Play Mac Games on Your iPhone With a Controller
Updated October 2026 · 3 min read
Short answer: pair the controller with your phone, and your Mac sees it.
Beam streams your Mac to your iPhone or iPad. Since Beam 3.0 and Beacon 1.5.0 it also sends the other way: the state of a Bluetooth controller paired with your phone goes back to the Mac, where Beacon presents it as an Xbox Wireless Controller. Games on the Mac see a normal gamepad with two analog sticks, analog triggers, a d-pad and all the buttons. Nothing to install on the Mac, nothing to configure in the game.
Setting it up
- Pair your controller with the iPhone or iPad in iOS Settings, Bluetooth. Xbox, PlayStation, Backbone and MFi controllers all work.
- Update Beacon on the Mac to 1.5.0 or later. It updates itself, or grab the DMG below.
- Open Beam and start the stream as usual (first time? see the setup guide). A small orange controller badge appears in the top bar while the controller is attached.
- Start the game on the Mac. It sees a controller the moment you touch a stick.
The first time, macOS may ask you to allow Beacon under Privacy & Security. It's the same permission Beacon uses for clicking and typing from the phone.
What the Mac sees
macOS only trusts controllers it knows, so Beacon doesn't invent a new one. It presents the virtual controller as an Xbox Wireless Controller, and macOS applies its usual mapping. Any Mac game that supports controllers gets the same buttons and sticks it would from the real thing. In Beacon's settings, the Controls tab lets you change the controller type or switch forwarding off. Xbox is the one we recommend.
One button stays on the phone: the Xbox or PS button. iOS keeps it for itself, so it never reaches Beam.
How it travels
Controller state is a tiny 14-byte report on the same encrypted connection as the video. It goes out the moment something changes, up to 60 times a second, and goes straight to your Mac with no server in between. Away from home it rides the same Tailscale connection as the stream.
The whole path, wire format included, is open source in Phoros, the protocol package Beam and Beacon are built on.
Good to know
- Keep Beam in front. iOS stops sending controller input to apps in the background or in Picture in Picture.
- One controller at a time. Beam forwards the first controller with a full gamepad layout.
- Game mode kicks in by itself. With the stream mode on Auto, Beam switches to Game while a controller is connected: a lighter stream and every frame shown the moment it arrives, so your presses land sooner.
- What you feel is the video. The controller adds almost nothing. For the quickest picture use 1080p at 60 fps on good Wi-Fi. On a ProMotion iPhone or iPad with a 120 Hz Mac display, it goes up to 120 fps. See the quality guide.
Questions
Can I play Mac games on my iPhone with a controller?
Yes. Pair a Bluetooth controller with your iPhone or iPad, stream your Mac with Beam, and Beacon presents the controller to macOS as an Xbox Wireless Controller.
Which controllers work?
Any controller iOS supports as an extended gamepad: Xbox Wireless, DualShock 4 and DualSense, Backbone and similar clip-ons, and most MFi pads.
Does the Mac need a driver?
No. Beacon 1.5.0 or later creates the virtual controller itself.
Is there input lag?
Controller data is tiny and travels on the same local connection as the video. What you notice is the stream's own latency.
