Connect A Ps4 Controller To Mac

  1. How To Connect Ps4 Controller To Window
  2. Connect A Ps4 Controller To Mac
  3. Connect A Ps4 Controller To Mac

If you’re unsure how to connect PS4 controller to Mac, then read on. This article will show you some tips that will set your rig up for the perfect gaming experience.

With gaming, the ability to use a controller is convenient and engaging. Connecting your controller to your Mac is even better, as it enhances your PC gaming time.

Make sure the network NAT type is Type 2 or less. Learn your NAT type by launching the PS4 Remote Play application, then click Settings and choose the Information tab. If your connection is not strong enough to support Remote Play, please visit the PSN connection optimization page for tips on how to boost your connection speeds. Pairing a PlayStation 4 controller or Xbox One controller to a Mac couldn't be easier. You don't need to download drives or use a dongle. I connected a Sony.

How to Connect PS4 Controller to Mac

You can connect your controller to your Mac through an official wireless adapter, a micro USB cable, or a Bluetooth wireless connection. The easiest way to connect a PS4 controller to a Mac is through the Micro USB cable.

A Detailed Look at Controller Connections

Before attempting a connection, make sure you have the latest controller available for the optimal settings. You can find them on Amazon.

Micro-USB cable

A Micro USB first requires a cable to link your controller to the Mac. Press the Playstation button in the center of the gamepad to turn it on. Then select Apple and About this Mac. Click on System Report and then USB. Look for the wireless controller icon.

The icon will show as “wireless” despite being linked through a cable. If you see this icon, then your controller is configured and ready for use. There is one thing to note if you use Steam. Steam offers full DuckShock 4 controller support across Mac and PC. This means you won’t need to adjust any settings when playing a supported game on Steam.

Official Wireless Adapter

Although the Mac doesn’t have any “plug and play” support for the DualShock 4, Sony has a wireless USB adapter you can use. The adapter enables wireless connections for Macs and PCs; but they are pricey and cheaper alternatives exist, like the Micro-USB.

Bluetooth Wireless Connection

Using Bluetooth to connect your PS4 to a Mac is convenient as you can game wirelessly and without buying the official adapter. Configuring a PS4 controller through Bluetooth is more tedious than other methods, but it isn’t difficult.

Begin by turning your Bluetooth on. Open the System Preferences under the Apple menu. Click Bluetooth. Place the controller in Discovery Mode by pressing the Playstation button and Share button simultaneously. The front of your controller should flash quickly, and the Wireless Controller icon will display within the Bluetooth window. Click the pairing option. Once the light on your controller remains steady, your controller is connected via Bluetooth.

Bestseller No. 1 DualSense Wireless Controller
  • Haptic feedback** - Feel physically responsive feedback to your in-game actions with dual actuators which replace traditional rumble motors. In your hands, these dynamic vibrations can simulate the feeling of everything from environments to the recoil of different weapons.
  • Adaptive triggers** - Experience varying levels of force and tension as you interact with your in-game gear and environments. From pulling back an increasingly tight bowstring to hitting the brakes on a speeding car, feel physically connected to your on-screen actions.
  • Built-in microphone and headset jack - Chat with friends online*** using the built-in microphone or by connecting a headset to the 3.5mm jack. Easily switch voice capture on and off at a moment’s notice with the dedicated mute button. ***Internet and account for PlayStation Network required.
Bestseller No. 2 DualShock 4 Wireless Controller for PlayStation 4 - Midnight Blue
  • Precision control: The feel, shape, and sensitivity of the Dualshock 4's analog sticks and trigger buttons have been enhanced to offer players absolute control for all games on PlayStation 4
  • Sharing at your fingertips: The addition of the share button makes sharing your greatest gaming moments as easy as a push of a button
  • New ways to play: Revolutionary features like the touch pad, integrated light bar, and built in speaker offer exciting new ways to experience and interact with your games
  • Charge Efficiently: The Dualshock 4 wireless controller can be easily be recharged by plugging it into your PS4 system, even when on standby, or with any standard charger with a micro USB port
  • Note: Kindly refer to the user manual provided as a PDF manual in the product description section
Bestseller No. 3 DualShock 4 Wireless Controller for PlayStation 4 - Glacier White
  • The feel, shape, and sensitivity of the dual analog sticks and trigger buttons have been improved to provide a greater sense of control, no matter what you play
  • The dualshock 4 wireless controller features a built-in speaker and stereo headset jack, putting several new audio options in the player's hands
  • The dualshock 4 wireless controller can be easily recharged by plugging it into your PlayStation 4 system, even when in rest mode, or with any standard charger using a USB cable.
Bestseller No. 4 DualShock 4 Wireless Controller for PlayStation 4 - Red Camo
  • Charge into action with a vibrant new dualshock 4 wireless Controller. Unleash your color with electric purple
  • Precision control: The feel, shape, and sensitivity of the dualshock 4's analog sticks and trigger buttons have been enhanced to offer players absolute control for all games on PlayStation 4
  • Sharing at your fingertips: The addition of the share button makes sharing your greatest gaming moments as easy as a push of a button
  • New ways to Play: Revolutionary features like the touch pad, integrated light bar, and built in speaker offer exciting new ways to experience and interact with your games
  • Charge Efficiently: The dualshock 4 wireless controller can be easily be recharged by plugging it into your PS4 system, even when on standby, or with any standard charger with a micro USB port

