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What's new in InputConfig

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.

InputConfig is at version 1.7. It is free on the Mac App Store, needs macOS 14 or later, and runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs. This page is every version in plain words, newest first, with links to the help page for each feature. The same notes are inside the app, and the full developer changelog is on GitHub. In 1.7, start with regions and stick gestures, or see languages.

On this page
  1. InputConfig 1.7
    1. Regions and stick gestures
    2. Languages and keyboard layouts
    3. Gyro and motion
    4. Wheels, pedals and more devices
    5. The editor and the library
    6. Live Visualizer and the tour
    7. Safety and fixes in 1.7
  2. InputConfig 1.6
    1. Controllers and devices
    2. The Live Visualizer
    3. The editor, presets and pointer
    4. Built-in presets
    5. Safety, accessibility and the app
    6. Fixes
  3. InputConfig 1.5
  4. InputConfig 1.4
  5. InputConfig 1.3
  6. InputConfig 1.2 and 1.2.1
  7. InputConfig 1.1 and 1.1.1
  8. InputConfig 1.0
  9. Before the name InputConfig: JoystickConfig
  10. Update, and find these notes in the app
  11. Source code, and reporting a problem
  12. Questions

InputConfig 1.7

1.7 brings InputConfig to 26 languages and turns parts of a stick, a trigger or a touchpad into buttons of their own, drawn right in the editor. If you only read one line: touchpad zones are now regions drawn in the editor's Regions card, and Calibrate Touchpad is gone because the touchpad needs no calibration.

Regions and stick gestures

  • Stick regions are rings. An area between two distances from the center and two directions, so pushing a stick past half way up is one button and all the way up another. See screen and stick regions.
  • Trigger bands. Triggers and single axes take bands, a range of their travel such as the last third of a trigger pull, each one a button.
  • Direction or region. A stick row fires by a direction or by a region, picked side by side in its direction menu. While the stick is inside a region, that region's row fires and the stick's direction rows wait, unless the region shares the stick; regions in presets made before 1.7 keep sharing.
  • Stick gestures. Flicks of a stick in order, such as pulling it straight back twice, fire a row. Pick the flicks or record them by doing them; with Quick flicks only on, a push held out never counts.
  • The Regions card. Each device group in the editor ends with a Regions card for that device's touchpad, trackpads, sticks, triggers and screen, where regions are drawn, moved, resized, and right-clicked to rename, duplicate or delete. Undo and Redo take them back too. See touchpad regions.
  • No touchpad calibration. macOS reports the whole pad, so Calibrate Touchpad is gone, and a Steam Controller's left and right trackpads each have regions of their own.
  • Live previews. A stick or trigger row's Options show it live, with the deadzone, the part that fires the row and its regions. The deadzone sliders are now Deadzone and Full push at, and take effect as you move them. See deadzones.
  • A showcase. A new built-in preset, Stick Zones & Gestures, shows rings, bands, regions that share the stick, and gestures.

Languages and keyboard layouts

  • 26 languages. Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian and Vietnamese. Pick one in Settings, General, Language, or follow the one set for InputConfig in System Settings. In Arabic and Hebrew the app reads right to left.
  • Your keyboard, drawn as it is. The Live Visualizer's keyboard takes the shape of your keyboard, ANSI, ISO or JIS, and labels every key with what it types in your layout; key names in the editor follow it too, and rows still store each key by its place. See keyboard, mouse and trackpad.
  • Number pad and navigation keys. The keyboard map shows them when a keyboard that has them is connected or a row uses them.

Gyro and motion

  • Set Up Full Gyro. On any motion row, it adds the rows for gyro aiming, tilting to move with the arrow keys, or shakes and jabs. See gyroscope.
  • Motion on a button. App actions turn motion on and off with one press, or let the motion rows work only while a button is held.
  • Level is how you hold it. A tilt and pointer option that measures the lean from your grip instead of from lying flat.
  • More controllers. Motion from the 2015 Steam Controller and a single Joy-Con now reaches presets, Yaw angle rows work, and gyro aiming is steadier: the pointer no longer creeps while the controller is still.

