Guides

A controller for a child on a Mac

Download on the Mac App StoreInputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.

You can set up a Mac so a child picks up a game controller and plays, in about twenty minutes, with nothing to buy beyond the controller. Some games read a controller on their own. Much of what children want, Minecraft Java, many Roblox experiences, most browser games, listens only to the keyboard and mouse, and InputConfig turns the controller into those keys.

This guide is for the parent: layouts you set once, a stop that is easy to remember, and a Mac that picks the right layout by itself. I built InputConfig because my own hands do not work well with a keyboard, and the setup that helps me helps a seven-year-old who cannot find W, A, S and D yet.

On this page
  1. Steps
  2. Check whether the game needs any help
  3. Choose a controller for small hands
  4. Set up the games children ask for
  5. Make it switch layouts by itself
  6. Help a child who cannot read the buttons yet
  7. Set up two children on one Mac
  8. Teach the stop button
  9. What it will not do
  10. The short version
  11. Questions

Steps

  1. Pair the controller in System Settings, Bluetooth, open the game and press a button. If the character moves, you are done.
  2. If it does not, install InputConfig from the Mac App Store and pick the ready layout for that game: the built-in Minecraft preset, or Roblox from the Smart Preset Maker.
  3. Add each game to its preset's app list and turn on Switch presets when the front app changes, so the right layout starts by itself.
  4. Turn on Launch at login.
  5. Teach the stop: hold the two small center buttons, Back and Start, together for three seconds.
  6. Export a backup in Settings, Advanced, so a changed layout can be put back.

Check whether the game needs any help

Try the game before installing anything.

  • You: Pair the controller in System Settings, Bluetooth, open the game, and press a button.
  • macOS: Passes the controller to games with controller support: Apple Arcade games, many Roblox experiences, and browser games built for a pad.
  • Check: If the character moves, you need nothing else. If a game only needs a button moved, the Game Controllers pane in System Settings remaps buttons for games that support controllers.

If the character does not move, the game wants a keyboard. That is where a mapper comes in: InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store and turns the controller into the keys and mouse the game already understands. Press a button in the game first, and only add InputConfig if nothing moves.

The built-in Desktop Navigation preset in InputConfig, with the Live Visualizer key naming the pointer on the left stick, scrolling on the right stick and clicks on the triggers.
Figure 1. The built-in Desktop Navigation preset: the pointer on the left stick and scrolling on the right.
A row in InputConfig's editor with its Options open: four stick rows for the pointer, a click on Cross and Options opening Safari.
Figure 2. A first layout for a child: the stick points, one big button clicks, and one button opens Safari. Nothing else is bound.

Choose a controller for small hands

Any controller the Mac supports works. The full list is here. For a child the question is size:

  • A single Joy-Con. Held sideways, it is the smallest: one stick and four buttons, and it connects to a Mac on its own. If the family has a Switch, there are two already. See Joy-Cons on a Mac.
  • A small 8BitDo pad. Fits small hands, but the mode it starts in decides whether the Mac treats it as a controller. The 8BitDo page explains the modes.
  • A DualSense or Xbox controller. Suits older children. The DualSense adds a light bar, which can show which layout is running.

Set up the games children ask for

Three cover most requests:

  • Minecraft. Java Edition has no controller support. InputConfig's built-in Minecraft preset puts walking on the left stick, looking on the right, mining on the right trigger and placing on the left, jump on A and the inventory on X, and pushing the left stick all the way forward sprints. See Minecraft with a controller, and Minecraft Education for the school version.
  • Roblox. Many experiences read the pad directly. The ones built for a keyboard need the Roblox layout from the Smart Preset Maker. See Roblox with a controller.
  • Browser games. Poki, CrazyGames and Scratch are mostly keyboard games. One arrow-key layout covers a surprising number of them. See browser games with a controller.

If a game reads the controller itself, do not run a preset for it at the same time, or every press arrives twice.

