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EnglishWhat Is Kaeru Team and What Nintendo Revival Services Does It Offer?
Updated
Kaeru Team is a volunteer group that reverse engineers and builds replacement network services and homebrew tools for discontinued Nintendo platforms, primarily the 3DS, DSi, and Wii U. If you still use one of those systems and want online features or shared content back, Kaeru Team's projects are the relevant place to look. The catch is platform-dependent: some services need a patched app, and iOS users need a jailbroken device.
What Kaeru Team actually does
The team's stated goal is to give old systems new life after Nintendo stops supporting them, and to preserve significant user-generated content. That splits into two kinds of work:
- Replacement servers — rebuilding the backend a game or app talks to, so online functions work again after the official shutdown.
- Homebrew and patching tools — software that redirects a legitimate app installation to those replacement servers, without requiring a modified console in every case.
The main projects
| Project | Platform / app | What it restores |
|---|---|---|
| Kaeru Gallery | Flipnote Studio 3D | A replacement server for the app |
| Kaeru WFC | Nintendo DS | Online play via Wiimmfi, without homebrew or romhacks |
| Kaerutomo | Miitomo | A custom server that makes the app functional again after shutdown |
| Kaeru Duel | Pokémon Duel | A replacement server bringing online functionality back |
| Kaeru Patcher for Android | Android | Patches legitimate installs of supported apps to connect to the revival services |
| Kaeru Team Repo for jailbroken iOS | iOS | Tweaks that enable the revival services |
Two details in that table matter more than the rest. Kaeru WFC is notable because it works without homebrew or romhacks — you are not modifying the DS itself. Kaeru Patcher is the Android-side equivalent: it patches apps you already legitimately installed rather than shipping modified copies.
How you connect to the services
The access path depends on your device:
- Android — use Kaeru Patcher, which patches legitimate installations of supported apps so they point at the revival services.
- Jailbroken iOS — because of the iOS security model, the team states that Apple device users need to be jailbroken; the services are enabled through tweaks distributed via the Kaeru Team repo.
- Nintendo DS — Kaeru WFC routes online play through Wiimmfi with no homebrew or romhack required.
The common thread is that these are not standalone apps you launch instead of the original. They redirect or patch the original software, which is why "legitimate installation" keeps coming up as a precondition.
What to check before you start
- Do you have the original app or game? The patching approach assumes a legitimate install to work from.
- Is your platform supported? Android and jailbroken iOS are the two mobile paths the team describes; the DS path is separate and simpler.
- Are you expecting official-equivalent service? These are community-run replacements for functionality Nintendo no longer provides, not restored official servers.
If your goal is specifically to share Flipnotes again, Kaeru Gallery is the project to look at, since it is the Flipnote Studio 3D replacement server. For everything else, match your platform to the table above and follow the corresponding project's own details page.