How to play with PocketPad
Your phone becomes the controller. Your PC runs the game. The fastest way to connect is scanning a QR code — no typing at all.
On this PC
A normal Windows program — its icon is on your desktop. Nothing to do with web links or browsers. You double-click it.
On your phone
The Android app with the same icon, in your app drawer. This is the controller you hold.
Getting the apps — one time
Both installers are on the project's Releases page (github.com/luzazzm-stack/PocketPad → Releases). After this you never do it again.
| Where | What to do |
|---|---|
| PC | Download PocketPad-Setup.exe and double-click it. If Windows shows “Windows protected your PC”, click More info → Run anyway (the app isn't signed yet — that's all it means). Click through the installer: it puts the icon on your desktop, installs the controller driver (approve the Windows prompt if one appears), and allows the app through the firewall — nothing to configure by hand. Nothing else to install: not even .NET. |
| Phone | Download PocketPad.apk on the phone and open it. If Android asks about installing unknown apps, allow it for your browser and continue. The PocketPad icon appears in your app drawer. |
On the PC
Double-click “PocketPad for PC” on the desktop
This window opens. Everything you need is on it:
The amber number is your PC address · the pink code changes every time you open the app · the QR square is the shortcut that skips typing
Keep this window open while you play. Closing it just tucks it away next to the clock (bottom-right of Windows) — the controller keeps working. To quit completely: right-click that small icon → Quit.
On the phone
Open PocketPad and scan — or type
Tap the QR button (right of Connect), point the camera at the QR code on the PC screen — it connects by itself. Done.
Typing way: copy the amber address into the top box and the pink code into the bottom box, then tap Connect:
A
B
QR
A address box · B code box · QR the scan button
PocketPad remembers your PC — from the second time on, it's just open → Connect. Both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi (or the PC's own hotspot).
On the PC
See the green banner — then start your game
The PC window flips to green the moment the phone is in:
Now start the game. It sees a normal Xbox controller — nothing to set up inside the game. The big green number in the window is your delay; under 20 ms feels instant.
Start the game after connecting. If the game was already running, restart it — most games only look for controllers when they start.
That's the routine. Desktop icon → scan (or tap Connect) → start the game. About fifteen seconds once you've done it twice.
The controller
Hold the phone sideways. The left stick moves and the right stick looks — both work at once, which is what makes a 3D game playable at all. The cross sits alongside them for hotbars and weapon wheels, so you can change item while walking. Right thumb takes the coloured buttons, and pressing between two buttons hits both at once — that's how you do Tekken's two-button moves with one thumb.
Not every game wants every control. A fighting game needs no sticks; a platformer needs no look stick. Use Layout presets (below) to switch the whole pad in one tap, or hide any single control in the layout editor.
| Control | In menus | In a shooter | In Tekken 7 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Left stick | Move around | Walk & strafe | Walk & jump · hold away to block |
| Right stick | — | Look & aim | — |
| ✚ cross | Move around | Hotbar / weapon wheel | Walk & jump · slide for diagonals |
| 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 (when your health flashes red) |
| LT | — | Aim down sights | Left trigger |
| RT | — | Fire | Right trigger |
| L3 / R3 | — | Sprint / melee | — |
| START | OK / skip videos | Pause | Pause |
| BACK | Go back | Scoreboard | Change side |
L3 and R3 start switched off. Most games never use a stick click, and every control costs room on a phone screen. Turn them on with the Layout 4 preset, or pick them with the ‹ › arrows in the layout editor and tap Show this.
The STICK chip at the top of the pad turns the right stick on and off without leaving your game — handy the moment you find out a title has no camera to steer.
Make it yours
Tap the ⚙ gear at the top of the gamepad.
