game now suspends the title on the launcher grid, leaving an active snapshot of where you left off. From there, tapping A immediately hops back in, pressing X shuts down the game alongside any background companion apps, and dual-screen users can even swap active display outputs on the fly.

At launch, Enhanced Device Access is supported primarily across AYN, Retroid, and select AYANEO devices.

For devices running more constrained specs, such as the Anbernic RG DS, the 3.1 release also introduces deeper system-level performance optimizations. The launcher now pauses idle background animations during gameplay to free up system memory and ships with precompiled Android optimization profiles to stamp out interface stutter right after installation.

Beyond game multitasking, Cocoon 3.1 also overhauls grid customization. Users can now long-press tiles to enter an intuitive drag-and-resize layout editor where neighboring icons shift fluidly out of the way.

Other notable quality-of-life perks include an integrated auto-updater, refreshed system icons with exact battery percentage counters, and a new full-screen launch animation that stretches game box art across both panels on dual-screen setups.

The Cocoon 3.1 beta update is available to sideload as an APK from the project’s GitHub repository, and future updates can be handled directly through the new built-in updater.