HSH Gamepad: Turn Your Phone into a Fully Customizable Virtual Controller for PC

Amirhoshein — Fri, 06 Nov 2026 16:15:54 +0000

What if you could turn your phone into a professional-grade gamepad, a racing wheel, or even a wireless mouse—without installing any app on your phone?

I built HSH Gamepad, an open-source Windows tool that does exactly that. Unlike basic virtual controllers, HSH Gamepad gives you complete freedom to design your own layout, create powerful macros, and customize every pixel to your liking.

Here’s a deep dive into what makes it special.

🎮 Not Just a Gamepad: Multiple Modes

HSH Gamepad adapts to how you want to play. You can emulate:

PS4 (DualShock 4) or Xbox 360 controllers.
A Steering Wheel using your phone’s gyroscope, with adjustable rotation angle, sensitivity, dead zone, and analog/digital pedals[reference:1].
A Mouse & Keyboard (for Player 1 only), turning your phone into a laptop-style touchpad with gestures for click, scroll, and right-click[reference:2].

It supports up to 9 players simultaneously, each with a unique color, making it perfect for local multiplayer parties[reference:3].

🛠️ Complete Layout Freedom

This is where HSH Gamepad truly shines. Every single element on the screen is editable:

Drag & Drop Editing: Long-press any button and move it anywhere you want[reference:4].
Precise Sizing: Adjust width, height, and even text size. You can resize buttons up to 300% and independently set the touch area up to 500% for easier control[reference:5].
Opacity Control: Make any button fully transparent or as opaque as you need[reference:6].
Advanced D-Pad & Stick Modes: Choose between button-style D-Pad, separate action buttons, fixed or floating joysticks, and even swap the right stick for buttons[reference:7].
Copy, Delete, or Add Buttons: Build your layout from scratch[reference:8].

⚡ Macro Power: Automate Complex Actions

You can assign a macro to any button to execute a sequence of actions with a single tap[reference:9]. This is a game-changer for fighting games or any title requiring complex combos.

How it works:

Create a macro button (e.g., M1).
Add commands like press A, hold LT, delay 200ms, release LT, etc.[reference:10].
Save and play.

You can chain up to 100 lines per macro and store up to 30 macros per controller. The system even shows a progress ring while the macro is running[reference:11].

🎨 Deep Visual Customization

Make your controller look exactly how you want:

Dozens of Pre-made Themes plus the ability to build your own from scratch.
Customize colors for backgrounds, buttons, text, borders, shadows, neon glow effects, pressed-state colors, steering wheel gradients, and more[reference:12].
Edit the Theme JSON: Copy the theme code, tweak it, or import a friend’s theme[reference:13].
Light Mode for low-end phones: disables blur and some animations to keep latency minimal[reference:14].

💻 Smart Windows App

The desktop companion isn’t just a server—it’s packed with useful tools:

QR Code Connection: Just scan and play[reference:15].
Live Player List: See names, phone models, and IPs of connected devices.
Controller Tester: A 3D window that visualizes button presses, gyroscope data, and vibration tests in real-time[reference:16].
Auto-Remove Idle Controllers: Frees up slots automatically.
Security Toggle: A switch to enable/disable mouse & keyboard control from your phone[reference:17].
Admin Mode: Required for mouse/keyboard control to work with elevated apps like Task Manager[reference:18].

⚡ Ultra-Low Latency

Latency from touch to PC execution is between 2 to 6 milliseconds (assuming zero local network delay)[reference:19]. For the absolute best experience, connect your phone via USB Tethering instead of Wi-Fi[reference:20].

🚀 Getting Started

Download the latest release from the GitHub Releases page. The installer automatically sets up the required ViGEmBus driver[reference:21].
Run the app as Administrator.
Ensure your phone and PC are on the same Wi-Fi network (or use USB Tethering).
Open the address shown in the app on your phone’s browser, or scan the QR code.
Choose your player number and controller type. That’s it—launch your game![reference:22]

🤝 Contributing & Feedback

HSH Gamepad is open-source and actively developed. If you find a bug, have a feature request, or want to contribute code, please visit the GitHub repository.

If you find this project useful, please give it a ⭐ on GitHub—it helps immensely with visibility and motivates further development.

Happy gaming! 🕹️

DEV Community: Amirhoshein