A new app on the Google Play store can turn your smartphone into an additional JoyCon for Switch multiplayer games.
Downloading the app well let you turn your blower into a bog standard JoyCon or a full-blown Pro-Controller. The app even emulates the gyroscope features found on the Switch, so you can take full advantage of any motion control in the game play.
At the moment, JoyCon Droid is in the Public Alpha phase, which means that it might not run smoothly in your phone. You can still download it for free and test it out, but you should expect to hit a few bugs along the way. And, as it’s free, you’ll have to wade through some pesky ads before you can dive into a game.
Related: Best free Switch games you can play right now
The app works via your phone’s Bluetooth Human Interface Device (HID) profile, so you’ll need to have Android Pie 9 on your phone installed as a minimum. This HID profile is what allows your phone to register other devices via Bluetooth (such as an external mouse or keyboard) so without this you can’t link your Switch and phone.
Reviews for the new app are fairly mixed, with some users finding it works perfectly, and others offering some fairly harsh criticisms on sensitivity and connectivity issues. But as it’s still in its infancy we’d expect some significant teething issues.
Related: Read our Pro-Controller review
Additional JoyCons come in handy when you want to jump on a multiplayer game with pals. At the moment, it’s fairly unlikely that you’re going to invite all your friends for a big Switch party. But if your whole family does decide that they want to join you for a game of Mario Kart, this could be a useful little tool.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