Wheels, pedals and more devices

  • Read in full. Flight sticks, wheels, pedals and button boxes are read from what they report, every axis, hat and button, and Rests at one end reads a pedal or throttle across its whole travel. See other controllers.
  • Logitech G920 and G923 for Xbox. Read through macOS racing wheel support, numbered like the G29 so wheel presets work on them.
  • Stream Deck +. Each dial can be pressed and turned either way, and the touch strip tapped, long pressed and swiped, each one a button.
  • And more. Two-port adapters read the second port, the Globe key can be an input, and MIDI rows can send a set CC value and scan aftertouch.

The editor and the library

  • Activate at the top. A preset that is on keeps working while you edit, and Activate and the Emergency Stop stay in reach as you scroll.
  • Search. Long dropdowns start with Search, the sidebar can be searched and sorted, and the Presets menu reaches every folder and Trash action.
  • Game presets. Game presets no longer pull the pointer to the middle of the screen or hide it, so inventories and menus work with the stick again, and the built-in Minecraft preset also sprints with the left stick pushed all the way forward. See auto-switch.
  • A clear way out. Starting a preset that keeps the pointer off the screen edges, or hides or recenters it, first lists every way to stop it. See emergency stop.

Live Visualizer and the tour

  • Regions on the drawing. Stick regions draw inside the sticks and trigger bands inside the triggers, and the 3D controller turns, tips and leans the way yours does. See Live Visualizer.
  • Quick Start. The Quick Start tour is shorter and friendlier, and shows regions.
  • Tap the Mac. Says on its row and its home card that it works only on some MacBooks: tested on M4 MacBooks; it did not work on an M1 Pro in our testing. See Tap the Mac.

Safety and fixes in 1.7

  • Open URL. No longer opens files, Shortcuts, scripts, network shares or calls, and the import review says what each link really does.
  • Controllers. A controller that drops and reconnects takes its old slot back, and groups set to different controllers never share one pad.
  • Accessibility. VoiceOver and Voice Control reach every region, and the app fits a 13-inch display at the largest text size.

InputConfig 1.6

1.6 lays the groundwork for far more devices, plus a lot of polish all through the app: generic USB pads, wheels, flight sticks, multi-player adapters, the Stream Deck and the 2026 Steam Controller. If you only read one line: rows recorded on a Switch pad, an 8BitDo or a generic USB pad before 1.6 get an update offer when that controller first connects.

Controllers and devices

  • More controllers. Added infrastructure for far more controllers: generic USB pads and arcade sticks take their button names from the community SDL GameControllerDB, and wheels, flight sticks and pedals are read on every axis at full resolution and every hat switch.
  • Numbering like other controllers. Generic USB pads and a single Joy-Con number their controls like other controllers, and InputConfig offers to update older rows on USB pads.
  • A controller per player. Added infrastructure for two-player adapters and dual arcade encoders, so each player gets a controller of their own.
  • The 2026 Steam Controller. Added infrastructure for Valve's 2026 Steam Controller on a USB cable, over Bluetooth, or through its Puck: every button, the four back buttons, both trackpads, the gyro, rumble and battery, and a built-in preset. See Steam Controller.
  • Steam Controller trackpads. Added trackpad handling for both Steam Controllers: slide, tap, double tap and press on either pad.
  • Logitech wheels. Added infrastructure for the G29 and G923: a wheel in compatibility mode is switched to its own mode, the pedals read 0 to 1, and the Live Visualizer shows how far the wheel is turned in degrees.
  • Stream Deck. Added infrastructure for the Stream Deck, the Neo's touch points and the Stream Deck modules included, connected from the Devices menu or the menu bar.
  • Disconnect. Disconnect a controller from its entry at the top of the sidebar. See connecting a controller.
  • A stand-in from the same family. A group set to one controller reads another of the same family when its own is away, such as an Edge for a DualSense, and otherwise says it is waiting, with one click to use the controller that is connected.
  • Screenshot buttons. Share, Create and Capture keep their macOS screenshot and recording shortcut unless the running preset uses them.
  • Controllers that are also keyboards. A controller that also acts as a keyboard, such as some arcade sticks, works once Input Monitoring is allowed for InputConfig in System Settings. See settings.
  • More keys and buttons. Bind keys from gaming, ISO and Japanese keyboards, mouse buttons up to 32, controller buttons up to 128, and a tilt wheel.
  • MIDI transport in. MIDI Start, Continue and Stop can be bound as inputs, and stick-driven MIDI CC reaches the full 0 to 127 range past the deadzone. See MIDI as input.
  • Two PlayStation controllers. Each gets its own light color, rumble and Edge paddles, and two identical controllers can go to two players. See light bar.
  • Controllers macOS cannot read. InputConfig explains them: Xbox 360 pads in the Devices menu, and 8BitDo pads in the wrong mode in the main window.
  • Older presets. Check Older Presets Again in Settings offers the update for presets made before 1.6 once more.

