🎮 PocketPad

Turn your Android phone into a wireless game controller for Windows — with 3–5 ms latency.

Your phone becomes the gamepad. Your PC sees a real Xbox controller. Every game just works. Up to 4 phones connect at once — each gets its own controller, so two phones = instant local versus. Works on Android 6.0 and newer (QR scanning needs 7.0+; older phones type the code).

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⬇ Download

Never used GitHub? You're in the right place — just click the two big buttons.

💻 On your Windows PC

Open the file → Next → Install → Finish. Blue "Windows protected your PC" box? More info → Run anyway.

📱 On your Android phone

Tap this on the phone → open the file → Install. Asked about "unknown apps"? Tap Settings → Allow.

🌐 Open the PocketPad download page →

The easiest way: big download buttons and a picture-by-picture install guide. Works great on your phone.

📖 Or read the step-by-step guide here on GitHub.

The buttons always give you the newest version. Older versions: all releases. PocketPad asks Windows for administrator permission each time it starts — click Yes. It needs that to move the real mouse pointer in mouse mode; the gamepad works either way.

How to use it

1 · On the PC — open PocketPad for PC

Double-click the PocketPad icon on your desktop. This window opens:

• The amber number is your PC address
• The pink code is your PC's pairing code — it stays the same
• The QR code is the shortcut that skips typing

Keep this window open while you play. Closing it just tucks it away next to the Windows clock — the controller keeps working. Right-click that tray icon → Quit to stop completely.

2 · On the phone — open PocketPad and scan (or type)

Easy way: tap the QR button next to Connect, point the camera at the PC screen — it connects by itself.

Typing way: copy the amber address into the top box, the pink code into the bottom box, tap Connect:

PocketPad remembers your PC — from the second time it's just open → Connect. If the PC's address changes (new Wi-Fi), the phone finds it again by itself. Both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi (or the PC's own hotspot).

3 · Start your game

The PC window turns green and names your phone. Start the game after connecting — it sees a normal Xbox 360 controller, nothing to configure.

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The controller

Slide your left thumb on the cross — diagonals happen automatically where the arms meet. The green number at the top is your live delay; under 20 ms feels instant.

Two sticks and a cross. The left stick moves, the right stick looks — the pair is what makes a 3D game playable, and they work at the same time, so you can walk and turn together. The cross sits alongside them for hotbars and weapon wheels rather than replacing either one. Both sticks are real analog: the further you push, the faster you go.

Control	In menus	In a shooter	In Tekken 7
L stick	Move around	Walk & strafe	Walk & jump · hold away to block
R stick	—	Look & aim	—
L3	—	Sprint	—
R3	—	Melee / crouch	—
✚ cross	Move around	Hotbar / weapon wheel	Walk & jump · hold away to block
🔵 X	—	Reload	Left punch
🟡 Y	—	Swap weapon	Right punch
🟢 A	Choose / OK	Jump	Left kick
🔴 B	Go back	Crouch	Right kick
LB	—	Grenade	Throw
RB	—	Equipment	Rage Art
LT	—	Aim	Left trigger
RT	—	Fire	Right trigger
START	OK / skip videos	Pause	Pause
BACK	Go back	Scoreboard	Change side

Play over a USB cable

Steadier than Wi-Fi and great for several phones at once. Turn on USB debugging on the phone once (Settings → About phone → tap Build number 7 times → Developer options → USB debugging), plug it in, tap Allow, then tap Connect with USB cable in the phone app. No code needed.

Play with friends

Up to 4 phones join the same PC — each becomes its own Xbox controller (P1–P4, shown in the PC window with per-phone delay). Everyone scans the same QR; the connected view keeps showing it so the next player can join. Then just pick local versus in the game.

Mouse mode

A controller can't double-click a desktop icon. Tap Mouse at the top of the gamepad and the phone becomes a laptop-style trackpad — drag to move, tap to click, scroll strip on the right edge, real click buttons along the bottom.

Make it yours

Tap the ⚙ gear on the gamepad:

Vibrate on press has a 0–100% power slider — it buzzes a preview as you adjust.

Customize layout lets you drag every control anywhere your thumbs prefer — both sticks, the cross, the four face buttons, LB, RB, LT, RT, L3, R3, BACK and START. Tap one to select it, then the slider resizes just that control and Hide this takes it off the pad — a fighting game wants no right stick, a shooter wants no cross, and a hidden control stays dimmed here so you can bring it back. Saved permanently:

The ? button (settings, connect screen, and the PC title bar) opens this guide inside the app.

If it doesn't work

Problem	Fix
Connect fails	Same Wi-Fi on both? PC window open? Scan the QR — it can't mistype
"Code has expired"	Scan the QR again — the code stays the same from then on
Never connects on hotel / café / guest Wi-Fi	Those networks block devices from seeing each other. Use your phone's hotspot instead
Game doesn't react	Connect first, then start the game. Already running? Restart it
Delay is orange	Move closer to the router, or use the PC's hotspot
Disconnects on its own	Turn Android battery optimisation off for PocketPad
Can't find the PC window	It's by the Windows clock — double-click its tray icon

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Under the hood

Two apps, one 16-byte protocol:

• android/ — Kotlin + Jetpack Compose. Touch → state packets over UDP at 125 Hz (TCP for pairing + latency echo). QR pairing via pocketpad:// URIs.
• windows/ — .NET 8. PocketPad.Core hosts the whole session (LinkSession); the WPF app (PocketPad.App) renders it; a virtual Xbox 360 pad is created through the ViGEm driver, and mouse mode injects real input via SendInput.
• protocol/PROTOCOL.md — the wire format, pinned by identical golden-byte tests on both sides.

Build it

# Windows side           # Android side
cd windows               cd android
dotnet build             ./gradlew assembleDebug
dotnet test              ./gradlew test

Requires .NET 8 SDK + ViGEmBus driver (Windows) and JDK 17 + Android SDK 35 (Android). Setting up a fresh dev machine, building the installer, and shipping updates: docs/DEVELOPMENT.md. The full illustrated manual lives at docs/manual.html and ships inside both apps.