Mac Games That Use Xbox Controller

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When it comes to controllers, the Xbox One controller is regarded as one of the best ones out there. With the textured grip that has curves that slip into your palms comfortably, clicky durable buttons, and a sophisticated vibration system, who doesn’t want to enhance their gaming experience with the Xbox One controller? After all, sometimes you tend to prefer a nice controller for gaming rather than the traditional keyboard and mouse. The Xbox One is tempting too, with its sleek, streamlined design, custom button mapping and up to twice the wireless range. But what if you want to use the Xbox One controller for gaming on a Mac, and do not know how to connect it to your Mac?

For a Mac gamer who wants to use a controller as good as the Xbox One Controller to play games, it can be quite confusing as to how would one connect the controller to their Mac. But don’t worry! Outlined below is an easy explanation to use your Xbox One Controller on a Mac Computer. Start reading!

Contents

  • 1 Steps to Connect your Xbox One Controller to Mac

Mac Games That Use Xbox Controller As Mouse

Dec 26, 2019  Gaming on a Mac? Here's how to connect a PS4 or Xbox One controller. I walk you through the process of connecting a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One controller to your Mac via Bluetooth. Feb 01, 2013  Hi there, this is the updated tutorial of how to use an xbox 360 controller with your mac! (updated as of 1. Feb 2013) Simply make sure you have a working installation of at least version 0.11 of the 360 drivers on your Mac.

Steps to Connect your Xbox One Controller to Mac

Xbox One is a wireless controller, true, but instead of Bluetooth, it implements Microsoft’s own proprietary wireless connectivity system. Because of this, it is not possible to use your Xbox One controller on the Mac wirelessly, by Bluetooth or the wireless adapter (MacOS does not support functionality for it yet).

However, you can use Xbox controller on Mac OS with the help of a micro-USB cable. Along with that, you will also require third-party drivers and configuration. The steps are easy, so follow them and let’s get started!

Mac

1. Installing the Third-Party Drivers

  • Open your Web Browser
  • Follow the link given below for the 360 Controller Driver:
  • https://github.com/360Controller/360Controller/releases
  • Download the latest release of 360Controller that is available on the GitHub link. As of this article, the latest release is 360 Controller 0.16.10.
  • Before you begin the installation, save your files or other ongoing tasks or work as your Mac Computer will be restarted as part of the installation process of Xbox 360 Controller Driver.
  • The .dmg file 360Controllerinstall_*.dmg will be present in the downloads folder. Double click to open it, and open the pkg file.
  • Click on continue. Then click continue to Agree to the License Agreement present in front of you (Go through it if you want). Then click install.
  • You will be prompted to restart your Computer to continue installing the software, as mentioned before. Click on Continue Installation.
  • Click on Restart. Your Mac will be restarted.
  • After restarting, open System Preferences. You will now find Xbox 360 Controllers among the icons at the bottom. Click to open it.
  • It will display ‘No devices Found’ if your controller is not connected.
  • The next step will be connecting your controller.

2. Connecting the Controller

  • Plug in the Xbox One controller in the Mac. For the latest MacBook/MacBook Pro, use the USB-C to USB-A
  • A System Extension Blocked warning might pop up. Click OK.
  • In System Preferences, go to Security and Privacy. Open the General tab, and click on the lock in the lower left. Enter your password to Unlock.
  • Click Allow.

3. Testing the Connection

  • You can test if your controller is functioning properly with the Mac in the Controllers Test
  • When your controller is connected and you press buttons on it, the image on the controller will respond. Test the buttons and check if they show up on the Preference pane. After checking all the buttons, you can be sure that the Xbox One controller is now functioning properly with your Mac.

4. Time to Put the Controller to Use

Your controller is Connected! Run your favorite Mac Games and start playing with the Xbox One Controller!

Configuring Xbox Controller on your Macbook

After your xbox 360 or xbox one controller has been connected, you can optionally set some changes according to your wish.

  • On the front page, you can invert the X or Y axis of the controller, for both the left and the right stick. For example, in-game, if you press the joystick upwards the camera will move downwards. This is preferable to some Users.
  • In the Binding tab, you can also link each control to a custom or default function, as per your desire. (Warning: this custom button mapping might prove to be buggy in the current version).
  • Under the Advanced tab, the controller’s sticks can be calibrated in order to fix the dead zones.
  • If for any reason you wish to uninstall the driver from your Mac, there is an uninstall option present in the Advanced tab.

Final Take!

I hope your Xbox One controller was able to connect to the Mac successfully. If you require added troubleshooting help, you can refer to the ReadMe for 360Controller or visit Tattiebogle, who is the forerunner of the array of Xbox + Mac Drivers that are accessible.

If this is not helpful, or if you face any further problems regarding the connection of the controller, feel free to ask in the comments section below and we shall get back to you as soon as possible.

I hope this article was beneficial to you! That’s all for today’s article about How to connect your Xbox One Controller to Mac computer.

Keep on reading for more informative articles about topics that might interest you.

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Gaming on a Mac is not what Apple is historically known for. However, with Apple delving into the fledgling virtual and augmented reality space, some traditional game interfaces and not so traditional interfaces (think HTC wands or Valve's knuckle controllers) now need to be supported on macOS to reap the VR/AR benefits to their fullest.

To ready you for some amazing VR pilot games such as Eve: Valkyrie that utilize a traditional game Xbox game controller, we're here to show you how to connect one to your Mac! In the past this method only applied to the Xbox 360 controller, but the latest version of the software you'll be using also now supports the Xbox One controller.

How to download and install the drivers

We're assuming that you already own a wired Xbox controller, but if you're needing to buy, a standard controller is about $50. You'll need to connect it to your Mac using a microUSB cable which, sadly, isn't included. If you buy a third-party wired controller you won't have to worry about this.

Next, follow these steps.

  1. Launch Safari.
  2. Navigate to https://github.com/360/Controller/360Controller/releases.

  3. Download the latest release of the 360Controller driver. As of this writing, the latest release is 0.16.5.

  4. Go to your Downloads folder in Finder.
  5. Double-click the 360Controllerinstall_*.dmg file.

  6. Double-click the Install360Controller.pkg that pops up in Finder.

  7. Click Continue.

  8. Again, click Continue.

  9. Select to Agree the license agreement.
  10. Click Install.

  11. Agree to allow a restart of the computer by clicking Continue Installation.

  12. Click Restart.

  13. You can optionally have the downloaded file Moved to Trash.

  14. Upon restarting the computer start System Preferences from the dock or the  menu.
  15. Click on Xbox 360 Controllers.

How to connect your Xbox 360 controller

Once you've installed the drivers, you'll now logically see that there are No devices found, since we have yet to physically connect the game controller to the Mac.

  1. Plug in your controller to your Mac. If you have a current model MacBook or MacBook Pro, you'll need a USB-C to USB-A adapter.
  2. Click OK when the System Extension Blocked warning message pops up.
  3. Go into System Preferences via the dock or  menu.

  4. Click Security & Privacy.

  5. Under the General tab click the Lock at the bottom left.

  6. Enter your password and click Unlock.

  7. Click Allow.

Your Xbox wired controller should now be connected!

Final thoughts

I am super stoked about developers climbing aboard the VR/AR hype train. As a mere consumer of VR, I can only hope for more and more creative minds to get on board. If you're a VR/AR developer, or even better yet, a macOS VR/AR developer, what other ways can Apple help promote virtual reality on their platform? Let us know in the comments!

Updated April 2018: Updated to reflect that this method also now supports the Xbox One controller.

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Connect Xbox Controller To Mac

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