TetherPad

A lightweight, zero-install, and zero-latency bridge that allows you to use your PlayStation 4/5 (DualShock 4 / DualSense) controller on a Windows PC by routing inputs through an Android device via a USB cable.

🚀 Why This Project Exists

When connecting a PS4/PS5 controller directly to a PC via Bluetooth, you often experience severe input lag or connection drops unless you buy a dedicated Bluetooth adapter. Connecting the PS4/PS5 controller to your Android phone via Bluetooth, however, is incredibly stable.

This project bridges that flawless Bluetooth connection from your Android phone directly to your Windows PC over a USB cable using ADB (Android Debug Bridge), effectively creating a lag-free gaming experience.

✨ Features

• Zero Input Lag: Routes raw kernel-level inputs via USB using ADB, bypassing Android's UI layer entirely.
• Silent Background Service: Runs completely windowless as a System Tray icon. No annoying black command prompts or taskbar clutter.
• System Tray Integration: Access real-time connection logs directly via Notepad, toggle "Start with Windows", or safely quit the application with a simple right-click on the 'T' icon.
• Fully Portable (No ADB Setup): You don't need to download the Android SDK or mess with environment variables. Custom platform-tools are bundled in the release zip and ready to go out of the box.
• Plug & Play (Invisible App): Automatically installs an invisible, 11KB background app ("BlackHole") to your phone when you start the program.
• Battery Saver (BlackHole Mode): The invisible app creates a pure black overlay on your phone, reduces hardware brightness to 0%, and swallows all controller inputs so your phone doesn't accidentally navigate menus while you're playing.
• Auto-Destruct: The moment you unplug the USB cable or close the bridge, the black screen closes instantly and your phone returns to normal.
• Broad Compatibility: Tested on specific legacy devices (KitKat, Nougat); broader OEM testing for modern Android 10+ devices is currently in progress.

🗺️ Roadmap

• Native Xbox Controller Emulation: Currently, TetherPad bridges all connected gamepads to Windows as a Virtual PlayStation 4 (DualShock 4) controller. While this works flawlessly on Steam and most modern games, native Virtual Xbox 360 Controller emulation (dynamic analog conversion and layout mapping) is planned for a future update.
• Broader OEM Testing: Gathering more community feedback on highly restricted custom Android ROMs.

⚠️ Prerequisites & Warnings

1. USB Debugging: Since this system relies on ADB, you MUST enable USB Debugging on your Android phone for this to work.
   • Go to Settings > About Phone. Tap Build Number 7 times.
   • Go to Developer Options and enable USB Debugging.
   • Connect to PC, check "Always allow from this computer" when the prompt appears on your phone.
2. Windows SmartScreen: Since TetherPad.exe is a standalone executable compiled with PyInstaller and isn't digitally signed, Windows Defender or SmartScreen may flag it. If you see a blue "Windows protected your PC" warning, simply click More info > Run anyway.
3. Google Play Protect: When the program installs the invisible 11KB background app, Google Play Protect might flag it as an "Unsafe App" simply because it was installed via ADB and has no launcher icon. This is completely normal. Tap "Install anyway" if prompted.

📊 Compatibility & Tested Devices

This software uses core Linux kernel commands (getevent) to read inputs, making it highly universal. However, strict OEM policies might affect behavior.

Device	Android Version	Status
Sony Xperia E4g (E2003)	Android 4.4.4 (KitKat)	✅ Working flawlessly
LG Aristo (MS210)	Android 7.0 (Nougat)	✅ Working flawlessly
Samsung (Knox) Devices	Android 10+	⏳ Needs testing
Xiaomi (MIUI/HyperOS)	Android 10+	⏳ Needs testing
Google Pixel (Stock)	Android 13+	⏳ Needs testing

🧑‍💻 Technical Architecture

Instead of relying on root permissions or losing the kernel race-condition against Android's wake-up triggers, this bridge utilizes a companion APK strategy:

1. The Python script spawns an adb shell getevent listener to stream raw hex inputs.
2. It translates these inputs and emulates them on Windows using vgamepad (ViGEmBus).
3. To prevent the phone from reacting to the gamepad, it installs ScreenGuard.apk—a faceless Android Activity with FLAG_SHOW_WHEN_LOCKED and FLAG_FULLSCREEN. This activity consumes all dispatchKeyEvent and dispatchGenericMotionEvent events, effectively sandboxing the controller inputs while maintaining a 0.0f screen brightness.

🛠️ How to Use

1. Download the latest TetherPad_v1.0.0.zip from the Releases page and extract it to a folder.
2. Connect your PS4/PS5 Controller to your Android phone via Bluetooth.
3. Connect your Android phone to your PC via a USB cable.
4. Run TetherPad.exe on your PC. (Note: The app runs in "Windowless" mode. It will instantly hide in your System Tray next to the clock as a 'T' icon.)
5. Your phone screen will turn completely black (BlackHole mode active).
6. Start playing your game on Steam/Windows!
7. To view logs: Right-click the 'T' icon in your system tray and select Show Logs (Notepad).
8. To stop playing: Simply unplug the USB cable or right-click the tray icon and click Quit.

🧑‍💻 Developer & Contributions

Developed by Kerem Barbaros Karnabat (@cadakerem).

Note on Repository Structure: The core Windows bridging logic is housed in tetherpad.py which gets compiled into a portable executable using PyInstaller (TetherPad.spec). The bundled ADB binaries live in the platform-tools/ directory, while the invisible Android companion app is pre-compiled as ScreenGuard.apk (with its source code available in the ScreenGuard/ folder).

Contributions, issues, and feature requests are welcome! Feel free to check the Issues page.

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.