PlayStation 3 Controller Support Comes to iOS with New Jailbreak Tweak

Monday January 20, 2014 12:50 PM PST by Jordan Golson
A new jailbreak tweak called Controllers for All allows users to play iPhone and iPad games with the PlayStation 3's Dual Shock 3 controller, via Bluetooth. The tweak supports all games that have native iOS 7 controller support and when used with a Lightning Digital AV Adapter, users can play iOS games, with a wireless controller, on a television.


From our sister-site TouchArcade:
If you're into the whole jailbreaking scene, this seems like a must-have tweak. The games I've played with my actual legit iOS 7 controllers have been really awesome, and I can only imagine how much better the whole experience would be with an actual amazingly high quality controller like the PS3 controller.

Also, amusingly enough, you could pick up the PS3 controller from Amazon, jailbreak your device, and drop two bucks on Controllers for All, and spend less than half of what a "real" iOS 7 controller would cost you for what I imagine to be a substantially better overall experience.
Controllers for All is a $1.99 download from Cydia's ModMyi repo.
43 comments


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Sky Blue
62 months ago
Might actually Jailbreak for this. Screw your crappy $99 controllers.
Rating: 5 Votes
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springsup
62 months ago
Fantastic. Could be the thing that makes me jailbreak my phone.

I would love for Apple to build in native support for this, similarly to how it just works on the Mac. On the one hand, it would undermine the MFI controller program, but on the other it would provide iOS devices with a readily available, high-quality games controller.

I think enhancing gaming on iOS is better for Apple and it's customers than insisting on proprietary peripherals with expensive MFI licenses.
Rating: 4 Votes
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Frizers
62 months ago

I think insisting on buying and carrying around peripherals to get the full, enhanced experience would harm iOS. Apple would sooner adopt a stylus *shudder*

There are other devices that play games with controllers. The iPhone is brilliant in part because it doesn't need one, and the best games on iOS wouldn't be improved in the least by controllers.


Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (and the other ones for that matter) certainly would be
Rating: 3 Votes
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ghost187
62 months ago
I hate jail breaking because something always goes wrong down the line but damn, temptation is killing me.
Rating: 2 Votes
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Goftrey
62 months ago
No brainer. Jailbreaking RIGHT NOW.
Rating: 2 Votes
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macnisse
62 months ago
Really cool! Possible to hook up two controllers?
Rating: 2 Votes
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mdridwan47
62 months ago

This should be an official update to iOS. "Now you can hook up any Bluetooth controller to your iOS device". Boom! (btw, hooking up a PS4 controller would be even cooler — that controller is just perfect, imho).


Apple won't do it since they have a huge-ass ego. They will make their own $#***¥ version. Which only works with their product alone, not as well designed and cost 2X more. Because they are :apple:

:mad:
Rating: 2 Votes
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The Phazer
62 months ago
And once again we see how the MFI programme has literally no advantages for consumers whatsoever.

It just makes the entire ecosystem worse so Apple can try and reek out a profit from things where it doesn't do any work like a greedy feudal landowner.

The closed nature of iOS is the worst thing that's ever happened to Apple - it's enabled this culture of lazy rentseeking over creating good products to take hold.
Rating: 1 Votes
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Richdmoore
62 months ago
I wish that they had done this hack the other direction, by which i mean modify the ps3 controller firmware to output native ios mfi commands.

That would allow use with stock ios 7 devices instead of only jailbroken ones.

I have no idea if the firmware of a ps3 controller can be updated however.
Rating: 1 Votes
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mdelvecchio
62 months ago

If enough of you jailbreak for this, Apple will include it officially. ;)


nope. like many things, it's a matter of licensing costs. MFi costs money (licensing fees) because it costs apple money to support vendors to guarantee compatibility for users. if Sony doesn't feel like participating in the MFi program, how could Apple give them the API support for free while charging vendors who are paying their license fees?

----------

And once again we see how the MFI programme has literally no advantages for consumers whatsoever.

It just makes the entire ecosystem worse so Apple can try and reek out a profit from things where it doesn't do any work like a greedy feudal landowner.

The closed nature of iOS is the worst thing that's ever happened to Apple - it's enabled this culture of lazy rentseeking over creating good products to take hold.


that's a nice fantasy you have. as a developer, let me ground it in reality -- companies charging vendors fees is nothing new. the purpose of MFI is not to make a few bucks in fees -- that's absurd because it's a rounding error in Apple's bottom line. no, the purpose of MFI fees is to cover the costs of supporting those vendors. developing and supporting the APIs in software, as well as the hardware interface in various apple products.

why do this? because it directly benefits the consumer, in the form of guaranteed compatibility. MFI products just work, period. you don't have to worry about a hardware vendor's crummy implementation not working properly, because hardware vendors are curated via MFI just like app store apps are. this gives MFI customers the same guarantees as App Store customers. this is, in apples mind, a good thing. and judging by all their sales and consumer satisfaction reports (highest in industry) they aren't wrong.

as for walled garden, that's always, always been the case with apple since the original apple computers. they are now the most successful, most profitable PC makers and mobile makers, again with the highest consumer satisfaction levels.

I think it's working out all right. it's just not what you want.
Rating: 1 Votes
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