Supported Formats

Where the Files Go (PS4 Example)

• PS2 saves: /PS2/SAVEDATA/ · PS2 VMCs: /PS2/VMC/
• PS1 saves: /PS1/SAVEDATA/ · PS1 VMCs: /PS1/VMC/

Full cross-platform map in the USB folder paths guide.

Typical Workflows

• Import a downloaded PS2 save (.psu/.max from the floppy-disc era of the internet) into a VMC image your console’s PS2 Classics / emulator setup uses.
• Export PS1 saves from a VMC to single-save files for emulator use.
• Convert on PS3: the PS3 build converts PS1/PS2 saves to the PS3’s .PSV format for PS1/PS2 Classics.
• The PS Vita build works with PS1 VMCs, and Adrenaline users manage PSP-side saves from the same app.

Notes

• The standalone PS2 build of Apollo works directly with real memory cards and its offline save database — see the PS2 hub.
• Conversion changes containers, not ownership: a save that needed re-signing still needs it afterwards (PS3 re-signing).
• v2.4.0 also added Dreamcast VMU handling — retro coverage now spans three decades of consoles: Dreamcast VMU guide.

Related Guides

Download Apollo · PS2 hub · Dreamcast VMU guide · USB folder paths

Supported Files

What You Can Do

• List the saves stored inside a VMU image.
• Extract individual saves out of an image to keep or share.
• Rename Flycast VMU files so emulator and Apollo naming line up.
• On the Vita build, additionally export Flycast VMU files into Apollo’s own folders (ux0:data/apollo/) for management.

Workflow

1. Copy your VMU image to media Apollo can read (USB for PS4/PS3 builds; ux0:data/apollo/ area on Vita).
2. Open Apollo and browse to the VMU file; Apollo lists the saves it contains.
3. Select a save to extract it, or rename the image if you’re standardising a Flycast library.
4. Keep a pristine copy of the original image before experimenting — VMU images are small; there’s no excuse not to back them up (see our backup routine).

Why It Matters

Dreamcast save tooling has been frozen in the early-web era for years. Having VMU browsing inside a maintained, multi-platform tool — next to your PS1/PS2 VMC tools — turns Apollo into a general retro-save manager. The PS1/PS2 side is covered in our VMC guide.

Related Guides

Download Apollo · What’s new in v2.4.0 · PS1/PS2 VMC guide · Platforms & Versions

Why People Ask

Apollo’s PS3 build does things emulator users want: re-sign saves between accounts, unlock copy-protected saves, convert PS1/PS2 saves to PS3 .PSV format. It’s natural to wonder whether you can just run it inside RPCS3, the PS3 emulator, and skip owning the console.

The Practical Reality

• Apollo is distributed as a PS3 .pkg homebrew. Emulators run homebrew with varying success, but Apollo leans on real-console specifics — firmware modules, account data (PSID/IDPS/Account ID) read from an actual PS3 user environment, HDD partition layout — that an emulator only approximates.
• The developer’s documentation covers real hardware only. If something misbehaves under emulation, there is no support channel for it, and this site won’t pretend otherwise.

What RPCS3 Users Do Instead

RPCS3 keeps its saves as plain files inside the emulator’s virtual hard-disk folders on your PC. Day-to-day save handling there is ordinary file management: copy the game’s save folder out, back it up, restore it later. Cross-account and cross-console conversions are where a real PS3 with Apollo (or a PS3 tool on PC such as Bruteforce Save Data — see Apollo vs Bruteforce) still earns its place.

The Bottom Line

If your saves live on a real PS3 (or need to end up on one), Apollo on the console is the supported path — install guide here. If your saves live purely inside RPCS3, they’re files on your PC; back them up like files (our 3-2-1 backup routine applies unchanged).

Related Guides

Download Apollo · PS3 hub · Apollo vs Bruteforce · Apollo for PC?

