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Central Scrutinizer

Central Scrutinizer turns your handheld into a little web server so you can manage your library from a phone, tablet, or computer on the same Wi-Fi. It is the easy way to add a pile of ROMs or fix up box art without pulling the SD card.

The Central Scrutinizer web dashboard in a browser: a Library workspace with Library and Tools tabs, a platform search, and cards for each console showing ROM, save, state, BIOS, and cheat counts

  1. Make sure the device is on Wi-Fi (Settings → Network).
  2. Open Central Scrutinizer from the Apps tab. The screen shows a web address and a PIN.
  3. On your computer or phone, open that address in a browser.
  4. Enter the PIN to pair (or press Y on the device to show a QR code you can scan). Once paired, that browser stays trusted.

From the browser you can:

  • Upload ROMs - single files or whole folders, including ZIP archives. Each console shows as a single library, and uploads land in that system’s recommended folder. If you have older alias folders (say both Roms/NES and Roms/FC), Central Scrutinizer shows them as one console with a combined count rather than duplicate cards.
  • Manage files - download, rename, delete, and make folders.
  • Sort box art - replace or tidy up game artwork.
  • Browse logs - read Leaf’s app logs, with a live tail, which is handy when something is not working.
  • Clean up - remove stray Mac metadata files (.DS_Store and friends) that sneak onto SD cards.

After uploading games, run Rescan Library from the launcher’s MENU (or just reboot) so the new games appear.

Central Scrutinizer knows what each system can actually play, so it only uploads files that will show up as games. When you open a console’s ROMs, it lists the accepted formats under the toolbar, for example:

Supported: .chd, .cso, .iso, .pbp

If you pick a file a system cannot use (say a .zip for PSP, which wants a disc image), it tells you before anything transfers, names the formats that system accepts, and leaves the file out rather than dropping it somewhere it would never be scanned as a game.

Most cartridge consoles, arcade, and Neo Geo read .zip files directly, so their format list includes .zip. For systems that do not (mostly disc based ones), use Upload ZIP to extract a supported file from the archive instead. Either way, only files a rescan can turn into real games get copied to the card, so it stays tidy.

Central Scrutinizer is open source (MIT).