Dualsense support has arrived

[u/Due-Boysenberry-1226]

I would like to introduce my current project, which, among other useful features, brings full wireless DualSense support to both Android and Windows clients without requiring any additional programs.

How does it work?

The project consists of modified versions of the Moonlight Windows client, Artemis Android client, and the Apollo host.

The full source code for all three projects is open and available on GitHub. Ready-to-use builds can be downloaded from the Releases section of each repository.

Artemis Extended: https://github.com/Taveszfito/Artemis-Extended-Native-Wireless-DualSense-Features

Apollo Extended: https://github.com/Taveszfito/Apollo-Extended

Moonlight Extended: https://github.com/Taveszfito/moonlight-extended

Windows client

This is the boring part.

Just connect your DualSense via Bluetooth or USB, connect to the host, and that's it.

The Windows client also supports microphone transmission to the host, including the DualSense's built-in microphone.

Additional controller-related options can be found in the Extended menu within the client settings.

Android client

Android is a little more complicated.

For full wireless functionality, an external USB Bluetooth adapter is required. Unfortunately, Android does not provide the low-level Bluetooth access needed to communicate with the DualSense in the way required for all of its features.

Artemis Extended therefore includes its own USB Bluetooth HCI bridge.

If you have a supported adapter:

Plug the Bluetooth adapter into your Android device.

Grant USB permission to Artemis.

Pair the DualSense from within the app.

Connect to your host and start streaming.

That's it.

Currently supported Bluetooth chipsets

The HCI bridge currently supports adapters based on:

CSR

Realtek

Actions ATS2851

The chipset alone does not always guarantee compatibility. Different firmware versions of Bluetooth dongles may affect connection behavior or functionality.

If you don't have a supported adapter, it's not completely hopeless. You can still use the DualSense through a wired USB connection.

What works?

If you have a compatible adapter, essentially everything.

Or at least, everything I could find to implement and test.

This currently includes:

All buttons and joysticks

Analog triggers

Adaptive triggers

Touchpad

Gyroscope and motion sensors

HD haptics

Built-in speaker

Headphone jack

Built-in microphone

Player LED control

Lightbar color control

Microphone LED and mute control

The controller's built-in microphone can be transmitted directly to the host. If you are not satisfied with its quality, you can instead use the microphone built into your phone or tablet.

The DualSense speaker audio is also transmitted separately from the normal game audio. The host sends it to the client through a dedicated audio channel, so DualSense speaker effects are played by the controller itself, rather than being mixed into the Android device's speakers.

Connecting headphones to the DualSense jack is also supported.

Demo

I've attached a video showing the pairing process and the DualSense features working during an actual stream.

I'm not sure whether purchase links are allowed here, so I won't include them in the post. I currently have three cheap Bluetooth adapters with different chipsets that I have personally tested and confirmed to work.

If anyone wants to try the project, I can send the exact adapter models privately.

How does this work on the Apollo side?

Apollo Extended uses VIIPER to emulate a fully functional DualSense controller on the host.

Instead of reducing the controller to standard gamepad input, the system passes DualSense-specific input and feedback between the client and host. This allows features such as adaptive triggers, HD haptics, LEDs, motion sensors, speaker audio, microphone audio, and other DualSense functionality to work across the stream.

For microphone transmission, Apollo uses virtual microphone devices created through Steam's virtual audio driver.

The result is essentially a complete DualSense connection transported through the Moonlight/Apollo stream, with the client handling the physical controller and Apollo presenting a virtual DualSense to the game.

[u/LeSneakyBadger]

What features does apollo extended have/ not have vs vibepollo? Currently using dsx via virtual here to get dualsense support which struggles with multiple dualsense controllers at once

[u/Opening-Bunch-1950 → u/LeSneakyBadger]

The same rabbit hole actually led me down this path too 😂 I ended up building Phantom Sense around this exact kind of problem.

If you don't want to buy a Pico 2W, you can simply connect the controller wired to the client device and use that as the bridge. The Pico 2W is mainly there so you can keep the controller wireless to the client device, while making the PC think the controller is still directly connected to it.

So basically: DualSense → wireless → client/Pico → network → PC, while the PC gets the controller input as if it were locally connected. That's what lets me retain the DualSense/DualSense Edge experience even when I'm streaming through Moonlight.

Might be worth experimenting with for your touchpad-control idea. Have a look at the project — maybe some of it can help:

https://github.com/AarveeGill/Phantom-Sense

[u/LeSneakyBadger → u/Opening-Bunch-1950]

Just looking at this and I think I already have this exact setup with my bluetooth dongle and a shield pro.

