How To Remote Play Xbox On Mac

A Photoshopped image of Uncharted 4 running on a Macbook | Source: Chris Reed

Xbox remote play apple tvHow To Remote Play Xbox On Mac

Feb 27, 2018 Before now, if you fancied playing console games on your Mac, you'd need to use PlayStation 4's Remote Play to do so. Windows 10 users have been able to stream Xbox One titles to their PCs since. Getting started with Remote Play on PC or Mac. Using the PS Remote Play app, you can control your PlayStation®5 console or PlayStation®4 console from a PC or Mac connected to a high-speed network. Check your PC or Mac meets the requirements and then follow the steps below to set up Remote Play.

For the longest time, gamers couldn’t play their video game consoles without sitting in front of the TV the console was hooked up to. That’s changing this generation, as Wii U owners can play many games right on the GamePad, and Xbox One owners can stream games to a PC running Windows 10. Sony has long offered a feature called Remote Play that lets you play PS4 games on PS Vita, but thanks to a new update, you can now play PlayStation 4 games on your PC or Mac. That makes the PS4 the most versatile gaming system available. All you need is a decent internet connection, and you can fire up Uncharted 4 on your laptop.

The only thing stopping you from doing it right now is the setup process, which can be a bit complicated. But don’t worry, here’s a step-by-step guide for what you need to do.

  • Dec 26, 2019 Pair an Xbox One wireless controller with your Mac. Turn the Xbox controller on. Press and hold the Pairing button on the top edge of the controller until the Xbox logo blinks rapidly.
  • On your Xbox, open Settings then choose Devices & connections and Remote features, and turn on the Enable remote features option. Next, you need the official Xbox app for Android or iOS.

On your PS4

Enabling remote play in the settings of a PlayStation 4 | Source: Sony

The first step is to enable Remote Play on your PlayStation 4.

  1. Go to Settings (it’s on the top row of the dashboard, second option from the right)
  2. Scroll down to “Remote Play Connection Settings”
  3. Select “Enable Remote Play”

Now that that’s done, you have to make sure your PS4 is set as your primary PS4. To do that in Settings, do the following.

  1. Scroll to “PlayStation Network/Account Management”
  2. Select “Activate as Your Primary PS4”
  3. Select “Activate” (unless it’s grayed out, in which case it’s already set as your primary system)

Since the whole point of using Remote Play is that you don’t want to walk all the way over to your PS4, you’ll also want to tell your PS4 it’s OK for it to be woken from rest mode. Still in settings, do the following.

  1. Scroll to “Power Save Settings”
  2. Select “Set Features Available in Rest Mode”
  3. Select the checkboxes for “Stay Connected to the Internet” and “Enable Turning On PS4 from Network”

Now you’re all set on the PS4 side of things. Let’s move on to your PC or Mac.

On your PC or Mac

  1. Download the app. You can find both the Mac and PC versions here.
  2. Run the installation file
  3. Plug a PS4 controller into your computer’s USB port
  4. Open the app
  5. Enter your Sony Entertainment Network credentials

Make sure your PS4 and computer are on the same network, and the app will find and connect to your PS4. Once it does, your PS4 will boot up in whatever room it’s in and stream the video signal to a window on your computer. How cool is that?

The quality of the video stream will vary depending on the speed of your internet connection and whether your devices are on WiFi or hardwired into your router. You can toy around your connection and the app’s settings to see what gives you the best results.

I had both my PS4 and Mac connected over WiFi, and I experienced a few instances of slowdown and audio glitches, but nothing too extreme. It caused some issues when I tried to play fast-paced games like Dark Souls III and Street Fighter V, but it wasn’t an issue with more leisurely games like The Witness and Peggle 2. Your experience may vary.

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Whether you’re trying to no-scope that enemy on COD or score a last-minute slam-dunk on NBA, the touchpad just doesn’t do it.

So, we thought we’d share the best tips on how to connect an Xbox 360 controller to your Mac, to make them tense gaming moments a little easier.

Before you do: Clean up your Mac

BUT, before we get into all the juicy techy stuff, let’s remind you of how beneficial cleaning up your Mac can be.

Before installing any new hardware, it’s important to have an un-cluttered file space so the new software can run efficiently, and you can keep an eye on what’s where.

With CleanMyMac X, it’s easy. Imvu extractor free. It’s one-click cleaning approach and powerful scanning means you can swiftly dispose of useless documents and apps which may be slowing your Mac down.

So, to get optimal controller connectivity, you should download CleanMyMac and tidy up your digital space – prior to any installations. Now, onto how to use an Xbox 360 controller on a Mac.

How to use the Xbox 360 controller on Mac

Not many of us know it, but there could be a handy use for all those old Xbox 360 or Xbox One controllers lying around. But, before you get set up, you need to have the correct hardware installed on your Mac to enable connectivity.

Here’s how.

