Every week I scroll r/SwitchHacks and r/3dshacks for things worth trying. Most weeks a few of them are genuinely great and then sink under the next day's posts. From now on the best ones land here, with what they do, what you need and where to get them. I've checked each one against its own repo, not just the Reddit title.
This week: the Switch.
1. Switch Frame Tap: your Switch on a PC at 1080p60, no capture card
What it is: an Atmosphère sysmodule that grabs the game's finished frames, encodes them on the Switch's own hardware H.264 encoder and streams them with sound to a viewer on your PC. Over USB-C in handheld mode, or over the network when docked.
Why it's cool: SysDVR, the usual option, streams 720p at 30 fps. Frame Tap gives you the game's own resolution at 60 fps, with roughly 45 ms of latency at 720p and 60 ms at 1080p. It also records MP4s, takes native-resolution screenshots and can show up as a webcam in OBS or Discord.
You need: Atmosphère on firmware 21 to 23, a PC on Windows 10/11, Linux or macOS 12+ (there is an Android viewer too). For 1080p over USB you also need ReverseNX-RT, and a full 60 fps at 1080p wants the CPU at 1785 MHz. Windows users install a USB driver once with Zadig.
Good to know: the author calls it experimental. GPL-2.0.
github.com/TomasUribe/switch-frame-tap · Reddit thread
2. tailscale-nx: put your Switch on your Tailscale network
What it is: a background sysmodule that joins your Switch to your tailnet. Homebrew launched from hbmenu can then reach your PC or NAS by its Tailscale IP or name, from anywhere, without opening ports on your router.
Why it's cool: Moonlight game streaming from your home PC while you are away, and pulling files from your NAS. Version 1.0.0 came out on 7 October and it is already at 1.1.3, which added Taildrop and subnet routes. It uses about 2.5 MB of memory.
You need: Atmosphère, a free Tailscale account (headscale works too) and Tailscale on the machine you want to reach. Ultrahand is recommended for scanning the login QR code.
Good to know: it only carries traffic for homebrew. Games never touch it, so it will not turn online LAN play into internet play. Sleeping the console during a Moonlight stream can crash it, which is a Moonlight bug, not this one. GPL-2.0.
github.com/UnderwaterOverground/tailscale-nx · Reddit thread
3. Mission Control 0.16: other Bluetooth controllers, now on firmware 23
What it is: the long-standing module that lets non-Nintendo Bluetooth controllers pair through the normal Switch menus and behave like native ones. Wii Remotes, Wii U Pro, DualSense and DualSense Edge, Xbox One S/X, Elite 2 and several 8BitDo pads.
Why it's in here: 0.16.0 adds full support for firmware 23.0.0 and 23.0.1, so if you updated and your pad stopped working, this is the fix. It also adds a DualSense adaptive-trigger setting.
Good to know: the author warns there was a fair bit of refactoring with little beta testing, so keep the previous version around in case something regresses. Xbox Series controllers still aren't supported (they use Bluetooth LE). GPL-2.0.
Release 0.16.0 · Reddit thread
4. Checkpoint 5.3.0: save backups, fixed on Switch, new trick on 3DS
What it is: the save manager most of us already use on both the Switch and the 3DS.
Why update: since 5.1.0, restoring a Switch save could inflate it past 64 MB (a 2 MB save came back as 65 MB). That's fixed, and the app now opens on the profile that launched it. On 3DS it can now back up and restore WarioWare: D.I.Y. saves straight from the cartridge, which no 3DS tool could reach before because that 16 MB save lives in NAND chips on the cart itself. Backup takes about a minute.
Good to know: the WarioWare feature needs the CIA build and has been tested on one European cartridge so far. Don't pull the cartridge or power off mid-restore. GPL-3.0.
I use Checkpoint as the base for my own save-sync experiment between my 2DS and 3DS XL, more on that in a later post.
5. Mario Kart Wii running natively on the Switch (beta)
What it is: DriftDroid Beta 1 by dorPXP runs Mario Kart Wii as translated native ARM64 code, no emulator, as a homebrew app. It builds on WiiCompiled by patchzyy, a static recompilation of the game.
Why it's cool: time trials run at 50 to 60 fps at stock clocks. A full 12-kart race sits around 30 fps at stock and about 55 fps with a maximum sys-clk overclock.
You need: Atmosphère, launching through title override (hold R while opening a game), about 3 GB free on the SD card and your own PAL disc, imported on the console (about 6 minutes). Nothing from Nintendo is included or downloaded.
Good to know: it's a first beta from a one-person project: no online, no touch controls, PAL only, and some shader stutter the first time you see a track. GPL-3.0.
github.com/dorPXP/driftdroid releases · Reddit thread
Found something I should try next week? I read every reply. And if you want walkthroughs on the Switch screen while you play, that's my own Guide Watch overlay.