How to play iPhone and iPad games on a Mac with a controller
InputConfig 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.
On a Mac with Apple silicon, many iPhone and iPad games install straight from the Mac App Store, and the ones with controller support take a controller the moment you pair one. Many others were built only for a touch screen, and on a Mac that means the pointer stands in for your finger. I cover games that read a controller, the keyboard settings macOS adds to every iPad game, and touch-only games, which is where my app, InputConfig, can help. I will say plainly when you do not need it.
On this page
- Check that your Mac can run them
- If the game supports a controller, just pair it
- Try the keyboard settings inside each game
- Put a tap on a button for touch-only games
- If the game does not see your controller
- If the game and InputConfig both hear the pad
- Use PlayCover for games the App Store does not offer
- The short version
- Questions
Check that your Mac can run them
Only Macs with Apple silicon can run them. Intel Macs cannot install iPhone or iPad apps at all.
- Finding them. On an Apple silicon Mac, search the Mac App Store and switch the results to iPhone & iPad Apps. Those listings say Designed for iPad or Designed for iPhone.
- Missing games. Not every game is there, because each developer decides whether to offer their iPhone and iPad app on the Mac, and many large games are not offered.
Once installed, the game sits in Applications and opens like any Mac app. Apple Arcade has its own page: Apple Arcade on a Mac with a controller.
If the game supports a controller, just pair it
Pair the controller in System Settings, Bluetooth, and open the game. A game with controller support on iPad reads a DualSense, DualShock 4, Xbox Wireless or Switch Pro controller on the Mac too, with nothing else to install. On the game's App Store page, a controller icon or a line saying it supports game controllers tells you before you buy. How to connect a controller to a Mac has the pairing button for each pad.
If it works, you are done and you do not need my app. If you only want buttons moved, System Settings, Game Controllers (in the sidebar) can remap controller buttons on macOS 13 or later.
Try the keyboard settings inside each game
Open the game, then choose the game's name in the menu bar and Settings. iPhone and iPad games get two options there that Mac games do not:
- Touch Alternatives. Turns keys into touch gestures: the space bar taps the middle of the screen and the arrow keys swipe. It suits games that only need a tap or a swipe.
- Controller Emulation. On the Game Control tab, lets the keyboard stand in for a controller in games that support one, with W, A, S and D as the left stick and the space bar as the A button. Apple added it in macOS 11.3.
Only one of the two can be on at a time. Neither can press a button the game draws in a corner of the screen, which is what most touch games need.
Put a tap on a button for touch-only games
Most iPad games draw their buttons on the screen and expect a finger, and on a Mac a click is a tap. InputConfig can make any controller button click one fixed spot on the screen, so one button presses the game's jump, another its attack, and a third its menu, wherever they sit.
- Open the game and make it full screen, so its buttons stay in the same place.
- In InputConfig, add a row for a controller button and set its output to Mouse Button, Left click.
- You: Open that row's click menu, which reads at pointer, and choose At a fixed point: the pointer's position in a few seconds. Move the pointer onto the game's button.
- InputConfig: Speaks a countdown and takes the position after about three seconds, or ten with Switch Control on. The X and Y fields beside the menu take typed numbers instead.
- Check: Press the controller button in the game and the on-screen button responds. Repeat for each on-screen button.
- Free pointing too. Put Mouse Motion on the right stick if you also want to point and click freely.
- Press and hold. Holding the controller button holds the click, which covers buttons that want a press and hold.
- A key works too. A key on the Mac's keyboard can be the input instead of a controller button.
The spot is a place on your screen, not in the game, so if the window moves or the game rearranges its buttons, set the spot again. I have not tried this in every iPad game, so treat the first session as a test.
If the game does not see your controller
An iPad game sees the controllers macOS supports: PlayStation, Xbox, Switch Pro, Joy-Cons, MFi pads, and 8BitDo pads in their Apple mode. It does not see 8BitDo pads in X or D mode, USB joysticks and arcade sticks that are plain HID devices, or the Steam Controller.
InputConfig reads those and sends keys and clicks, so a game that takes the keyboard gets keys it understands, and a touch-only game gets the fixed-spot clicks above. Whether a game's Controller Emulation turns those keys back into a controller is worth a try. I have not tested that chain yet. The full list is on what controllers work with a Mac.
If the game and InputConfig both hear the pad
InputConfig keeps reading the controller while a game is in front, which is how it works in games without support. In a game that reads the controller itself, every press then arrives twice: once as a controller button and once as the key or click you mapped. Stop InputConfig from the menu bar before playing a game with its own controller support, or give that game a preset that only uses the buttons the game leaves alone.
Use PlayCover for games the App Store does not offer
PlayCover is a free, open-source tool that runs iPad apps the Mac App Store does not carry, with its own key mapping for touch games. You supply the app file yourself and it runs outside the App Store, so the game maker's terms may not cover it. It is the route most Mac players take for games like Genshin Impact. If a game is in the Mac App Store, start there.
The short version
- Controller games. Pair the pad. Nothing else to install.
- Tap and swipe games. Turn on Touch Alternatives in the game's Settings.
- Touch-only games with on-screen buttons. Fixed-point clicks from InputConfig, with the game full screen.
Keep the game full screen, and the buttons stay where you pinned them.
Questions
Can you play iPhone games on an Intel Mac?
No. iPhone and iPad apps run only on Macs with Apple silicon. On an Intel Mac the choices are a Mac or PC version of the game, or a cloud service that carries it.
Why is my iPad game not in the Mac App Store?
Its developer chose not to offer it on the Mac. Only the developer can change that. PlayCover is the unofficial way around it.
How do I use the keyboard in an iPad game on a Mac?
Open the game, choose its name in the menu bar, then Settings. Touch Alternatives makes the space bar a tap and the arrow keys swipes. Controller Emulation makes W, A, S, D and the space bar act as a controller in games that support one.
Can a controller press on-screen buttons in an iPad game?
Yes, with a mapper. InputConfig can make any controller button click a fixed spot on the screen, and on a Mac a click is a tap. Keep the game full screen so the spots stay put.
Does a PS5 controller work with iPad games on a Mac?
Yes, in any iPad game with controller support. Pair it in System Settings, Bluetooth, and the game reads it as it would on an iPad.
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