Yes, you can download from app) while your 3DS is in sleep mode. Unlike the official eShop, which had its own background download system, hShop requires a specific step to ensure the download continues after you close the lid. How to Download in Sleep Mode To successfully download games from while your console is closed: Add to Queue : You must add titles to your download queue by pressing on the game. Keep hShop Open

So, The answer is a resounding YES — but only if you use the Repack feature.

To download massive libraries or large game repacks, you need to utilize official Nintendo background processes or external PC tools. 🔓 Method 1: Using Custom Install (The Fastest Way)

Technically, allowing downloads during sleep mode depends on layered cooperation: operating system policies, network stacks, power-management profiles, and the app’s permission model. Mobile OSes guard battery life jealously. They throttle background activity, suspend network access, or limit tasks to predefined maintenance windows. Desktop systems have similar mechanisms: “Wake for network access” or scheduled maintenance tasks that let downloads proceed without a full wake. So a store that claims seamless sleep-mode downloads is really orchestrating around these constraints — asking permission from the OS, scheduling tasks, or using platform-approved background services. That’s feasible, but not free: it consumes energy, blurs the line between idle and active device states, and can surprise users who didn’t expect network or battery use while “sleeping.”

Users seeking to download large repacks via hShop must keep the console open and the screen active for the duration of the transfer, or utilize alternative transfer methods such as USB/SD card transfer via a PC.