The Live Visualizer

  • Your actual controller. The Live Visualizer draws 19 controllers as themselves, with every control where it really is and what each one is bound to. See Live Visualizer.
  • One menu per panel. Automatic, Screen, Keyboard, Touchpad, Mouse and MIDI, then Connected, where you pick which connected controller a group reads, and a menu for each maker (Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo and the rest) for the model it is drawn as, even with nothing connected.
  • A key down both sides. What each control does is listed down both sides of the drawing, with a line to each control, so no label ever sits on a control or another label.
  • Screen regions. Draw a screen region straight from the Live Visualizer.

The editor, presets and pointer

  • A faster editor. The binding editor opens faster and scrolls smoothly, and clicking a control in the Live Visualizer explains what it does and jumps to its row.
  • The pointer while editing. The controller still moves the pointer and clicks while the preset editor is open, and Escape, Return, Tab, the arrows and Space still work from it, so Save and Cancel are in reach without a mouse.
  • Typed places. Type a screen region's, stick zone's or touchpad zone's place and size, and a fixed click point's X and Y, instead of only dragging.
  • Scan timing. Choose how long Scan waits, up to until canceled, and hear when it times out. See Scan.
  • Keyboard layouts. Shortcuts in presets follow your keyboard layout, so Command A selects all on AZERTY, QWERTZ and Dvorak keyboards.
  • Favorites. Star your favorite presets and show only favorites in the sidebar and the menu bar. See presets and folders.
  • Pointer speed. Pointer speed and Scroll speed sliders on the preset page, Ramp-up on pointer rows, a D-pad that can take one direction at a time, and the pointer stops the moment you let go of the stick.
  • Deadzones you can see. Every stick row shows its deadzone, and Adjust live sets it while you watch the stick. See deadzones.
  • Shortcuts everywhere. Hold, double tap and macro steps can send keyboard shortcuts, a row can repeat a held key like a real keyboard, and a repeating macro now waits between passes.
  • Button names. Name every button the Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo, Stadia, GameCube or Steam Controller way for each preset, or North, South, East and West in Settings.
  • Accent color. Pick the app's accent color in Settings, or any custom color.
  • Mouse side buttons. A mouse side button can be kept from also going Back in a browser.
  • Import. Import a preset by opening it or dropping it on the Dock icon. Actions that open apps or websites can be removed first, and the sharer's own shortcut stays behind. An imported preset asks before its first start and lists what it does, and the import review shows every action, macro and pointer setting in full.
  • Smart Preset Maker. It fills back paddles, gives 13 apps their Mac shortcuts instead of Windows ones, and opens Steam games through Steam.
  • Pointer guards. Confine, recenter and hide cursor pause while InputConfig or the Finder is in front, and when a preset lists apps they work only in those apps.
  • Touchpad rows. New touchpad rows move the pointer as far up and down as they do side to side; rows made before 1.6 keep the speed they had.
  • Convert To. Convert To makes a new preset beside the original.

