✨ Free while in beta · No account required

Your phone is the
controller you forgot you had.

A wireless gamepad for your PC, in any phone’s browser. No app to install.

Scan a QR. Play Steam, Game Pass, or any PC game — at home or across the internet. Stream the screen back to your phone, split it between up to 8 players, and pick from 15+ controller layouts. No app on the phone. No cables. No spare controllers to hunt down.

Windows 10/11 · 64-bit · ≈ 8 MB installer · Uninstall anytime

  • < 60s Setup time
  • 8 Players at once
  • 15+ Controller layouts
  • 0 Phone apps to install

Streams your screen back

Your PC display plays live behind the controller on each phone — no competing phone-controller app does this. Window-mode capture keeps notifications and second monitors off the feed.

15+ layouts, every console

Xbox, DualShock 4, Joy-Con (left, right, dual), NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Genesis, fight stick, racing wheel — plus a full custom-layout editor.

Free while in beta

No card, no signup, no nag screens. Once your phone and PC have shaken hands, they talk to each other directly — our servers don’t see a byte of gameplay.

How it works

Three steps. Under a minute.

01

Install the helper

Download padlinq-setup.exe and run it. One click — Windows prompts for admin, the driver is set up for you.

02

Open the admin page

The helper prints a link to padlinq.com/app with your PC already filled in. Hit Claim, and a session QR appears.

03

Scan and play

Point your phone’s camera at the QR. The controller loads in the browser, and Windows sees it as an Xbox pad.

Features

Everything you actually need.
Nothing you don’t.

Play

No phone app, ever

Scan a QR and the controller loads in your phone’s browser. iPhone and Android, no App Store, no permissions dance.

Feels like a real gamepad

Your phone shows up as a real Xbox or DualShock 4 controller — Steam, Game Pass, emulators, every PC game just works.

Up to 8 players

Pair up to eight phones to one PC. Couch co-op for the whole room without ever buying another controller — each player picks their own layout.

Plays anywhere on the internet

A quick handshake introduces your phone to your PC; after that, the two talk directly. Phones don’t even need to be on the same WiFi.

Phone battery shows up in-game

When the helper exposes a DS4 pad, your phone’s battery and charging state are passed through as the controller’s battery — so PS-aware games and overlays read it like a real DualShock.

Add to Home Screen on iPhone

PadlinQ installs as a PWA. One tap launches the controller fullscreen — no Safari chrome, no accidental swipes.

Bring your own controller

Plug in a Backbone, Razer Kishi, or any Bluetooth/USB pad and the phone auto-hides the on-screen layout so the streamed game gets the full screen.

Stream your PC screen

See your game on your phone

Toggle screen streaming in admin and your PC display appears live behind the on-screen controller — couch, kitchen, patio, anywhere on internet or LAN.

Stream a single window

Pick one app instead of the whole desktop. Notifications, second monitors, and stream-snipers stay out of the picture.

Splitscreen for every player

Drag-and-drop region editor in admin assigns each phone a slice of the stream. One-click presets for 2-up, 3-up, and 2×2 quad layouts.

Live preview + region overlay

The admin panel shows what the helper is actually capturing, with each player’s region drawn on top so you can crop directly on the live feed.

Per-player quality knob

Each player picks Fast, Balanced, or Fidelity from their phone — so the kid on 4G and the partner on the same WiFi each get the right tradeoff.

Uses your GPU for the heavy lifting

PadlinQ uses your GPU’s built-in video encoder (NVIDIA, AMD, or Intel) to send the stream — so latency stays low and your CPU stays free for the game.

Customize

15+ controller layouts

Xbox, DualShock 4 (retro), NES, SNES, N64, GameCube, Genesis, Joy-Con (left, right, or dual with Capture), fight stick, racing wheel, touchpad, on-screen keyboard, and a fully custom layout.

7 visual themes

Default, Dark, Neon, Mono, Arcade, Glass, and High-Contrast. Pick the one that matches your game — or your aesthetic.

Face-button skins

Switch face buttons between Xbox (ABXY), DualShock 4 (△○✕□), or Nintendo Pro (BAXY) glyphs to match the game on screen.

Design your own layout

In-app editor for every button, stick, and trigger. Resize, reposition, recolor, and share by URL — separate canvases for landscape and portrait.

