BACKBONE ONE STEAM LINK FULL
BACKBONE ONE STEAM LINK BLUETOOTH
BACKBONE ONE STEAM LINK TV

There’s even a mic built into the controller, so you can bounce from game to game without cutting off communications. If you have friends that also use the controller, you can start a party chat with them using the Backbone app. IOS games work swimmingly with the Backbone as a controller, but the platform also adds general functionality to gaming on iOS devices. The App Store and Apple Arcade are filled with games that support controllers, from the terrific Alba to shooters like Call of Duty Mobile.

While my primary goal was to find an easy-to-use remote play controller, the Backbone also supports locally installed games. Before, with a controller attached, I had to awkwardly swipe using the touchscreen to find these apps, but now they’ve all been brought together into one interface that I can fully navigate with buttons. Now I have Steam Link, PlayStation Remote Play, and the Xbox app with remote play just one button press away. Hitting it at any point will take you to a hub that automatically brings together any apps that support the controller. There’s even a dedicated “Backbone” button that acts as sort of an Xbox Guide button.

BACKBONE ONE STEAM LINK FULL

It’s not as comfortable as holding a full Xbox or PlayStation controller, but it’s pretty damn close, managing to find a good middle ground between small size and usability. Folks with differing hand sizes may have varied comfort levels (mine are about average), but I’ve never had the same cramping issues with the Backbone that I’ve had with the Joy-Cons. The layout is comparable to a compressed Xbox One controller, complete with the offset right analog stick and a full D-pad on the left side. I’ve never found the Joy-Cons to be comfortable, but the Backbone is built around the curve of my hands, with my thumbs falling comfortably on the left analog stick and the face buttons. Each side of the expandable device is only slightly larger than a Switch Joy-Con, but is much more comfortable to hold, even for longer play sessions. All that hassle, all that resyncing, all that worrying about whether the controller is charged is gone due to that physical Lightning connection.Īnd the Backbone holds up incredibly as a remote play controller once connected. Timing myself now, I can attach the Backbone to my phone and be playing a game in under 10 seconds, and that includes having to take my phone out of its case, since the hardware requires a flush connection with the Lightning port. I’d previously spend five to 10 minutes resyncing an Xbox controller to get it to work on iOS, with varying degrees of success. And after using the Backbone for the last few weeks, almost exclusively as a remote play controller, I’m a convert. It was enough of a barrier to entry to discourage me from playing this way with any regularity, and that’s not even mentioning the need to prop my phone up or get some sort of comical crane device to hold my phone above a standard controller.Ī friend suggested I check out the Backbone One, an iPhone controller that doesn’t require syncing, since there’s a physical Lightning port you plug the phone into.

BACKBONE ONE STEAM LINK BLUETOOTH

Īpple added the ability to connect Xbox and PlayStation controllers to iOS devices over Bluetooth during the launch of Apple Arcade, but that syncing process has always felt clumsy to me, with desyncs, resyncs, and pairing never quite working right 100% of the time. If you want curated lists of our favorite media, check out What to Play and What to Watch. When we award the Polygon Recommends badge, it’s because we believe the recipient is uniquely thought-provoking, entertaining, inventive, or fun - and worth fitting into your schedule.

BACKBONE ONE STEAM LINK TV

Polygon Recommends is our way of endorsing our favorite games, movies, TV shows, comics, tabletop books, and entertainment experiences.

Backbone one steam link