12.02 and 12.52 Are Jailbreak Milestones, Not Apollo Versions

Apollo’s own version numbers look like v2.4.0. The numbers 12.02 and 12.52 are PlayStation 4 system-software (firmware) versions, famous in the homebrew scene because of jailbreak progress:

• 12.02 — the ceiling of the Lapse kernel exploit chain, which made jailbreaking possible up to firmware 12.02.
• 12.50–12.52 — the range covered by the Poops / NetCtrl-based jailbreak that followed.

Guides titled “Apollo 12.52” really mean “Apollo, on a PS4 jailbroken at firmware 12.52.” The jailbreak is the prerequisite; Apollo is an app you install afterwards.

Does Apollo Care Which Firmware You’re On?

No — within reason. Since v2.0.0 (December 2024), Apollo PS4 is firmware-agnostic: it mounts saves with its own patch and encrypted-save handling, requires no GoldHEN/ps4debug payload to run, and the developer publishes no firmware compatibility list for Apollo, because Apollo doesn’t need one. Any claim of the form “Apollo supports firmware X through Y” is describing jailbreaks, not Apollo.

So What Do You Actually Need?

1. A PS4 you can jailbreak — which firmware that requires is a jailbreak question, and the practical ceiling moves over time as new exploits appear.
2. Apollo installed on it: install guide.

That’s the whole relationship. If a page offers an “Apollo Save Tool 12.52 download,” it’s repackaging — the genuine v2.4.0 package and its checksum are on our download page.

Buying a Console for This?

If you’re shopping for a jailbreakable PS4, the firmware on the specific unit is what matters — our jailbreakable PS4 buying guide shows how to verify it before you pay.

Related Guides

Download Apollo · Install Apollo on PS4 · Buy a jailbreakable PS4 · PS4 hub

2020 — The PS3 Original

• April 14, 2020 — Apollo Save Tool launches for PS3. The name and icon pay homage to Artemis, Dnawrkshp’s PS3 Artemis project, whose codebase Apollo descends from. (Artemis itself is a runtime cheat system — see Apollo vs Artemis.)
• Over 2020–2023 the PS3 build matures: PFD re-signing, SFO unlocking, trophy tools, licence management, PS1/PS2 save handling.

2022 — PS4 and Vita Join

• 2022 — the PS4 build launches. The PS Vita build lands in the same era, managing Vita, PSP and PS1 saves.
• The PSP standalone build and PS2 build follow (PS2’s only release line runs to v1.0.2, December 24, 2024).

2024 — The 2.0 Rework

• December 22, 2024 — v2.0.0 (PS4), a landmark rework: a new PS4 save-mounting patch and encrypted-save handling mean Apollo becomes firmware-agnostic and no longer needs a GoldHEN or ps4debug payload at runtime. To this day, installation still requires a jailbroken console.
• v2.0.x adds external-HDD (fake-USB) support, 7-Zip/FTP tooling and unified multi-platform saves handling.

2025–2026 — Maturity and a Sixth Platform

• v2.2.4 (July 2026) — FTP client, user-defined Online Database URL, fake-Account-ID re-signing.
• v2.3.2 (August 2026) — the release this site previously listed as current; packages verified on this site matched GitHub digests exactly.
• October 17, 2026 — v2.4.0 on PS4/PS3/Vita: Patch Engine v3.0.0, Dreamcast VMU support, faster PS4 HDD scanning. Full notes: v2.4.0 what’s new.
• The PSP build’s latest release remains v2.3.2 (May 12, 2026); the PS2 build remains v1.0.2 (2024).

What About PS5?

An apollo-ps5 repository exists (created February 2025) with zero releases. There is no Apollo for PS5 — the full story is on the PS5 status page.

Related Guides

Download Apollo · What’s new in v2.4.0 · PS5 status · About Apollo

The Headline: Dreamcast Comes to Apollo

Apollo now manages Sega Dreamcast VMU saves — a sixth platform family for the app. It reads VMU images (.bin/.vmu/.dcm) and saves (.vmi/.vms, .dci), lists and extracts them, and can rename Flycast VMU files. Our Dreamcast VMU guide walks through the workflow. The Vita build gained a bonus: export Flycast VMU files to Apollo’s own folders for further management.