FAQ

1. How Do I Unpair a PS4 DualShock Controller From My PlayStation?

If you plan to use a controller that is already linked to a Playstation, you need to unpair it from the console before configuring it for a Mac. To do this, turn on your Playstation. Select Settings from the menu screen. Then click Devices, Bluetooth Devices, DualShock 4, and disconnect.

2. Does the Controller Charge While Connected to the Mac?

How To Connect Ps4 Controller To Window

If you’re using the Micro-USB, the controller can charge while you play. When you plug it in via the cable, an orange light should appear on the touchpad. This indicates the device is charging.

2. Is There an Easier Way to Connect to Bluetooth?

Yes, you can make the Bluetooth connection better by using an app called ToothFairy. This app lets you add and manage any Bluetooth devices. Launch ToothFairy and highlight the controller from the device listing. In the settings, you can add an icon that will connect your controller with a single click. ToothFairy also provides hotkey support and battery life warnings for your DualShock 4.

3. What Options Are There on Steam?

You can change the controller settings by opening Steam and choosing Settings, then Controller, and General Controller Settings. Now select the name of the joystick from the menu.

To access additional customizations, open Steam and enable Big Picture Mode by clicking the controller in the top-right of the window. You can also click the View menu to enter Big Picture Mode. Click the gear icon for the settings and select PS4 Controller. This will enable you to adjust mappings and other settings.

4. What Else Can I Do With My PS4 Controller on Mac?

With a program named Open Emu, one of the best Mac emulators available, you can support DualShock 4 for retro games. Plug the controller in and the program should detect and sync your DualShock 4. Mapping to an NES or another retro controller may take a few minutes. You can also use Open Emu for some computer-only games.

Conclusion

Syncing your PS4 controller to your Mac is easy once you understand the steps involved. With a linked controller, you’ll experience the convenience and joy of using your controller on your Mac, whether wirelessly or with a Micro-USB cable. Remember to de-sync your controller from your console before linking to your Mac. Happy gaming!

In this tutorial we will learn how to connect a PS4 controller to the ESP32, using this library and the Arduino core.

Introduction

Can

In this tutorial we will learn how to connect a PS4 controller to the ESP32, using this library and the Arduino core. The connection will be established using Bluetooth.

If you are looking for a similar tutorial but using a PS3 controller, please go here.

In this introductory tutorial we will focus on all the procedures we need to do before we can connect the controller to the ESP32. So, in terms of coding, we will just configure the ESP32 to receive a controller connection. We will cover more advanced functionalities in future tutorials.

The tests from this tutorial were done using a DFRobot’s ESP32 module integrated in a ESP32 development board.

If you prefer a video version of this tutorial, please check my YouTube channel below.

Installing the library

Installing the library is very simple. Basically, we just need to go to its GitHub page and download it by clicking on the “Clone or Download” button. You should get a .zip file on your computer.

