Any game controllers for M3 iPad Air?

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Emmett_1944 Author

Level 1

27 points

Any game controllers for M3 iPad Air?

I have had an M4 iMac and M3 iPad Air for several months and would like to try playing a game with a game controller but I am completely baffled how this works. I guess since there are many more games available for the iPad I would like to get a controller for that.

As far as I can tell, Apple has to officially support a certain controller AND the people who manufacture the controller have to design it to work with a specific Apple device AND the software people who make the game must design the game to work with Apple AND the specific controller. Obviously all the games on the App Store work with iPadOS but I have searched (including searching the website of the game developer) and have never found any games that say they are compatible with any game controller. As far as I can tell using a game controller with an M3 iPad Air is theoretically possible but realistically will never happen.

I found this game controller manufacturer 8BitDo that says "Officially supported by Apple" and then lists their controllers that they say are all compatible with iOS, iPadOS, MacOS, tvOS, and visionOS. Strangely Apple's website says nothing about officially supporting 8BitDo. The only controller Apple's website says it supports is the Sony PlayStation DualSense Wireless Controller.

Another thing that is confusing is I remember on my G4 iMac I had a game controller and the OS had this mapping software where if in the game you had to press "J" on the keyboard to make the little character jump you could set the preferences so if you hit a certain button on the controller it was the same as hitting "J" on the keyboard. But the iPad has no keyboard and you play the games by just moving your finger around the screen or tapping part of the screen, so even if it had the software how can you map the controls on a controller to moving your finger on a screen?

[Edited by Moderator]

iPad Air (M3, 2025)

Posted on Sep 25, 2025 1:10 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tesserax

Level 10

157,380 points

Sep 25, 2025 1:18 PM in response to Emmett_1944

The good news is: yes, game controllers absolutely do work with the M3 iPad Air (and any iPad running iPadOS 14.5 or newer, really). Apple natively supports controllers like the PlayStation DualShock 4, DualSense (PS5), Xbox Wireless Controller (Bluetooth models) and yes, many of the 8BitDo controllers too. If 8BitDo says “Apple certified,” it means their controller has been tested under Apple’s Made for iPhone (MFi) program, even if Apple’s support page doesn’t list every model by name. The catch is that controller support isn’t universal—it depends on whether the game developer has built it in.

Regarding the “controller mapping” confusion: iPadOS doesn’t include a generic mapping tool the way older Macs did. That’s because games have to explicitly support controllers in their code—they can’t just fake a “tap here” on the touchscreen. But plenty of games on the App Store already do support controllers; it just isn’t always clearly advertised. A quick way to check is to scroll down in the App Store listing—if a game supports controllers, you’ll see “Game Controller Support” under the “Supports” section. Popular titles like Minecraft, Call of Duty: Mobile, & NBA 2K all workwith controllers.

Also, both Minecraft & Call of Duty are excellent apps to "test" controller functionality.

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Answer 2

Emmett_1944 Author

Level 1

27 points

Sep 25, 2025 5:45 PM in response to Tesserax

That certainly explains a lot.

I never looked at those games before so I never noticed that some do say "controller compatibility". So if it does not say "Controller compatibility" then it is a no go on the M3 iPad and I should forget it?

The thing is I am retired and not a young man and I have no interest in (I think they call them AAA games) violent, blood filled, fast action shooting games. I saw a game called Lep's World which is supposed to be the iPad version of Super Mario Brothers. I remember when that came out and I would play it for hours. It may seem ridiculous to some because Lep's world only has 4 buttons, move left, move right, jump, and throw some object (I think an axe). But if I could set my iPad up on a stand so I am not hunched over looking at it and sit back and use a controller to play that would be a dream set up. But because Lep's world does not say "controller compatible". And as you say because it is an iPad the "controller compatibility" must be built into the software I have no choices. It is never happening. Is that right? getting an 8BitDo controller will do me no good if the game on the App Store does not say "controller compatible". Right?

The catch is that controller support isn’t universal—it depends on whether the game developer has built it in.

But almost all the games available for iPadOS do not have controller support built in so realistically playing on an iPad with a controller is unlikely. Right?

The 4 "buttons" for Lep's world are on the iPad screen so I guess If I could find a sturdy stand I could play it with the buttons on the screen. Holding the 13 inch iPad for 2 hours seems like too much, especially when I am trying to hold it in the air without dropping it and pressing buttons.

Not what I wanted to hear but thanks for the information. It certainly cleared things up.

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