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
| Customize layout | Drag any of the twelve controls where your thumbs want it. Tap one to pick it, or step through them by name with the ‹ › arrows — which is how you reach a control that ships switched off. The slider resizes whichever is selected, and Hide this takes it off the pad. Save layout keeps your changes; Cancel throws them away, so you can try a preset here and back out. |
| Layout presets | A ready-made pad per kind of game — see the table below. Tapping one here applies it straight away; the same four in the layout editor are a preview you can still cancel. |
| Right stick | Turns the look/aim stick on and off. The STICK chip at the top of the pad does the same thing without leaving your game. |
| Look sensitivity | How far the right stick swings the camera. Turn it down if aiming overshoots, up if turning round feels slow. |
| Vibrate on press | A tiny tick each time a button registers — helps you feel the buttons without looking. The slider underneath sets the power from 0 to 100% and buzzes a preview when you let go. Off switches it off entirely. |
| Mouse speed | How fast the pointer moves in mouse mode. |
Layout presets
| Preset | What you get | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| Layout 1 | Cross, X/Y/A/B, LB/LT/RT/RB, BACK/START. No sticks — and with the room they free up, the cross and buttons are bigger. | Fighting games, emulators |
| Layout 2 | The same, plus both analog sticks. A full controller. | Shooters, Minecraft, anything 3D |
| Layout 3 | Left stick and cross, no look stick, and the face buttons grow into the free space on the right. | Platformers, side-on games |
| Layout 4 | Everything, L3 and R3 included. | Games that use stick clicks |
A preset replaces the whole pad — positions, sizes and which controls are shown — so switching between them is clean. You can still adjust anything afterwards.
Play with friends
Up to 4 phones can join the same PC at once — each one becomes its own controller, so two phones means player 1 vs player 2.
| How | Detail |
|---|---|
| Joining | Every phone scans the same QR (or types the same address and code). While anyone is connected, the PC window keeps showing a small QR for the next phone. |
| Who is who | The PC window lists each phone as P1–P4 with its own delay. The first to connect is player 1, and slots are re-used when someone leaves. |
| In the game | The game sees separate Xbox controllers — pick Versus/local multiplayer like you would with real pads. Nothing extra to set up. |
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; tap Gamepad to switch back.
| You want to | So you |
|---|---|
| Move the pointer | Drag a finger on the big area |
| Click | Tap the big area (or press LEFT CLICK) |
| Right-click | Press RIGHT CLICK |
| Scroll | Drag up/down on the SCROLL strip at the right edge |
| Drag a window | Hold LEFT CLICK with one thumb, drag with the other |
Why PocketPad asks for administrator. Mouse mode moves the real Windows pointer, and Windows only lets a program do that to windows running at the same permission level or lower. Without administrator, the pointer froze the moment anything running as administrator took the focus — Task Manager, an admin command prompt, a game started as admin — and the usual way to land there is simply minimising PocketPad so something else comes forward. Answering Yes to the prompt when PocketPad starts is what keeps the pointer working everywhere.
If it doesn't work
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Connect fails | 1. Same Wi-Fi on both? 2. Is the PC window open? 3. Scan the QR instead of typing — it can't mistype. |
| “That code has expired” | Your PC keeps the same code from now on, so you only see this once after updating. Scan the QR again and you're set. |
| PC's address changed | Nothing to do. If your phone can't reach the PC at its old address, it searches your Wi-Fi for it (“Looking for your PC…”) and connects there. |
| Game doesn't react | Connect first, then start the game. Already running? Restart it. |
| Can't look around in a 3D game | The right stick is the camera. If it isn't on the pad, turn it on with the STICK chip at the top, or pick Layout 2 under Layout presets. If looking feels too fast or too slow, adjust Look sensitivity in Settings. |
| A control is missing | It's switched off, not gone. Settings → Customize layout, step to it with the ‹ › arrows — hidden ones show as dimmed and say (hidden) — then tap Show this and Save layout. L3 and R3 start off by default. |
| Delay number is orange | Move closer to the router or pause downloads. The PC's own hotspot is often faster than a busy router. |
| Disconnects on its own | Android's battery saver is pausing PocketPad. Phone Settings → battery → turn optimisation off for PocketPad. |
| Can't find the PC window | It's tucked next to the clock, bottom-right of Windows. Double-click its little icon there to bring it back. |
| Mouse pointer won't move | PocketPad needs to be running as administrator — say Yes to the prompt when it starts. Windows blocks a normal program from moving the pointer while a window running as administrator has the focus, so without it the pointer stops the moment you minimise PocketPad or click an admin window. If you said No, close PocketPad and open it again. |
| Buttons work but the mouse doesn't | Same cause as above: the gamepad goes through a virtual controller, which Windows never restricts, while the mouse moves the real pointer, which it does. Restart PocketPad and accept the administrator prompt. |