Questions

Can you use a Backbone One on a Mac?

Yes, over a cable, according to Backbone. Backbone sells the One as a controller for an iPhone or an Android phone, but its help center describes a wired mode for using it with other screens, a Mac among them: turn the setting on in the Backbone app, then connect the Backbone's charging port to the Mac with a USB cable. A game with controller support may then pick it up like any pad.

I make InputConfig, a free Mac app that recognizes the Backbone One, draws it in its Live Visualizer, names its buttons as Backbone prints them, and maps it to keys and mouse for games that ignore controllers. I have not tested a Backbone myself, so this page sticks to what the app's code and Backbone's own help say.

On this page: 9 sections
  1. Steps
  2. Turn on Backbone's wired mode
  3. Know what a Mac sees
  4. Use the PlayStation Edition
  5. Find each button's name
  6. Put it to work on a Mac
  7. If the Mac does not see it
  8. The short version
  9. Questions

Steps

  1. In the Backbone app on your phone, turn on Play On Any Screen, which Backbone's help center places under Menu, Settings, Controller.
  2. Connect an MFi-certified USB cable from the Backbone's charging port to the Mac.
  3. Check System Settings, Game Controllers, where a listed Backbone works in games with controller support.
  4. Open InputConfig, and tick the Backbone under InputConfig, Devices if it is not at the top of the sidebar.
  5. Activate a preset, or press Scan on a row and press a Backbone button to bind it.

Turn on Backbone's wired mode

Backbone calls it Play On Any Screen, or Wired Mode: with the setting on, the Backbone works as a wired controller on another device, and its help center lists the Mac and PC among them.

  • No subscription. A Backbone+ subscription is not needed for it.
  • Controller only. The charging port does not carry video or audio, so it only works as a controller. It does not mirror the phone.
  • The cable. Backbone asks for an MFi-certified cable.

I could not confirm every detail for every model from Backbone's pages. If your Backbone app shows the setting somewhere else, follow the app.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreInputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

Know what a Mac sees

There are two ways the Backbone can reach a Mac, and InputConfig handles both:

  • As a game controller macOS lists. Games with controller support read it directly, and InputConfig reads every button, both sticks, the triggers and the D-pad, plus the Capture button.
  • As a plain USB controller. InputConfig reads it directly, using the community SDL controller database's entries for the Backbone One, which put every named control in the usual place. Read this way, Capture has no place of its own, and on some models the triggers arrive as on and off buttons rather than a smooth pull.

Either way, the Mac does not see the Backbone app's own features, and Backbone+ is a phone service.

Use the PlayStation Edition

The Backbone One PlayStation Edition identifies itself to Apple's controller framework as a DualSense-family controller, so InputConfig names its buttons the PlayStation way: Cross, Circle, Square and Triangle, L1 and R1, Options.

  • Missing parts. It has no touchpad, light bar or mute button, so the DualSense features that need them do not apply.
  • Everything else. It maps the same as the standard model.

The Live Visualizer can draw the Backbone One, the PlayStation Edition and the Backbone Pro. If it guesses the wrong model, pick yours from its maker's menu in the panel's menu.

Find each button's name

On the BackboneIn InputConfig
A, B, X, YFace buttons by position, as on an Xbox pad
Bumpers and triggersButtons and analog triggers (some models over USB: buttons only)
Ellipsis button, left gripOptions
Three-line button, right gripMenu
Orange buttonBackbone
Square bracket buttonCapture, when macOS lists the controller
Backbone Pro M1 and M2A copy of another button, not inputs of their own

Scan on a row and press the button, and you never need to look the name up.

Put it to work on a Mac

  • Cloud gaming. Xbox Cloud Gaming and GeForce NOW read a controller in the browser or app. See Xbox Cloud Gaming on a Mac and GeForce NOW on a Mac.
  • iPhone and iPad games on Apple silicon. They read controllers through macOS. iPhone and iPad games on a Mac covers the gaps.
  • Games with no controller support. InputConfig turns the sticks into WASD and mouse look and the buttons into keys. Its Smart Preset Maker has layouts for more than 450 games and apps.
  • The desktop. The built-in Desktop Navigation preset moves the pointer with the left stick and clicks with A.

A game that ignores controllers is exactly the case InputConfig is for.

If the Mac does not see it

Climb this ladder, smallest step first:

  1. Check the setting and the cable. The setting should be on in the Backbone app before you plug in, and the cable has to carry data, not only power.
  2. Tick it in the Devices menu. Look in InputConfig, Devices in the menu bar. If the Backbone is listed under USB, tick it, and InputConfig opens it directly and remembers it.
  3. Watch the Live Visualizer. It lights each control as you press it, which shows what arrives before you bind anything.
  4. Map it to keys. If it is listed but does nothing in a game, the game may not read controllers at all. Give it the game's keys in InputConfig.

A Backbone that lights the Live Visualizer is connected; the rest is mapping.

The short version

  • Connect. Play On Any Screen on in the Backbone app, then a data cable to the Mac.
  • Check. System Settings, Game Controllers, or the top of InputConfig's sidebar.
  • Map. A preset or Scan for games that ignore controllers.

I have not tested one myself, so tell me if your model behaves differently. The phone controller you already own can be a Mac controller too.

Questions

Does the Backbone One work on a Mac?

Backbone's help center says its wired mode, Play On Any Screen, works with a Mac: turn it on in the Backbone app and connect the charging port to the Mac with a USB cable. InputConfig recognizes the Backbone One and can map it to keys and mouse. I have not tested one myself.

Does the Backbone One PlayStation Edition work on a Mac?

It uses the same wired mode. InputConfig names its buttons the PlayStation way, because the controller reports itself in the DualSense family. It has no touchpad or light bar.

Do I need Backbone+ to use it on a Mac?

No. Backbone says its wired mode does not need a subscription.

Can I map the Backbone buttons to keyboard keys on a Mac?

Yes. In InputConfig, press Scan on a row, press a Backbone button, and pick a key, a click, a shortcut or a macro. It is free on the Mac App Store.

Download InputConfig on the Mac App StoreFree. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.