First Launch
The first time you open DOSGamePlayer it walks you through a short setup. Here's what you'll see, in order.
Step 1 — Splash screen
A short loading screen appears while the app prepares its internal game folders (one per system: DOS, ARCADE, NES, SNES, etc.) and loads the initial game list.
Step 2 — Consent dialog (UMP)
DOSGamePlayer uses Google's User Messaging Platform to ask permission for:
- Analytics storage — anonymous usage data
- Ad storage — ad measurement
- Ad user data — passing data to ad networks
- Ad personalization — personalized ads
You can Accept All, Reject All, or open Manage Options to fine-tune. Whatever you choose, the app works the same — only ad and analytics behavior changes. You can change your choice later from the system Privacy settings if needed.
Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics are off by default. They only turn on after you grant the relevant consent.
Step 3 — In-app update (optional)
If a newer version is available on the Play Store, you may see a Google Play Flexible Update prompt. You can update right away or skip it for later.
Step 4 — Main screen
You land on the Discover tab. The bottom bar (or the side rail bar on tablets) gives you five sections:
- Discover — recent, new, random, ranked, and cleared games
- Explore — browse by system, category, language, and sort
- Collection — your favorites, played, downloaded, and cleared games
- Search — text search with filters
- Settings — appearance, controls, storage, backup, etc.
See App Tour for a tour of each tab.
What about runtime permissions?
The first time you do something that needs a permission, Android shows you a system prompt:
| Permission | Used for | When asked |
|---|---|---|
READ_MEDIA_AUDIO (Android 13+) | Reading ROM, BIOS, and save files from device storage | When you tap Add ROM from Device |
READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE (Android 10–12) | Same purpose, older API | Same trigger as above |
VIBRATE | Haptic feedback during gameplay | Granted automatically (not a runtime permission) |
INTERNET / ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | Downloading ROMs, syncing your library, cloud backup (premium) | Granted automatically |
If you ever deny a permission and then need it later, see Permissions troubleshooting.
What you don't need to do
- You don't need to sign in to anything to play games.
- You don't need to add ROMs manually — the built-in library has thousands of titles already.
- You don't need to configure controls — defaults work out of the box. You can customize later under Controls & Input.
Next step
- Take the App Tour to learn the layout.