Built-in presets

  • New presets. Easy Browse for using the whole Mac from a controller, and Easy Edit for a controller in one hand and a mouse in the other.
  • Auto Clicker. A new built-in preset that clicks for you, 5 to 20 times a second, on and off or while held, or a set number of times, from a controller, fn F6 and F7, or a mouse's side button.
  • Restore Built-in Presets. In Settings, it puts back any built-in preset you deleted.
  • Steady row order. The built-in presets list rows on one stick or the D-pad in the same order on every install, not a new order each time.
  • Access Controller. The preset follows Sony's base profile: the center button clicks, socket 5 right-clicks, and socket 7 opens Spotlight.
  • Desktop Navigation. A now clicks, and Select All moved to the right stick press.
  • Updated layouts. Built-in presets you never changed are updated: Minecraft's right stick click swaps hands, the PS5 FPS touchpad opens the map, MIDI: Knob Deck scrolls from a centered knob, MIDI: Transport Control no longer drops the volume to 0, and Motion Cursor scrolls the same way as the other pointer presets.
  • Side buttons. In Trackpad & Mouse and Keyboard & Mouse Input, the side buttons send Command [ and ] and no longer also go Back on their own.
  • Menu and View. The Xbox and 8BitDo FPS presets, Minecraft and Racing Game use Menu for Escape and View for Tab.
  • Keyboard Deck. Keyboard Deck is retired: a copy you never changed moves to the Trash, and a copy you changed stays.

Safety, accessibility and the app

  • macOS 27. Optimized for macOS 27, with a new app icon made for the Dark, Clear and Tinted styles.
  • Sleep and lock. While the Mac sleeps or is locked no key is sent: at the lock screen only the pointer, clicks and scrolling work.
  • After a crash. InputConfig asks before starting your preset again, and starts it by itself after 20 seconds with no answer.
  • Questions before losing work. Cancel in the editor asks before throwing away changes, and Empty Trash and deleting a folder ask first.
  • VoiceOver. VoiceOver names every field in the binding editor and the visualizers, and the keyboard focus ring is back.
  • Text Size and Reduce Transparency. Both reach every part of the app.
  • Menu bar warning. The menu bar icon turns orange when a running preset needs Accessibility, and rows start working the moment it is granted.
  • Statistics. A new look, and each controller's own time is counted.
  • Energy. Uses less CPU and energy while nothing is moving.
  • The controller emergency stop. It is a hold of Back and Start together, with a buzz a second in; once it stops, the same hold starts the preset again, and on an Access Controller it is socket 7. See emergency stop.
  • Higher contrast text. Higher contrast text in Settings brightens hints and status lines, and turns on with the Mac's Increase Contrast.

Fixes

  • Switch face buttons. Fixed the Switch Pro Controller and Joy-Con face buttons, where pressing A fired the rows meant for B. When one first connects, InputConfig offers to update rows recorded on it before. See Switch Pro Controller.
  • 8BitDo back buttons. Fixed 8BitDo back buttons, which were read as a DualSense Edge's Fn buttons, and the Pro 2's back buttons and wired model over USB; rows recorded on them before are offered the same update.
  • Held keys. Fixed keys and mouse buttons left held after a crash, a forced quit, or when two buttons share a key.
  • Quick presses. Fixed quick presses on two buttons mixing their shortcuts, and double clicks not opening files.
  • One-Stick Driving. Fixed it accelerating when the stick was pulled back; Invert throttle, the old workaround, is turned off. With Throttle axis is a trigger, it now uses the whole travel of a gas pedal that reads -1 to 1.
  • Shortcut recording. Fixed recording a shortcut that InputConfig already uses, and Settings now says which shortcut or app holds a chord.
  • Tap the Mac. Fixed lifting or tilting a MacBook counting as a tap.
  • Steam Controller. Fixed the Steam Controller's buttons, stick click and wireless connection.
  • Identical controllers. Fixed two identical controllers switching on and off together and sharing a motion zero, and controllers lost after a Bluetooth reconnect or a sleep.
  • The pointer. Fixed the pointer vanishing past a screen edge, and recenter and confine fighting the stick.
  • Chords and gyro. Fixed chords firing the plain row on release, and gyro aim losing part of every turn.
  • System outputs. Fixed Launchpad, brightness, keyboard light, Eject, Lock Screen and Mouse Wheel Step outputs.
  • Preset files. Fixed a damaged preset file freezing the app, and presets dropping rows made by a newer version.
  • Backups. Restoring a backup on a new Mac no longer duplicates the built-in presets, and says what it restored.
  • Regions and calibration. Fixed touchpad regions saving to the wrong preset, and Clear in Motion Calibration not sticking.
  • Preset notes. Fixed several built-in presets and Smart Presets whose rows did not match their notes.
  • Help. Help is corrected throughout, and now covers gaming keypads, macro pads, pen tablets, switch interfaces and Xbox Elite paddles.

