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RETROPA / Controllers

Connect a Controller to Retropa on iPhone & iPad

Order matters: pair first in iOS, then verify the mapping inside Retropa for each system you play. This guide covers pairing, the buttons most people forget to test, and running touch controls alongside a pad.

Download for iOS

Free to download. Optional in-app purchases. iOS 18 or later.

01

Pair with iOS before opening Retropa

iOS has to know the controller before Retropa can see it. Pair it in system settings, press a few buttons to confirm it reacts, and only then launch the app. An unpaired pad will not appear in Retropa's settings, no matter what you toggle there.

  • Pair in iOS settings first.
  • Confirm the controller responds in the system.
  • Then check it inside Retropa.
02

Mapping is checked per system, not once globally

Retropa keeps a layout per system, and that makes sense: a Game Boy needs six inputs, a SNES pad needs ten. So treat mapping as ongoing work. After the first pairing, walk through the layout for every system you actually play.

  • Game Boy: d-pad, A, B, Start, Select.
  • SNES adds X, Y, L and R.
  • Arcade adds coin and start on top of the action buttons.
03

The buttons people forget to test

Most mapping complaints land on the same handful of inputs. Shoulder buttons on a six-button pad. Start and Select, which are easy to leave out of reach. Diagonals, which matter more than you would expect on systems built around a microswitch stick. Arcade games are their own case: coin and start need checking too, or the game never begins.

  • Test L and R explicitly when mapping.
  • Check Start and Select are reachable.
  • Test diagonals, not only the four cardinal directions.
04

Touch controls and a controller can coexist

A connected pad does not cover everything. On Nintendo DS, some games want a tap on the lower screen, and no button stands in for that. Leave the on-screen controls enabled and use both — turning the overlay off is what usually breaks a session.

  • Leave touch controls on when a game uses the touch screen.
  • Check that overlays do not cover the game view.
  • Haptics and touch layout can be tuned separately.
05

When a button does not register

Work outward, one layer at a time. Does the button do anything in iOS? Does it do anything in Retropa? Does it do anything in a game that genuinely uses it? If the mapping looks right and the game still ignores the input, the game may simply not use that button — common enough on early handheld titles.

  • Verify the controller in iOS settings first.
  • Check the mapping inside Retropa.
  • Confirm the game actually uses that button.

Questions

Which controllers work?

Any controller iOS supports will work with Retropa. Pair it in iOS settings, then confirm the mapping inside the app.

Why did my mapping change?

Layouts live per system and per game. A mapping you set for one system does not carry over to another, so check the layout for the system you are playing right now.

Do touch controls stop working with a controller?

No. Touch controls stay available. That matters on systems where a game needs a tap or a second screen.

Retropa.

Free to download. Optional in-app purchases. iOS 18 or later.

Download for iOS