PadConnect

Low latency virtual gamepad — built with Kotlin and Jetpack Compose

PadConnect lets your phone act as a real controller (Xbox 360/DualShock4) for a PC. It streams gamepad input with very low latency and exposes it on Windows using ViGEm and natively in linux.

This project is split into two parts:

• PadConnect -> Android / client app (virtual controller UI)
• PadConnectReceiver -> PC / receiver app (creates virtual controller)

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Features

• Xbox 360(working)/DualShock4(soon) compatible virtual controller
• Low latency input streaming (UDP based)
• Built with Kotlin
• UI powered by Jetpack Compose
• Windows receiver using ViGEm
• Supports buttons, triggers, sticks, and D-Pad
• Works over local Wi-Fi (no internet required)

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How it works

[ Android Phone ] ── UDP ──▶ [ PadConnectReceiver (PC) ] ──▶ [ ViGEm ] ──▶ Game

1. PadConnect (Android)

   • Renders a virtual controller using Compose
   • Captures button / axis input
   • Serializes input events
   • Sends them over UDP

2. PadConnectReceiver

   • Listens for incoming UDP packets
   • Deserializes controller events
   • Feeds them into ViGEm in windows and natively in linux
   • Exposes a virtual Xbox 360(working)/DualShock4(soon) controller to the OS

Games see it as a real controller.

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Tech Stack

PadConnect (Client)

• Kotlin + Jetpack Compose
• UDP networking
• Touch -> Gamepad mapping

PadConnectReceiver (Server)

• Kotlin Multiplatform (KMP)/JVM
• ViGEm (Virtual Gamepad Emulation Framework)
• Xbox 360(working)/DualShock4(soon) device emulation

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Requirements

Android

• Android 10+
• Wi-Fi connection

Windows

• Windows 10 / 11
• ViGEmBus Driver installed
• .NET / JVM compatible environment (depending on receiver build)

Linux

• no requirements

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Getting Started

1. Install ViGEm (only needed for windows users)

Download and install ViGEmBus:

• Official ViGEm GitHub release

Reboot after installation.

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2. Run PadConnectReceiver

Windows: PadConnectReceiver.exe
Linux: PadConnectReceiver.AppImage

• Starts listening on UDP
• Creates a virtual controller

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3. Run PadConnect (Android)

• Install the app on your phone
• Create a layout
• Start playing

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Supported Inputs

• Buttons: A / B / X / Y
• Shoulder buttons
• Right Analog Stick (it is mostly used for changing camera angle so emulated as touch screen like change camera angle in a mobile game)
• Left Analog Stick
• R3 and L3 added as separate buttons

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Project Structure

PadConnect/
 ├─ app/

PadConnectReceiver/
 ├─ data/          
 ├─ input/
 ├─ main/ui/
 ├─ native/
 ├─ utils/
 ├─ viewmodel/

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Roadmap

• DualShock4 input executor
• Multiple controller support
• Custom controller layouts
• Latency stats
• BLE HID (does not require receiver)
• Linux receiver
• low latency Game streaming as optional option
• USB support
• Optimise input sending
• Support for grid based controller customisation
• Support for on-screen button press haptic feedback as optional option
• improve controller haptic feedback if possible
• add right analog stick as optional option
• Allow to edit entire osc(On Screen Controller) at once
• don't show latency indicator text at all if disabled or not detected yet
• decouple online or offline detection behaviour from latency indicator
• Allow to reset controller customisations
• Make layout configurable at the moment the user creating
• Make setup screen smart to give the most latest compatible receiver version link

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Notes

• Works best on local Wi-Fi (TODO: Implement BLE HID)
• Firewall may need UDP port allowance
• ViGEm is Windows only

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Credits

• ViGEm — Virtual Gamepad Emulation Framework
• Kotlin & Jetpack Compose teams

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License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0 (GPL-3.0-only)

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Built for low latency, simplicity, and fun.