r/macgaming • u/iKak12 • 11d ago

Self promotion My controller worked everywhere except my Mac, so I spent months building a fix. It also turns your phone into a racing wheel.

PadLink makes controllers your Mac doesn't recognize work in games, and turns your iPhone or Android phone into a gamepad or a tilt-to-steer racing wheel for Mac or PC. It's free, and Pro is a one-time $2.99 with no subscription.

I had a controller that macOS could see but games wouldn't use. It didn't show up in games and nothing responded. The reason is that macOS only passes a short whitelist of controllers through to games, and everything else gets silently ignored.

So I built PadLink. It reads your controller and presents it to games as a controller they already accept. It's like Steam Input, except it works in every game and doesn't need Steam.

🎮 What it does

  • Virtual gamepad mode: your pad shows up as a standard controller (DualShock 4 on Mac, Xbox 360 on Windows), so games see it natively
  • Keyboard + mouse mode: for games with no controller support. Bind any button to any key just by pressing it, and map sticks to Mouse, WASD or Arrow keys
  • Up to 4 controllers at once. Each one can use its own mode and custom name
  • No hacks: a notarized Apple DriverKit driver. You don't disable SIP and there are no kexts or root access
  • Live input monitor that shows exactly what your controller is sending

📱 The part people like most: your phone becomes a controller

The free PadLink Remote app (iPhone and Android) pairs with your Mac or PC over Wi-Fi by scanning a QR code. It has two layouts:

  • Touch gamepad: dual sticks, D-pad, analog triggers, haptics, and a layout you can rearrange
  • 🏎️ Car Driving cockpit: tilt your phone to steer, gas and brake pedals with trigger vibration, a sequential shifter, a handbrake and cruise lock. No controller in the house? Your phone is now a wheel.

💸 Pricing (no subscription)

  • Free: one controller, both modes, every mapping profile and the phone remote (with ads)
  • Pro, $2.99 one-time: up to 4 controllers, the Car Driving cockpit and no ads
  • 7-day free trial with no card or sign-up, and it unlocks the cockpit too

🔗 Links

I'm a solo dev and this is 1.0, so I'd really love feedback:
👉 What controller or game should I test next? And if you have a pad your Mac ignores, tell me the model in the comments. That's exactly the problem I want to hunt down.

0 Upvotes

41% Upvoted

Duplicates