Multi-touch trackpad mode

Turn the whole screen into a precision touchpad — every finger is its own touchpoint on Windows. Great for drawing apps, RTS, and kiosk games.

Tilt and motion for PS-style games

Your phone’s tilt and motion become DualShock gyro and accelerometer. Steam, RPCS3, Cemu, and most emulators pick it up automatically — no setup.

Smart triggers

Tap to press. Drag for the half-presses racing and FPS games need. Same button, both behaviours, no settings menu to learn.

Tilt steering & haptics

Racing layout uses phone tilt for the left stick. Android phones get rumble feedback on every press through the vibration API.

One-handed mode + scaling

Shrink the layout, slide it to a corner, play one-handed on the bus. Per-phone preference, saved across sessions.

Run the room (admin)

Real admin panel

Live source preview, paired-player list, log viewer, system-tray quick access. Open it on the host PC or from any device with the helper’s URL.

Force a layout per slot

Push a specific layout to one player or pin the whole session to one layout — and lock the picker so nobody “accidentally” switches to fight stick.

Force button skins too

Match every player’s face buttons to the game’s on-screen prompts. The change pushes to every paired phone instantly.

Online or LAN-only

Online by default so phones don’t need to be on the same WiFi as your PC. No internet? PadlinQ detects it and offers one-click LAN-only — your phone pairs over your local WiFi and nothing leaves your network.

Trust

Your gameplay never touches our servers

Our online mode just introduces your phone to your PC. From there on, every button press and pixel of video flows directly between the two devices — your inputs, audio, and screen never pass through us.

No account. No telemetry.

No sign-up form, no email collection, no analytics ping by default. Opt in if you want to help us debug; otherwise PadlinQ is invisible.

Free while in beta

Download, play, and tell us what to fix. No card, no signup, no nag screens. Uninstall takes everything with it.

Who it’s for

Built for the moments controllers fail you.

Couch gaming

TV mirrored from your PC, phone in hand. No cables, no extra hardware.

Game nights

Friends walk in, scan a QR, they’re player two. Skip the controller hunt.

Travel & remote play

Hotel WiFi, parents’ house, anywhere with internet — your PC is one QR away.

Kid-friendly

They use their phones or tablets, not an extra controller. Custom layouts for small hands.

Retro & emulators

NES, SNES, N64, fight stick layouts ship in the box. Built for emulator front-ends.

Streamers

Capture a single game window so your second monitor and notifications stay off-stream.

Questions

Good. We have answers.

Is it really free?

Yes — free while in beta, with no account, no card, and no upsell screens. We’ll be transparent well before that ever changes.

What do I need?

A Windows 10/11 PC, an internet connection, and any phone with a browser. The phone does not have to be on the same WiFi as the PC.

Do I need to install an app on my phone?

No. Your phone just loads a webpage. iPhone users can tap "Add to Home Screen" for a fullscreen, app-like experience — still no App Store involved.

Does it work without internet?

Yes. If your PC can’t reach the internet, PadlinQ detects it on startup and offers a one-click LAN-only mode. Your phone pairs over your local WiFi, nothing ever leaves your network, and you can switch back to online any time from the tray menu.

How does screen streaming work?

Turn it on in the admin panel and your PC screen — or just one app window — plays live behind the on-screen controller. The video goes straight from your PC to your phone, never through our servers.

How many controllers can I connect?

Up to eight phones per PC. Each phone gets its own session code from the admin page, and you can force a layout or button skin per slot.

Does it work on macOS or Linux?

Today, no. PadlinQ runs on Windows 10/11 only. We’re looking to expand to other platforms in the future — no specific dates or platforms promised yet.

What gamepad does Windows see?

Either a virtual Xbox 360 pad (XInput, the default — works with every modern PC game) or a DualShock 4 (DInput, for games that expect PlayStation glyphs or read the DS4 gyro/accel and battery). The admin panel switches between them per slot.

What about latency?

Your phone and PC talk to each other directly, so input lag is essentially your phone’s ping to your PC. On the same WiFi you’ll typically see single-digit milliseconds — fast enough for fighting games and platformers.

Ready to play?

One installer. No phone-side setup. No account. Uninstall anytime.

Download PadlinQ for Windows

Free while in beta · ≈ 60 seconds from download to first input

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