First of all, you will need either a wired or wireless Xbox controller. Both work fine, but for all those passionate gamers with a tendency to erupt, a wireless device would be best to save any damages to wires (or opponents). These wireless receivers can be bought for around $20 on Amazon, and can handle up to 4 Xbox 360 controllers.

Free Drivers

Obviously, Macs don’t have an in-built driver for Xbox controllers as Apple are in no way affiliated with Microsoft. Similarly, Microsoft doesn’t supply drivers for Mac users for their hardware, which leaves us wanting users having to find our own way.

So back in 2006, it was music to gamer’s ears to hear that Tattie Bogle had developed their own driver free of charge to users across the gaming globe. However, this driver hasn’t been updated since 2012, and is therefore sticky when it comes to compatibility with MacOS X.

For a more streamlined approach to this conundrum, download GitHub’s free driver – it’s maintained and updated frequently and is free to all Mac users.

1. Install the driver

After opening the GitHub link, double click on the DMG file visible under ‘Assets’. This will start the installing process, where you will have to follow the appropriate instructions.

Remote

Remember though, as with any new program installation, it will reboot your Mac, so don’t panic. After the restart, you should be able to find ‘Xbox 360 Controllers’ in the system preferences.

2. Connect the Xbox 360 Controller to your Mac

Now you’ve installed the driver, the next step is to connect the controller, which is simple and only needs to be done once.

How To Remote Play Xbox On Mac
  • Firstly, you need to plug the USB receiver into a free USB port on your Mac. Once plugged in, the USB receiver’s light should start blinking

  • Press the big Xbox logo button on the controller so it lights up green

  • Press the button on the USB receiver

  • Press the connect button on the controller, which can be found at the top - in-between the left and right toggles

  • The top left quarter of the circle around the Xbox button should now light up, indicating you are the first controller connected

Now the controller and Mac are linked - so in the future if you want to connect again, all you need do is press the big Xbox logo button to get going. Told you it was simple!

3. Test the Controller

As with all things techy, there’s always loopholes. So, it’s important to test the connections to ensure the controller works before we embark upon a mobile-gaming-gallivant.

Go to ‘System Preferences’, ‘Xbox 360 Controllers’ and you’ll see a screen like below.

This is a control pad, which indicates whether all the buttons on the controller are working properly. That’s about all you can do on this, as well as shutting the controller down by clicking ‘power off’.

4. Configuring for multiple games on your Mac

How To Remote Play Xbox On Mac

We all have different tastes in games - some of us like sports and some of us like military, there’s no right or wrong (asides from Half-Life, that’s just awesome and it’s not up for debate).

With these different games come different control configurations, which can get tedious when you only have one type of controller.

For full flexibility of use, there are many tools and apps available which allow you to play any game with any Mac compatible joystick or controller – even the ones that are not compatible with joysticks.

5. Use Joystick Mapper

Out of the many apps to choose from, Joystick Mapper is our pick. And at only $4.99 from the App Store, it’s real value for money – especially when considering the amount of effort it takes to develop such a complex tool.

Here’s how it works –

Once you download the Joystick Mapper app, you need to create a pre-set for your game preferences. To do this, open the app and click ‘Add new pre-set’.

Enter a name for future reference such as ‘My Game’, and for each joystick, click ‘Add a new joystick’.

Now that you’ve identified the joystick, you need to ‘bind’ joystick inputs to keyboard or mouse movements - which is easier than it sounds.

Play

Click on ‘Add new bind’, and then ‘Scan’, and press the button of your game controller that you’d like to use. Next select a mouse or keyboard action, and that will ‘bind’ the chosen inputs.

Simply repeat this process until you’ve bound all the buttons you’d like to use.

How To Remote Play Xbox On Mac Computers

If by chance you’re using a controller other than an Xbox 360 or Xbox One, you can replicate these actions and apply them to different controllers. To do this, simply click the ‘Clone’ icon in the top right corner. To put the pre-set into action, set a checkmark before the preferred pre-set/profile you’ve created for the game you’re about to play. Now, you’re good to go!

BUT – don’t close the Joystick Mapper app before starting the game, it needs to keep running to work. Simply select ‘cmd + H’ to hide the window.

Declutter your Mac to make more room for games

Remember, all of these processes won’t work as effectively if you have a messy Mac.

On average, there is a whopping 62GB of junk found on Macs, with jam-packed caches and folders full of useless documents cluttering the hard drive.

This considerably slows down the performance of your Mac, preventing quick and easy installations, and can even hinder the controller connectivity.

CleanMyMac X is an app dedicated to cleaning your Mac head-to-toe. It scans everything on the computer - even old folders that have been evading your wrath for years - identifying what needs to be removed.

The Mac is inspected rigorously, and with its smart one-click clean-up, CleanMyMac sweeps away the unwanted rubbish to organize folders and speed up performance.
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How To Remote Play Xbox On Mac Laptop

Furthermore, CleanMyMac X is free to download. So, what are you waiting for? Download it for free here.