Make it switch layouts by itself

Set this once and your child never has to pick a layout.

  • You: In each preset's Automation & Gaming Utilities panel, add its game to the app list: Minecraft to the Minecraft preset, Roblox to the Roblox one. Then turn on Switch presets when the front app changes in Settings, Advanced, and Launch at login in Settings, General.
  • InputConfig: Turns on the right layout when the game comes to the front. A preset with no app list, such as Mouse + Scroll, stays as the fallback for everything else.
  • Check: Open the game and look at the menu bar icon. It turns green while a preset runs, which is an easy way to see from across the room that it is on.

The right layout should follow the game, not the child.

Help a child who cannot read the buttons yet

Three ways to tell a child what a button does without words on screen:

  • A spoken word. Turn on Speak in a row's Options and type the word it should say when the button fires: jump, dig, open. The voice comes from the Mac's speakers, so keep the phrases short. See spoken feedback.
  • A rumble. A row can give a short rumble when it fires.
  • A color per game. A DualSense or DualShock 4 light bar can glow a different color for each preset, so green can mean Minecraft and red can mean Roblox.

Set up two children on one Mac

Pair both controllers. Each gets its own slot, and a preset holds separate bindings for each, so a keyboard-only two-player game can give one child W, A, S, D and the other the arrow keys. The two controllers page has the steps.

Teach the stop button

Show your child one thing: hold the two small buttons either side of the center together for three seconds, and everything stops. They are Create and Options on a DualSense, View and Menu on an Xbox pad, and Minus and Plus on a Switch pad. A buzz one second in tells them it is coming. It releases every held key and gives the pointer back, and it works whatever the preset maps those buttons to. Holding them again, after letting go, starts the layout back up.

If something goes strange, climb this ladder:

  1. Hold the two small buttons for three seconds. The child can do this. You can change the hold, from one to five seconds, or pick one button instead, in Settings, General.
  2. Use the keyboard or the menu bar. Control Option Command and the period key does the same, and so does Emergency Stop in the menu bar.
  3. Restore the backup. If a layout was changed by mistake, Restore from Backup in Settings, Advanced puts every preset back, after you have made one with Export Backup. A deleted built-in preset comes back with Restore Built-in Presets in Settings, Advanced, Data & storage, or from its page on this site.

More on the emergency stop page. The stop never deletes anything, so it is safe to press whenever something goes strange.

What it will not do

  • Parental controls. It does not limit time or block apps. Screen Time in System Settings does that.
  • Collect anything. It has no account, no analytics and no network access, so there is nothing for a child to sign up for, and nothing about them goes anywhere. It is free. The optional tip jar in Settings, About adds no features.
  • Install itself on a school Mac. On a Mac managed by a school, installing an app and granting the Accessibility permission it needs may be up to the school's administrator.

The short version

  • Try the game first. Many read the controller with no help.
  • Use the ready layout. Minecraft is built in. Roblox comes from the Smart Preset Maker.
  • Let it switch by itself. Give each preset one app list, and turn on Launch at login.
  • Teach one stop. Hold the two small center buttons for three seconds.

Set it up once, teach the stop, and the controller just works when they pick it up.

Questions

What is the easiest way to let my child play Mac games with a controller?

Pair the controller in System Settings, Bluetooth, and try the game. If it does not respond, install InputConfig, pick the ready layout for that game, and press Activate.

Is InputConfig safe for children?

It has no account, no analytics, no ads and no network access, and nothing in it is paid. It needs the Accessibility permission because it sends keyboard and mouse input for the controller.

What if my child changes a layout by mistake?

Keep a backup: Settings, Advanced, Export Backup. Restore from Backup puts every preset back. A deleted built-in preset comes back with Restore Built-in Presets in Settings, Advanced, or from its page on this site.

Can a younger child use one Joy-Con?

A single Joy-Con held sideways connects to a Mac as its own small controller, with a stick and four buttons.

Download on the Mac App StoreOpen source on GitHub.

Updated