After that, locate the folder where our Arduino libraries are installed. Mine is located in the path below, but it might differ in your machine:

After this, simply extract the content of the .zip file to the Arduino libraries folder and name the top level folder PS4-esp32.

After this, you should be able to include the library in your Arduino sketches.

Preparing the controller

Before we can start using the controller, we need to consider that when a PS4 controller is paired with a console, it means that the controller has stored the Bluetooth MAC address of the console and this is the only device to which the controller will connect to [1].

So, before we can connect the ESP32 and the PS4 controller, we need to follow one of the following options [1]:

  • Find out what is the Bluetooth MAC address of the PS4 that is stored on the controller and set the ESP32 address to use that address;
  • Change the MAC address stored on the controller to the one from the ESP32.

Independently of which one we choose, the easiest way is to use a tool called SixaxisPairTool, which allows to both get the current MAC address stored on the controller and also set a new value.

In this tutorial we are going to use this tool but, in the documentation of PS4 controller library there’s also a mention to this open source tool as an alternative.

So, to install the mentioned tool, simply go to its website and download the executable (assuming that you are on Windows). The download link is available as shown in figure 1.

Note that there are also versions for Linux and MacOSX, although I haven’t tested any of them.

After downloading the executable, run it and install the program in your machine. After the installation is concluded, search for sixaxisPairTool in your programs and launch it. The program is just a tiny window like the one shown below at figure 2.

Then, plug your controller to your computer using a USB cable. After a bit of time, in the “Current Master” text area, it should change to a MAC address, like shown in figure 3. Take note of this address since we will need it for the Arduino code.

Note that there is a “Change Master” option below that you can use to set the MAC address to a different value, such as the one from your ESP32.

In my case, I’ve opted to keep the address of my PS4 because it is really trivial to use a custom MAC address while using the library we have just installed. Basically, we just need to know that address and pass it as a string to an initialization method, as we will see below.

After this, we should be ready to connect the controller to the ESP32.

Connect A Ps4 Controller To Mac

The code

We will start by including the installed library. This will make available an extern variable of class PS4Controller called PS4. This will be the variable that we will be using to interact with the controller.

Moving on to the Arduino setup, we will start by opening a serial connection, so we can output the results of our program.

Followed by that, we will perform the initialization of the PS4 instance by calling the begin method and passing as input the MAC address that is stored on the controller. It is passed as a string with the default format for representing a Bluetooth MAC address, like the arbitrary example below:

Note that this method call won’t connect the ESP32 to the controller because, at this point, the controller might not even be on.

Instead, it takes care of storing the MAC address passed as input, initializing the ESP32 Bluetooth layer and getting the Bluetooth services ready to listen for an incoming PS4 controller connection. You can check in detail the implementation of the method here.

Note that this method call returns a Boolean value indicating if the connection was successful or not but, for simplicity, we will assume everything is initialized correctly. Naturally, for a real application scenario, you should do the proper error handling.

From this point onward the ESP32 should be able to receive a controller connection. So, in the Arduino main loop, we will check when a controller is connected by calling the isConnected method on the PS4 extern variable.

Connect A Ps4 Controller To Mac

This method takes no arguments and returns a Boolean indicating if a controller is connected or not.

You can check the full code below. As can be seen, we have added a small 1 second delay between iterations of the main loop, so we are not constantly polling.

Note that there’s a method called attachOnConnect that we can leverage to register a callback that is invoked when a PS4 controller connects to the ESP32, but we are not going to cover it here.

Testing the code

To test the code, simply compile it and upload it to your device using the Arduino IDE. Don’t forget to use the MAC address that is registered on your controller on the Arduino code.

After that, open the Arduino IDE serial monitor. You should get a “Initialization ready!” message printed to the monitor, indicating that the initialization procedure went fine.

Next, click the PS4 button in your controller to turn it on. You should start getting the “Controller connected” message periodically printed, as shown in figure 4, indicating a successful connect of the controller to the ESP32.

References

[1] https://github.com/NURobotics/PS4-esp32