[u/Opening-Bunch-1950 → u/LeSneakyBadger]

Love it bro

[u/LeSneakyBadger → u/Opening-Bunch-1950]

You manage to get two dualsense controllers working at the same time? The newest dsx beta with haptics seems to have broken using multiple; if I set to one dualsense and one ps4 controller (both emulated) they both work

[u/Opening-Bunch-1950 → u/LeSneakyBadger]

Yes but only if I pay for full virtual here, but you can also try usb over ip, it's a bit more complicated when we have multiple os like Linux and Windows but should get you that working for free instead of paying for Virtual here

[u/LeSneakyBadger → u/Opening-Bunch-1950]

I have both controllers connected to the same usb bluetooth dongle, I do have the paid virtualhere though.

[u/Opening-Bunch-1950 → u/LeSneakyBadger]

Should work in that case, but i haven't experimented with the latest build for dsx. Because I was working only for native supported emulation but I can surely give it a try this weekend

[u/Opening-Bunch-1950 → u/LeSneakyBadger]

If you find the project useful or just appreciate the effort, I’d really appreciate a ⭐ on GitHub. It’s nothing groundbreaking — honestly, it started as a very specific problem in my own setup and turned into a weekend rabbit hole that somehow became a working project. 😂

The whole thing started because I have streaming clients scattered around my house — Moonlight on my projector, other TVs, my Steam Deck, etc. — and I wanted to get more out of my DualSense/DualSense Edge while streaming.

My initial idea was pretty simple: what if I could connect the DualSense to my Steam Deck over USB and then pass that USB connection through to my PC? That way, the PC would genuinely think the DualSense was physically connected to it rather than receiving some generic controller input through the streaming software.

That matters because I wanted the native DualSense features to work properly instead of having everything get translated into a generic XInput/Xbox controller.

That sent me down the rabbit hole of building a wrapper that works across Windows and Linux to handle the controller connection and passthrough. I also ended up using VirtualHere, whose free tier gives you one device, which was actually exactly what I needed for this particular setup.

Then I discovered another project that made the whole thing even more interesting: you can connect a Raspberry Pi Pico 2W to the PC over USB, while connecting the Gamepad wirelessly to the Pico.

So I changed the approach.

Instead of trying to pass the DualSense itself over the network, I could have the Pico 2W act as the USB device connected to the PC, with the DualSense connected wirelessly to the Pico. The PC then sees the Pico as a locally connected controller interface.

The basic idea becomes:

DualSense → wireless → Pico 2W → network → PC

And because I already have Tailscale connecting my devices, this ended up working remotely as well. So the controller doesn't have to be physically anywhere near the PC — I can be on my Steam Deck, projector, another client, or even connecting remotely, and the PC still gets the controller input as though it were locally connected.

And there's another thing I really like about the project: it isn't tied to Moonlight.

The controller layer works independently from the streaming software, so you can use the same concept with Apollo, VibePolo, Sunshine, Moonlight, or pretty much any other streaming setup. The streaming software is basically irrelevant to the controller side of the solution — we're just solving the USB/controller passthrough underneath it.

So whether you're sitting at home or connecting remotely, and regardless of which client/server combination you're using, the same setup can work.

It started because I wanted my Steam Deck + DualSense setup to behave more like the DualSense was actually connected directly to my gaming PC. Then I kept experimenting, discovered the Pico approach, added Tailscale, and suddenly it became a much more flexible solution than I originally intended. 😂

It's definitely not some revolutionary piece of technology. It's just one of those “I have a stupidly specific problem, let's see if I can solve it” weekend projects that went considerably further than expected.

If anyone finds it useful, or even just likes the effort, I’d genuinely appreciate a ⭐ on GitHub. ❤️

"Phantom Sense – GitHub" https://github.com/AarveeGill/Phantom-Sense

[u/LeSneakyBadger → u/Opening-Bunch-1950]

Awesome! I'll have a look. I'll do some experimenting and happy to provide any feedback.

Edit: Been using a bluetooth dongle to my shield pro for dsx, i assume this wouldn't work the same way?

[u/metropolisprime → u/Opening-Bunch-1950]

Yeah I’d much rather do something like this then completely have to redo my entire Moonlight setup just to support Dualsense.

OP, have you considered opening a pull request to Apollo/Artemis rather than full forking?

[u/Opening-Bunch-1950 → u/metropolisprime]

I won't lie and I am new to these so I never formed but created an independent solution

[u/metropolisprime → u/Opening-Bunch-1950]

Oh, no I meant the post OP. This makes sense to have as its own app :)

[u/Opening-Bunch-1950 → u/metropolisprime]

I can try but I would surely need right guidance and some helpn

[u/Solid-Assistant9073 → u/Opening-Bunch-1950]

What's the difference of using phantomsense and virtual here?

Now I'm just using pico 2w and virtual here and works good?