Patch Engine v3.0.0

• New game decryption support on PS4: Dead or Alive 5 Last Round, Goat Simulator 3, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle, Jump Force
• New decompression: Dishonored 2
• New custom checksums: Digimon World: Next Order, Dishonored 2, JoJo ASB, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor / Shadow of War, Monster Hunter Rise, Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil 6, Resident Evil Resistance, Resident Evil Revelations 2, Resident Evil Village
• Details: v2.4.0 patch-engine support list

PS4-Specific Improvements

• Faster HDD save scanning — the library builds noticeably quicker.
• apollo-lib update for PS4 save mounting (2.2.0 in this release line).
• Re-signing improvements that landed in v2.2.4 — FTP client support, user-defined Online DB URL, and resigning saves that need an activated (fake) Account ID — carry forward.

PS3 and Vita

Both builds share the Patch Engine v3.0.0 update and the new game support. The PS3 build additionally gained extended PS1/PS2 virtual-memory-card handling in this line; the Vita build received the Flycast VMU export noted above.

How to Update

Download the new build for your platform from the download page and install it over the old one — your saves and settings are untouched. Checksums for all three v2.4.0 packages are published there and on each platform hub (v2.3.2’s PS4 package, for comparison, was 22,806,272 bytes; v2.4.0’s is 22,806,528 bytes — close enough that you should verify the hash, not eyeball the size).

Related Guides

Download Apollo · Version history · Dreamcast VMU guide · Platforms & Versions

So if you searched for an “Apollo Save Tool PC download,” any site offering you an ApolloSaveTool.exe is not offering you Apollo. This page explains what Apollo does instead, and what the legitimate PC-side options are for each job people usually want a PC version for.

Why There Is No PC Version

Apollo was designed by its developer, bucanero, to remove the computer from the save-editing workflow. Older tools made you copy saves to a PC, patch them there, copy them back, and hope the re-signing worked. Apollo does the decrypting, patching and re-signing natively on the console, where the account IDs, keys and save formats already live. A PC port would reintroduce exactly the round-trip the project set out to eliminate.

What To Use Instead, By Job

“I want to apply cheat patches without a PC”

That is Apollo itself, on the console. Apollo applies Save Wizard and Bruteforce Save Data cheat patches on-device (the PS3 build also handles Game Genie codes). See how to apply cheat patches in Apollo.

“I used Bruteforce Save Data on Windows for PS3 saves”

Bruteforce Save Data is a genuine Windows tool — but it is a separate project by aldostools, not an Apollo PC edition. Apollo’s PS3 build implements the Bruteforce patch format on the console, so the same patches work without the PC step. We compare them in Apollo vs Bruteforce Save Data.

“I need a save editor for a console that isn’t jailbroken”

Apollo needs a jailbroken (homebrew-enabled) console. If yours is on current firmware and cannot be jailbroken, the established PC option is Save Wizard for PS4 — a commercial Windows tool ($59.99) that processes PS4 saves server-side and needs no jailbreak. It is not Apollo, and Apollo’s developer has no connection to it; Apollo’s relationship with Save Wizard is that it can apply Save Wizard-format cheat patches for free on a jailbroken console. Full comparison: Apollo vs Save Wizard.

“I just need my saves backed up on my PC”

This part of the workflow does live on a PC — Apollo exports saves to USB, and from there they are normal files on your computer. Treat that folder like any important data: keep copies in more than one place. Our 3-2-1 backup guide for Apollo saves walks through a simple routine, and our USB drive guide covers what to copy them with.

The Real Download Links

Apollo is distributed only through the developer’s GitHub repositories. Start from our download page, which links every platform’s official release package — PS4, PS3, PS Vita, PSP and PS2 — with the official SHA-256 checksum for each current build so you can verify exactly what you installed.