glui_minimal_assets.zip (used by the F-Droid release) missing `ozone` menu assets, causing pixelated fonts and missing icons

Is there an existing issue for this?

• This is a bug in RetroArch frontend
• I have searched the existing issues

Description

The RetroArch.apk from retroarch.com includes the directory /assets/assets/ozone/. However, the F-Droid 1.22.2 apk and earlier lacks this ozone subdirectory within /assets/assets/, because it uses glui_minimal_assets.zip, which does not contain that folder.

Platform / Device	RetroArch Version	Architecture	Android Version	Default Menu Driver	Settings → Drivers → Menu: ozone render correctly?[1]
Google TV Streamer	1.22.2 (F-Droid)	armeabi-v7a (32-bit)	Android TV 14	ozone	❌ No
Google TV Streamer	1.22.2 (retroarch.com RetroArch.apk)	armeabi-v7a (32-bit)	Android TV 14	ozone	✅ Yes
Conventional smartphone	1.22.2 (F-Droid)	arm64-v8a (64-bit)	Android 15	glui	❌ No
Conventional smartphone	1.22.2 (retroarch.com RetroArch.apk)	arm64-v8a (64-bit)	Android 15	glui	✅ Yes
Old conventional smartphone	1.22.2 (F-Droid)	armeabi-v7a (32-bit)	Android 4.4.2	glui	❌ No
Old conventional smartphone	1.22.2 (retroarch.com RetroArch.apk)	armeabi-v7a (32-bit)	Android 4.4.2	glui	✅ Yes

Retroarch 1.22.2 (F-Droid) armeabi-v7a on Google TV Streamer with the default ozone menu driver

Screenshot taken with scrcpy.

Retroarch 1.22.2 (F-Droid) armeabi-v7a on conventional old smartphone with the loaded ozone menu driver

Additional details

The F-Droid release of RetroArch is a universal ABI package supporting:

• arm64-v8a (64-bit ARM)
• armeabi-v7a (32-bit ARM)
• x86 (32-bit x86)
• x86_64 (64-bit x86)

Example affected devices

• Google TV Streamer running Google TV 14
  • adb shell getprop ro.product.cpu.abilist returns armeabi-v7a,armeabi
• Google Chromecast devices
  • I could reproduce this on Chromecast med Google TV (HD) for example.

These devices are frequently used as microconsoles.

Temporary workaround

As a primary temporary workaround to make the F-Droid version visually match the retroarch.com release, you can run Main Menu → Online Updater → Update Assets.
For users without internet access, changing Settings → Drivers → Menu: glui offers a secondary workaround — it renders correctly but also alters the menu layout.

Expected behavior

The ozone menu driver is expected to render correctly by default. If glui_minimal_assets.zip were not present, the F-Droid build would instead use the full asset package, which would resolve the ozone rendering issue.

This is especially important for hardware like Google streaming devices, which use the ozone menu driver by default.

Screenshot captured in the same environment as the previous one, taken after executing Main Menu → Online Updater → Update Assets in RetroArch.

Steps to reproduce the bug

1. Install RetroArch from F-Droid on an armeabi-v7a device (e.g., Google TV Streamer).
2. Launch the app for the first time.
3. Observe missing icons in menus and pixelated fonts.

Version/Commit

1.22.2

Bisect Results

No response

Present in the nightly version

I don't know

Platform & operating system

Google TV 14

Affected Cores

No response

Environment information

• Device: Google TV Streamer
• F-Droid release

Relevant log output

References

1: Requires that you run Main Menu → Quit to save the setting, and then start RetroArch to make the setting to take effect.

Start by comparing glui_minimal_assets.zip with the full asset package, focusing on assets/assets/ozone and the F-Droid build inputs. Reproduce the first-launch behavior on an affected Android device, then verify that the packaged F-Droid APK contains the required ozone assets and renders its default menu correctly without using Online Updater → Update Assets.