MoHadiShibli
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Control4Free uses the PS4's own virtual controller service instead of a plugin in each game, so controllers also work in the PS4's menus and are assigned to users natively. The two aren't compatible, so the banner says to choose one, and how to switch.
RemotePad NG
Tip
Try Control4Free, the improved approach. Instead of working around the PS4 with a plugin inside each game, it uses the PS4's own virtual controller service. Your controllers work in the PS4's menus and on the home screen too, and each one is assigned to a user natively, through the PS4's own "Who's using this controller?" screen.
RemotePad NG and Control4Free aren't compatible: choose one. To switch, remove RemotePad NG's line from
plugins.iniand follow Control4Free's quick start.
Play your jailbroken PS4 with the controllers you already have. Xbox, DualSense, Switch Pro and most other controllers work, and your phone, tablet or keyboard can be a controller too.
RemotePad NG is a GoldHEN plugin that adds up to four extra DualShock 4 controllers to your games. Connect your controllers to a phone or computer, open the plugin's page in its browser and give each one a pad: the game sees it as a DualShock 4. You don't need to buy more DualShocks for local multiplayer, and there's nothing to install on the phone or computer.
About this fork
RemotePad NG is a maintained fork of remotePad by xfangfang, who wrote the original plugin. The original hasn't had a release or an update in over a year: its last release is 1.2.0, from March 2025.
I took the project on because I use it and kept running into issues. Setting it up and playing with it was also unfriendly. My focus has been to make RemotePad an easy solution for anybody. This first release fixes many issues in the plugin and polishes the whole experience, from installing it to picking a pad on your phone.
Features
- The controllers you already have. Xbox, DualSense, DualShock, Switch Pro and most others work through your phone or computer. Each one can play as its own pad, so one computer can run all four.
- Nothing to install on your phone or computer. The plugin serves its own page; open it in any browser on your network.
- Pick a pad, play. The home screen shows the four pads live: free, joining the game, or playing. A player only joins the game when someone picks their pad.
- An on-screen DualShock 4: multi-touch, analog sticks, a two-finger touchpad, vibration, and the pad's light bar color.
- Your own button layout. Drag, resize or hide any button, with "Reset to default". Each device keeps its own layout.
- A keyboard with keys you can change.
- Settings on the page: pad names, PS4 users, which pads are on, how players join. They're saved on the console, for all games or just one.
- Real PS4 users for games that need them (saves, online). A pad plays as a guest while its user isn't signed in.
- "Use with the DualShock": add your phone to a player's own controller, for example in single-player games.
- Stays awake: your phone's screen doesn't turn off while you play.
- Safer on your network: other websites can't control your pads or change your settings, and the settings can be locked.
Quick start
- Copy
remote_pad.prxfrom the latest release to/data/GoldHEN/plugins/on your PS4. - Add this line under
[default]in/data/GoldHEN/plugins.ini:/data/GoldHEN/plugins/remote_pad.prx - Turn on Enable Plugins Loader in GoldHEN's settings, then start a game.
- On your phone, open the address from the notification (for example
http://192.168.1.20:4263) and pick a pad.
New to GoldHEN plugins? The installation guide walks through every step. It works wherever GoldHEN's plugin loader works, and was tested on firmware 10.01 with GoldHEN v2.4b18.10.
Coming from the original remotePad? Replace remote_pad.prx and you're done. Your plugins.ini and
remote_pad.ini keep working.
What's fixed
Open issues from the original project
| Issue | What was done |
|---|---|
| xfangfang/remotePad#7: "insane delay" | Fixed. Every update from the phone was queued, so a game reading one update per frame fell up to two seconds behind. Stick moves now replace the waiting update, and presses are never dropped. The guide also answers that issue's questions about single-player games and Xbox controllers. |
| xfangfang/remotePad#9: games crash after the notification | Fixed the known causes. A format-string bug in notifications, a heap overflow in the settings parser, a server thread stack that was too small, missing checks on buffers from games, and crashes when the plugin unloads. Games also see no change until someone picks a pad. |
| xfangfang/remotePad#10: the server doesn't pop up | Addressed with a clear guide. The cause was plugins.ini in the wrong folder. The installation guide and troubleshooting pages cover the usual mistakes. |
| xfangfang/remotePad#1: DualSense support | Partly. Connect a DualSense, or any other controller, to your phone or computer and give it a pad. Plugging it straight into the PS4 still isn't supported. |
Other issues fixed
- Only one pad worked with several PS4 users: user IDs in hex were read as decimal, so pads got the wrong users (xfangfang/remotePad#2). Hex IDs, as Apollo shows them, now work, and decimal ones still do.
- Remapping keys needed editing the page's code (xfangfang/remotePad#3). Keys can now be changed in Settings → Keyboard.
- No notification, no
remote_pad.ini(xfangfang/remotePad#5) andPlugins.iniwith a capital P (xfangfang/remotePad#8): the guide covers both. The settings file is now written from the page. - Touchpad for controllers without one (xfangfang/remotePad#6): Share, Back or Home on a connected controller clicks the touchpad.
- Remote players couldn't join some Unity games, like Tricky Towers: the player select said "Sign in". These games open a second controller port for each player, and the plugin refused it (fixed in 1.0.1).
- Pads were set up as soon as the game started, and every pad looked connected, even with nobody playing.
- Pads took over PS4 users who weren't signed in, and replaced their names and colors.
scePadReadreturned corrupted data when more than one update was waiting.- Held buttons looked released between updates.
- Buttons stayed pressed when a phone went to sleep or lost its connection.
- Clients that send lowercase HTTP headers couldn't connect.
- Vibration and light bar changes were delayed, and vibration went to every device instead of the pad's own.
- Problems in
remote_pad.ini:- a game's own section placed before
[default]was ignored; - a byte order mark from some Windows editors broke the file;
]inside a value broke it.
- a game's own section placed before
- A settings problem turned the whole plugin off.
- Guests are now named after their pad: Pad 1 is "Remote1", it used to be "Remote0".
The full list is in CHANGELOG.md.
Screenshots
| Home screen | Layout editor | Settings |
|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 |
Documentation
The wiki has the full guide:
Developers: docs/protocol.md describes the WebSocket protocol, and CONTRIBUTING.md explains how to build and contribute.
Support
Found a bug? Open an issue; I maintain this project and read every report. If RemotePad NG is useful to you, you can help keep it going on Ko-fi.
Credits
- xfangfang created remotePad. RemotePad NG is built on their work. jocover helped with the original's development.
- GoldHEN and its plugin SDK, the OpenOrbis toolchain, and Mongoose for the web server.
- The buttons are drawn after the DualShock 4 layout diagram by Tokyoship (CC BY 3.0).
Built with AI help
This release wouldn't have happened without the help of Claude Opus 5.5, an AI model by Anthropic, which worked on the code, tests and documentation with me. AI-written code can look right and still be wrong. Reviews are very welcome: if you spot AI slop (dead code, wrong assumptions, needless complexity), please open an issue or send a pull request.
License
RemotePad NG is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.
- Original work: copyright © xfangfang and the remotePad contributors.
- Changes in RemotePad NG: copyright © 2026 MoHadiShibli. They're listed in CHANGELOG.md.