Fan control for your gaming handheld

FauxCooling watches how hot the chip is, turns the fan up as the heat builds, and turns it back down when things cool off. You pick the temperature it aims for.

If you installed FauxCooling from Google Play, uninstall that copy first. The GitHub copy will not install over it.

Free. No ads, no account, no paid features.

The FauxCooling status page on a Retroid Pocket 4 Pro under load: three Supporter badges beside the title, chip temperature 66.9 degrees Celsius, fan at 100 percent, the chip is heating up, speed full, target temperature 70.

What it does

One page shows the temperature, the fan, and the speed, updated every second.

You choose the target

Set a target temperature with one slider. A lower target means a cooler chip and a louder fan.

Settings per app

Give a game its own target. It applies by itself while that game is on screen.

Easy to undo

Switch it off and your device takes its fan back at once. The same happens if FauxCooling ever stops by itself.

A safety limit

If the chip passes a fixed safety temperature, the fan goes to full speed.

Starts with the device

Leave it switched on and it starts again after a restart.

Stays on your device

The app goes online for one thing: to ask GitHub whether a newer version is out. Nothing about you is collected or sent.

The status page at rest: chip temperature 38.0 degrees Celsius, fan at 38 percent, keeping the chip at your target, speed full, target temperature 70. — At rest. The fan holds the chip at your target.

The status page with the switch off. It reads: FauxCooling is off. Your device is running its fan the usual way. — Switched off. Your device runs its fan the usual way.

Supported devices

On any AYN or Retroid Pocket device it works as installed. Any other device has to be rooted.

Device	Needs root?	Notes
Any AYN Android device	No	Uses a service the maker includes. Measured on the Odin 3. On another model it works inside the device's own temperature limits.
Any Retroid Pocket device	No	Uses a service the maker includes. Measured on the Pocket 4 Pro. On another model it works inside the device's own temperature limits.
Anbernic devices	Yes	Measured on the RG556.
GameForce Ace	Yes	Works. Not yet compared against the device's own fan control.
Any rooted phone or tablet	Yes	Works even without a fan: it slows the chip a little when it gets close to the device's own limit.

Rooted means Magisk, KernelSU, or APatch. On a device where the app cannot get the access it needs, it tells you it is not compatible and changes nothing.

What was measured

One unit of each device, a few runs each. Your game, your unit, and your room will differ.

AYN Odin 3, a 3D platformer in an emulator, one still scene for 5 minutes: 75.4 frames per second with the hottest part of the chip averaging 88.5 °C, against 73.6 at 104.7 °C with the maker's Smart fan mode.
AYN Odin 3, an open-world action game in an emulator: 23.5 frames per second at 91.6 °C, against 23.6 at 102.4 °C with the maker's Smart fan mode.
Retroid Pocket 4 Pro, a 5-minute stress test that keeps every processor core busy, two pairs of runs: 4% and 17% more work completed than with the maker's Smart fan mode. In the second pair, the run with the maker's mode started with the device 3 °C warmer.
Anbernic RG556, the same stress test, two pairs of runs: the same amount of work (within 1%) with the fan at 42% to 49% on average, against 74% to 78% with the maker's fan mode. The chip ran 2 to 4 °C warmer.

Free, and supported by readers

Every feature is free. If the app is useful to you, you can support its development on one of these pages. It unlocks nothing. Supporters get a badge in the app: Supporter at $3.99 or more in total, Major supporter at $6.99, Supreme supporter at $9.99. The key for the badge arrives by email, and one key shows the same badge in every free Faux app.