What is HENkaku?

HENkaku is the first ever homebrew enabler for PS Vita and PSTV. It is akin to jailbreaking your iPhone or rooting your Android device.

Homebrew are games and other software not officially approved. For example, VitaDoom is a port of the classic game DOOM and mGBA lets you play Game Boy Advance ROMs. You can find more examples in the showcase.

Best of all, HENkaku is 100% free. No cost. No ads. No “donations”.

How do I get it?

Visit https://henkaku.xyz from the built-in web browser on your PS Vita and press the “Install” button to install HENkaku. You must do this every time you reboot the console–that is, every time you turn the console off and on again.

What are the requirements?

You need a PS Vita or PSTV running system firmware 3.60. Unfortunately, it is not possible to run HENkaku on any device running a higher firmware version and it is also not possible to downgrade your system firmware.

In order to transfer homebrew to your device, you also need a FTP client for your computer. We recommend FileZilla. Finally, you need an internet connection to install HENkaku.

tl;dr:

• Vita on firmware 3.60
• Internet connection
• FTP client on your PC

It is important that you never update your Vita past 3.60 if you ever wish to use HENkaku now or in the future. If you do update, all your installed homebrew will no longer work and you cannot install any homebrew in the future.

Buying a Vita?

If you are considering purchasing a new PS Vita or PSTV in order to use HENkaku, follow the upgrade instructions in order to upgrade to 3.60 and not the latest firmware. Because Sony has stopped producing new Vita units in the west, all brand new stock except the latest Japan only colors come with an old firmware. Therefore we recommend buying new rather than preowned or refurbished.

Details and Support

More details and troubleshooting can be found in the usage guide. If you are a developer, please check out the developer guide and help contribute to the homebrew community.