InputConfig 1.5

The biggest change in 1.5 is that the Mac itself became an input, not only the controller in your hands.

  • Keyboard, mouse and trackpad. Any key, click, scroll or Force Touch can fire a binding. Keyboard input is listen-only, so a bound key still does its normal job as well. Keyboard, mouse and trackpad as input.
  • Screen regions. Draw an area of any display and it fires while the pointer is inside it. Screen regions.
  • Tap the Mac. It counts up to five taps, and Calibrate Taps in any tap row's Options sets how firm a knock has to be. It was tested on M4 MacBooks and did not work on an M1 Pro in our testing; the calibrator's status chip shows whether your sensor is listening. Tap the Mac.
  • The editor. A search field, rows under section headings, and Automatically insert available inputs, which adds a row for every control the device has. The binding editor.
  • Chords. Up to three controls. Chords.
  • The Live Visualizer. It draws the controller you actually connected, and clicking any control on it opens that row in the editor. The Live Visualizer.
  • Gyro pointing. On a DualSense, DualSense Edge or DualShock 4 it follows the controller's tilt like a laser pointer, with a simpler Motion Calibration sheet and a Re-zero you can put on a button. Gyro aim.
  • Adaptive controller accessories. Accessories plugged into a PlayStation Access Controller or an Xbox Adaptive Controller are picked up as inputs. The Access Controller guide.
  • The emergency stop. It also silences the motors and stops any haptic, as well as releasing held keys. Emergency stop.
  • New built-in presets. Including Keyboard Deck, Trackpad & Mouse, Modifier Holds, Double Click Deck, One-Stick Driving and Access Controller. The built-in presets.
  • Fixes. A crash on the first launch, the pointer drifting off target across two displays of different heights, and mouse buttons 3 and up hanging the app.

InputConfig 1.4

  • Tap the Mac. Knock on a MacBook's palm rest or lid to fire any output, with nothing plugged in. It was tested on M4 MacBooks and did not work on an M1 Pro in our testing.
  • The emergency stop. A system-wide shortcut, a three-second hold on Back and Start together, or the menu bar button halts everything and gives the pointer back.
  • Accessibility outputs. Start Dictation, Speak Selection and Zoom became outputs, so accessibility shortcuts no longer have to be built from key combinations. Dictation, zoom and speak selection.
  • Chords and preset shortcuts. One held button gives every other button a second job, and any preset can have a shortcut of its own.
  • Pause Motion While Held. For re-aiming the gyro the way you lift a mouse.
  • Dragging. Hold a mapped click and move the stick to move windows, select text or drag files.
  • Anki. A built-in preset for reviewing flashcards from a controller. Anki from a controller.

1.4 is where the emergency stop arrived, and it has been there in every version since.

