How TVPort Turns Apple TV 4K Into a Switch Gaming Box

An open-source project called TVPort is putting Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 games on an unexpected screen: the Apple TV 4K. The project, released by Redditor u/FloatingFalafel, uses a Mac to recompile games so they can run natively on Apple’s set-top box.

TVPort is a fork of the nxnative toolkit, and the project offers a clear look at how far AI-assisted software work has moved. Over the last several weeks, people have used tools such as Claude Code to recompile or clone software, reverse engineer subscription apps, and move video games to platforms they were never designed to support.

Switch games on a set-top box

u/FloatingFalafel used Claude Opus 5.5 for the TVPort project. The developer says the tool can back up save files to a Mac or iCloud and lets users choose a target framerate of either 30 fps or 60 fps.

Super Mario Odyssey is described as running at 60 fps on Apple TV 4K, with very slight stutters on occasion and audio issues around waterfalls. Animal Crossing: New Horizons appears limited to 30 fps, but u/FloatingFalafel said they had not encountered any issues with that game.

The results depend on how each game handles its data. Most games run in a similar way on the Switch, but some load textures into memory differently. Those games need diagnosis and fixes before they will run properly, which makes this more than a simple one-click conversion.

TVPort also highlights the limits of the hardware. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, or TOTK, needs more work after testing caused thermal throttling on Apple TV. u/FloatingFalafel said, “In order to get games like TOTK running, there are serious diagnostics and even partial rewrites of the game’s engine as a patch in the program.”

The developer also warned that “Heavier games like TOTK might never run on the Apple TV 4K 3rd-gen.” u/FloatingFalafel is working on native Switch ports for Xbox Series X as well, but the TVPort project shows that compatibility remains a game-by-game challenge.

What the project says about AI-assisted ports

TVPort is part of a wider wave of projects built with help from AI coding tools. Some people have reverse engineered subscription-based software, including Adobe’s Creative Cloud apps, to assemble their own versions. Others have tried to decompile and recompile games for different platforms and browsers, with results that vary from successful experiments to incomplete projects.

That work has also created a dispute over how AI should be used in software development. The operators of decomp.dev said they were shutting down the site because the “community aspect of decompilation has been broken” by bad actors using AI. Anthropic later instructed Claude Code not to recreate existing games.

That tension matters for TVPort because the project does not include any game files. Anyone who wants to experiment must provide their own files, legally obtained from their own Switch cartridges. The software project and the games themselves are separate, leaving users responsible for how they obtain and use those files.

There is also a practical lesson here. The Switch is almost 10 years old, and it was underpowered even when it came out. Yet the Apple TV 4K can handle enough of the same software to run games such as Super Mario Odyssey at 60 fps, while also exposing the limits that appear with a heavier title like TOTK.

That makes the Apple TV 4K look like more than a box for reruns of Friends or MLS livestreams. TVPort offers a reminder that the set-top box is a solid gaming system, even if turning it into a Switch replacement still requires a Mac, technical troubleshooting, and legally obtained game files.

The project’s current state is best understood as an experiment rather than a finished gaming platform. Some games already show promising performance, others need fixes, and TOTK may never work on the Apple TV 4K 3rd-gen. Still, TVPort demonstrates what can happen when open-source tools and AI-assisted development meet hardware with more gaming power than many owners expect.

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