Stadia Phone Link: add any controller to your TV [Video]

A few months after discovering the feature for the first time, Google added “Phone Link” to Stadia, allowing you to play games using your smartphone as a gamepad on your Chromecast, Android TV devices, and through a web browser. .

Because gamepads come in so many shapes and sizes, finding the right one for you and your playstyle is always a minefield. You can even have legacy controllers that you want to use. Stadia on PC and Mac is ideal for this, as you can just plug in USB devices or even PS / 2 the old fashioned way and in most cases everything will work just fine.

It’s a bit more difficult when you want to step away from your laptop or PC and transfer your game directly to a TV using the dedicated Stadia Android TV app or via Chromecast Ultra. The all new Stadia “Phone Link” feature offers the ability to “link” devices and connect all your controllers that cannot connect via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Alternatively, you can use your Android or iOS phone or tablet as a gamepad. For those with an iOS device, it should be noted that you will need to use the dedicated app from the App Store rather than the PWA which actively allows you to play Stadia on your device. This is another great bonus for a service that lets you simply use what you already have have rather than having to go out and buy more equipment to play.

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Phone link: is it working well?

As we noted, you can simply use your smartphone as a gamepad using Stadia Phone Link. However, the real added value of this feature is the ability to connect unsupported gamepads to your phone and then, using this bridge feature, to your Android TV / Google TV or Chromecast Ultra hardware. Update: It should be noted that in our tests keyboard and mouse support is not available.

Those who feared that this would be a complicated process need not worry. Connection is very simple and follows the same method used to connect a dedicated Stadia controller. Tap the ‘controller’ icon in the Stadia app and you will notice that the ‘phone touchpad’ is already connected. Tap it to launch a new menu confirming that you can use your phone as a “virtual controller” to “play on any screen”. Plug in the pairing / linking code using the onscreen controls and you will be connected to a local TV or web session, provided you are on the same Wi-Fi network.

The mainstay of Stadia Phone Link is the aforementioned bridge mode, because with this the game streaming platform will recognize all controllers connected directly to your smartphone. You can connect a gamepad via Bluetooth or a wired connection. Once the controller is connected, the on-screen controls disappear. Instead, you’ll see a “Playing on TV” warning screen that appears to reiterate that you need to keep the app open for the feature to work properly.

Now, there are a few drawbacks here, like connecting an external gamepad, despite the fact that you’re not technically Using your phone’s onscreen controls, you need to keep the Stadia app open for as long as you play. Opening another app or locking your device will stop or abruptly terminate any preconfigured connection. We would also like to add that with the USB-A to USB-C adapters, you can connect all kinds of peripherals, but it’s a bit of a lottery to know what will actually work with this method. On top of that, it creates a bit of a “Frankenrig” that looks as ridiculous as it looks, but it’s still a useful ability for a cloud gaming platform.

I also noticed a few issues here and there that appeared for a few days during my testing period. The onscreen controls under the Phone Link feature are about perfect, but sometimes Stadia wouldn’t recognize a bridged controller input. For example, I mostly played with the Xbox One and Switch Pro controllers connected to my Chromecast Ultra.

Once I launched a game I could play it without a hitch and it was basically flawless. Other times I could navigate the in-game and Stadia interfaces – including side menus and friend lists – but only the directional pad or analog stick input worked. Pressing the action buttons or trying to start a game turned out to be impossible.

In those cases, I just had to go back to using the onscreen controls to continue playing or initiate the launch sequence and then reconnect the gamepad. I found that to be the biggest frustration because when this feature works, it’s pretty darn good. The latency seemed to be fine and I could play with virtually no other issues.

There are also the obvious battery constraints here. Keeping your phone unlocked and with the screen on takes a heavy toll on the battery, even if you aren’t using the phone itself to play a game. I would leave my phone near a charger for longer gaming sessions. . Being able to use multiple controllers with the Chromecast Ultra was a nice bonus and a cool new feature despite a few shortcomings and issues. Granted, most of the time, it’s easier to connect directly to the Chromecast or Android TV device.

Why “Phone Link” is useful for Google Stadia

Using your phone’s screen as a controller won’t be enough for most 3D games, simply because without touch controls it lacks the precision of a dedicated gamepad. But, if you have a friend in your house and just want to play a few games and you don’t have enough controllers on hand, it’s nice to still be able to have access to couch co-op / multiplayer.

Then it’s possible to use third-party controllers with the Chromecast Ultra or use non-Bluetooth gamepads with Chromecast with Google TV or Android TV. Plugging into your smartphone means you don’t have to worry about long cables sticking out the back of your TV, but you can still use a wired controller connected through your smartphone. It’s a flawed scenario, but in practice it seems to work well and could really hammer home the ‘use what you have’ message that Google really should put more prominently on the foreground.

Phone Link isn’t a killer feature for Stadia, but it’s a great addition that those with the Chromecast Ultra will love.

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