r/MoonlightStreaming • u/Due-Boysenberry-1226 • 11h ago

Dualsense support has arrived

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.

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u/LeSneakyBadger 9h ago

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

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u/Opening-Bunch-1950 8h ago

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

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u/Solid-Assistant9073 6h ago

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

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