Supports Nintendo Switch 1/2 Joy-Cons & Pro Controller, Sony PlayStation DualShock 4, DualSense, DualSense Edge & Access Controller, and Xbox Elite & Adaptive Controller.
Controllers Lite tells you in seconds whether your game controller actually works on your Mac.
Connect a controller and it appears in the list. Select it and every button, stick, trigger, and sensor is shown live, lighting up the moment you press it. If a controller never shows up at all, you know your Mac isn't seeing it rather than having to guess.
WHAT YOU CAN CHECK
- Every button, D-pad direction, analog stick, and analog trigger
- Stick drift, by watching whether a stick reports movement while you aren't touching it
- Motion sensors, with live roll, pitch, and yaw readouts
- Touchpad input, including multi-finger positions
- Battery level and connection type for each controller
- Whether macOS recognizes the controller in the first place
SUPPORTED CONTROLLERS
- PlayStation: DualSense, DualSense Edge, DualShock 4, Access Controller (including expansion ports), and the PS Move Navigation Controller
- Xbox: Xbox Wireless Controller, Elite Wireless Controller, Adaptive Controller, and Adaptive Joystick
- Nintendo: Switch Pro Controller, Pro Controller 2, Joy-Con, Joy-Con 2, and Joy-Cons docked in the Charging Grip over USB
- Most other USB and Bluetooth gamepads
FEATURES
- Test several controllers at once and switch between them instantly
- Buttons window that shows the active button and its value at a glance
- Pair controllers over Bluetooth without leaving the app
- Controllers are remembered and reconnect automatically between launches
- Universal app, running natively on both Apple silicon and Intel Macs
- Dark and Light mode
HINTS
- After connecting a PlayStation controller, press the PS button to wake it up.
- Xbox 360 controllers need a third-party driver installed before macOS will see them.
Try the full version of Controllers at controllersapp.com to use your game controllers to play almost any game on Mac, even games that don't have built-in support for controllers.
This app hasn’t received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
Handing for testing
Stee-rider
Even withut buying the full version, this was handy for me to test the functionality of some old hardware I had lying around in my basement — some old Playstation-style USB controllers. This was very handy as a quick test to see that the signal was coming through.
Nice utility for testing
Syscrusher1709
I used this free utility to test three gamepads on my Macbook Pro. Two were Logitech F710 wireless USB, and the other was a MadKatz Bluetooth pad. Controllers Lite identified all three and tested them nicely, even distinguishing the two F170 pads when they were simultaneously active. One nice feature is that it shows the USB ID of each of those pads.I don't happen to need a controller mapping tool at the moment, but if I do I'm going to give the payware version of this a close look. Thanks to the devs for providing a free sample that is a useful utility in its own right, and lets users buy their main product with confidence that it will work for their device.By the way, it shows gamepad events non intrusively, meaning the games still see the input device. I'm doing game development, and that's mighty handy for seeing how the device's input axes and buttons are mapped by default in the game engine's input library.
Get what you pay for.
1stWorldDF
The free version has some utility, and I'm glad to have downloaded it. 5 StarsUnfortunately, at $20 I don't believe the full version is quite the same value. 1 Star
Don't bother getting the full app.
TheBobbyMiller
Developers don't have the full app on here for a reason. After testing my controller with the lite free app, I decided to buy their full featured app off their website. Unfortunately its super buggy. I can't even get the joystick to move forward in the game. It keeps moving backwards. And whenever I go back into settings, Controller reverses it again on me. The kicker: They told me no refunds. Stay away!
- Add support for the PlayStation DualSense and DualSense Edge controllers
- Add support for the PlayStation Access Controller, including expansion ports
- Add support for the PS Move Navigation Controller
- Add support for the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller
- Add support for the Xbox Adaptive Controller
- Add support for the Xbox Adaptive Joystick
- Add support for the Switch Pro Controller 2 and Joy-Con 2
- Add support for Switch 2 controllers over Bluetooth, including motion controls
- Add support for Joy-Cons docked in the Charging Grip over USB
- Add support for both Intel and Apple silicon chips
- Add a Buttons window for live visualization of buttons as you press them
- Add live motion and touchpad readouts for controllers that have them
- Add battery status for wireless controllers
- Add in-app Bluetooth pairing for connecting controllers without leaving the app
- Add a Bluetooth settings shortcut to the bottom bar
- Add automatic reconnection so controllers are remembered between launches
- Add Dark and Light mode for app appearance
- Improve support for Xbox controllers connected via USB
- Improve the main window with empty-state icons, a balanced split view, and refreshed icons
- Improve Settings with a redesigned layout and remembered window positions
- Improve controller naming so reconnecting never shows blank or duplicate rows
- Improve the Input Monitoring permission prompt with a persistent banner
- Fix numerous controller-specific input quirks across connection types and reconnects
Version 2.0.0
The developer, Daniel Johnson, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