InputConfig 1.3

  • System Function outputs. Volume, mute, media keys, brightness, Mission Control, Launchpad, Spotlight, lock screen, the screenshot toolbar, Siri Shortcuts, and opening any app or URL. System functions.
  • MIDI knobs. Dial and Turn modes, and a system volume fader that follows a knob, the pitch wheel or a trigger.
  • MIDI template. A full MIDI template in the Live Visualizer.
  • Accessibility settings. Text size, bold text, reduced transparency and reduced motion for the app itself.
  • What's New window. It appears once after each update.

InputConfig 1.2 and 1.2.1

  • MIDI as input. Notes, pads, knobs, the pitch wheel, the sustain pedal and aftertouch can drive keys, clicks and macros. In 1.2.1 this works with no game controller connected at all. MIDI as input.
  • DualSense Edge extras. The back paddles, both FN buttons and the mute button became bindable, over Bluetooth and USB. DualSense Edge.
  • Light bar over Bluetooth. Light bar colors reach the controller over Bluetooth as well as USB. Light bar.

InputConfig 1.1 and 1.1.1

  • A larger preset library. Games, creative apps and accessibility workflows.
  • Broader controller support. Including Logitech F-series pads in D mode, fight sticks and wheels. Other controllers.
  • Real shortcuts. Shortcut outputs with modifiers, such as Command C, fire as real key combinations.
  • VoiceOver. Labels on the scan overlay and the binding editor.
  • 1.1.1. Fixed a crash that stopped the app launching on macOS 14 Sonoma.

InputConfig 1.0

The first release under the InputConfig name: map any controller, keyboard or mouse to keys, mouse and MIDI anywhere on macOS, with presets, scan to bind, the Live Visualizer, turbo, macros, hold and double tap, haptics, spoken feedback, touchpad calibration, gyro aim, deadzones and one-stick driving.

Before the name InputConfig: JoystickConfig

InputConfig started life as JoystickConfig. Three versions shipped under that name, 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2, and their notes are still at the bottom of the changelog inside the app. JoystickConfig mapped a game controller to the keyboard and mouse; by its last version it also read raw HID gamepads, the Mac's keyboard and mouse, and cursor regions, and sent MIDI out.

Today the app reads far more than joysticks, from MIDI gear to a knock on the MacBook's case. Under the new name, the version numbers started again at 1.0.

Update, and find these notes in the app

  • Updates. They come through the Mac App Store like any other app, and every version is free.
  • What's New. After an update, a What's New window shows once with that version's changes. The sparkles button at the bottom of the menu bar popover opens it at any time; see the menu bar.
  • Your version. Settings, About shows your version and build number, with View Changelog for every version.
  • Your presets. Updates never touch your presets, folders, statistics or calibration. They live in the app's own container, which an update leaves alone; see where your data lives.

Updating is always safe for your presets.

The What's New in InputConfig sheet inside the app, listing the changes in the release.
Figure 1. The same notes open inside the app after an update.

Source code, and reporting a problem

InputConfig is open source under the MIT license. The code, the developer changelog and every tagged release are in the InputConfig repository on GitHub. If something broke after an update, report it on the issue tracker. A report there goes straight to me.

Questions

What is the latest version of InputConfig?

InputConfig 1.7 is the current version, free on the Mac App Store. It needs macOS 14 or later and runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.

Was InputConfig called JoystickConfig?

InputConfig started as JoystickConfig, and versions 1.0 to 1.2 shipped under that name. Today it also reads MIDI devices, the Mac's own keyboard, mouse and trackpad, screen regions and taps on the case, not only controllers and joysticks.

Will updating InputConfig delete my presets?

No. Presets, folders, statistics and calibration live in the app's own container on your Mac, and an App Store update replaces the app without touching it. Export Backup in Settings, Advanced makes a copy you can keep anywhere.

Does an InputConfig update cost anything?

No. InputConfig and every update are free. There is an optional tip jar, and a tip unlocks nothing.

Is there an InputConfig for Windows, iPhone or iPad?

No. InputConfig is a Mac app only, for macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon or Intel Macs.

Download on the Mac App StoreOpen source on GitHub.

Updated