This $8 Moto G6 case punches way above its price tag

For less than $8, it’s hard to go wrong with the Cimo Slim Grip.

When it comes to budget smartphones, the Moto G6 is one of the best options that’s available right now. It’s built well, has a more than capable processor, decent camera package, and a fantastic software experience. Add that together with a $249 price tag, and you end up with one heck of a bargain.

The glass back of the Moto G6 is one of the nicer premium elements of the phone, and while it is a great addition, is also much more breakable compared to past entries in the Moto G line.

You can easily protect the back with a case, and if you’re in the market for a one that won’t cost you an arm and a leg, Cimo’s Slim Grip case is a great option that costs less than $8.

Cimo Slip Grip Moto G6 Case

Price: $7.98

Bottom line: Protection for your Moto G6 that shows off its design and doesn’t destroy your wallet.

The Good

• Adds a lot of grip
• Power and volume buttons are still clicky
• Good port cutouts

The Bad

• Very small lip protecting the screen

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Doing the basics

Cimo Slip Grip Moto G6 Case What I like

At first glance, there’s nothing all that exciting about the Cimo Slip Grip. It’s a pretty basic clear case for the Moto G6, and that’s about where the conversation starts and ends.

However, the simplicity and basicness of this case are exactly why it works so well. Cimo didn’t try to reinvent the wheel here. Instead, they just focused on making a darn-good case.

The Slim Grip goes onto the Moto G6 without a hitch and stays there without any willingness to fall off. The TPU material it’s made out of is designed to absorb the impact of drops/falls and the dot pattern around the back aims to keep the case as smudge-free as possible. A wipe-down here and there is still required, but it’s not something you’ll have to do every waking minute.

Besides, if a clear case isn’t your cup of tea, Cimo also offers the Slim Grip in Black, Blue, and Purple.

Other highlights for the case include tactile buttons, large cutouts for the 3.5mm headphone jack and USB-C port, and plenty of added grip that makes the Moto G6 feel even better in the hand.

Fragile front

Cimo Slim Grip Moto G6 Case What I don’t like

The front of the Slim Grip case does have a slightly raised lip that’s designed to protect your screen against scratches and cracks, and while I’m sure it’s fine for very minor incidents, I wouldn’t necessarily trust it for more serious falls.

While there is a lip, it’s not quite as pronounced as some other clear cases I’ve reviewed. This does have the added benefit of giving the case a slimmer overall profile, but if protection’s the main thing you’re after, this could leave you longing for something more.

Cimo Slim Grip Moto G6 Case

The Moto G6 is a really good budget phone that gets more things right than wrong. Similarly, the Cimo Slim Grip is a really good budget case that follows that same mantra.

This isn’t a case that’ll knock your socks off, but it does a good job at protecting your phone, showing off its sleek design, and does so while costing just a few bucks.

4
out of 5

If you’re interested, you can buy it by clicking/tapping the button below.

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Try Overwatch for free this weekend on Xbox One, PS4 and PC

It’s time to get your guns a-blazin’.

Fancy some free Overwatch this weekend? Blizzard is gearing up for another free weekend event for the game across PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, giving those who haven’t yet tried the hero-laden competitive shooter a chance to test their skills.

Getting down to specifics, you’ll be able to start playing for free at 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET) starting on August 23, and the fun will extend through August 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT (2:59 a.m. ET). If you’re planning to play on PC, Blizzard says you’ll have to wait until the event goes live to download the game from the Battlenet launcher.

Console players will have things a little easier with pre-downloads available through their respective storefronts. Keep in mind, however, that you will have to have a PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold membership to get in on the online action.

Overwatch is a ton of fun, full of unique heroes (there’s a cannon-toting HAMSTER!), an emphasis on teamwork, and a beautiful art style. If you haven’t given the game a shot just yet, now’s your chance to see what all the hubbub is about.

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First LG V40 render appears with triple rear cameras and a notched display

This is LG’s most powerful phone of 2018.

Last year saw a big shift for LG’s V series. Unlike the V10 and V20 that experimented with metal designs, removable batteries, and secondary ticker displays, the V30 introduced a slick glass back, incredibly slim bezels, and a pOLED screen made by LG itself.

We’re anticipating the V40 to share a lot of similarities to its predecessor and this year’s recently announced LG V35, and as new information trickles in, we’ll be regularly updating this guide to help keep you up-date on everything that’s going on.

Without further delay, here’s everything we know about the LG V40!

The latest LG V40 news

August 22, 2018 — First LG V40 render appears with triple rear cameras and a notched display

After months of waiting, we’ve finally got our first look at the LG V40 thanks to a leaked press render from MySmartPrice.

As you can see from the photos, the V40 retains a lot of the V30 and V35’s design language while making a few big updates. The glass back and metal frame are staples from the past two V handsets, as is the rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. There’s a large display on the front that likely uses an OLED panel, and similar to the G7 before it, the V40 also features a notch at the top. Inside that notch, you’ll find two front-facing cameras and an earpiece for phone calls.

The V40 also appears to be the first LG phone to come equipped with three cameras on the back. We’ve seen other OEMs such as Huawei mess with triple camera setups before, so it’ll be interesting to see LG’s implementation of this.

The LG V40 has a 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-C port, and a third hardware button that’ll likely be used for opening up the Google Assistant.

A date of November 16 on the V40’s lock screen suggests that the phone’s just a couple months away, but this doesn’t line up with an earlier rumor claiming that the V40 would be released on October 5. As more details about this come out, we’ll let you know.

July 19, 2018 — LG to launch the V40 on October 5, reported to have a 90% screen-to-body ratio

A new report from ETNews recently broke, and if you weren’t already excited about the V40, this just may change your mind.

Following last month’s rumor of the V40 having a total of five cameras, ETNews says that three of these will be on the back of the phone and consist of 20MP primary, 16MP wide-angle, and 13MP telephoto sensors. The remaining two cameras will be on the front and allow for a 3D facial recognition system.

Speaking of the V40’s front, it’s said that we’ll be met with an impressive screen-to-body ratio of 90%. LG will apparently have a “different from the conventional” method for keeping bezels so small, suggesting that the company might have found an alternative solution to the notch.

Lastly, LG will reportedly announce the phone during IFA late next month and then begin sales on October 5.

June 26, 2018 — The V40 will reportedly have a total of five cameras, a notch in its display, and face unlock system

News dump alert! Our friends at Android Police recently spoke with a source that’s apparently familiar with the V40’s development, and as such, we’ve got some juicy new details about the phone.

First and foremost, it’s reported that the LG V40 will ship with a total of five cameras. We can’t say with 100% certainty how these will be positioned on the phone, but it’s likely we’ll get two on the front and three on the back. Speaking of cameras, LG’s working on a new face unlock system that could feature 3D mapping technology, not unlike the iPhone X’s Face ID.

Something else to take note of is the fact that the V40 is said to come with a notch in its display. LG will allow you to use software to hide the notch just like it does on the G7, but as expected, this is a trend you just can’t escape for the time being.

Other reported features are the Snapdragon 845, rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a dedicated Google Assistant button next to the volume rocker.

May 2, 2018 —It’ll probably use an OLED display

Shortly after the G7 ThinQ was announced, LG confirmed something rather interesting — it only uses OLED screens for phones in its V series.

In other words, that’s about as close of a confirmation as we’ll get that the V40 will come equipped with an OLED panel. We don’t know what the resolution will be or if it’ll have a notch, but OLED is pretty much a guarantee at this point.

April 19, 2018 — “Storm” is the codename for the V40

Evan Blass shared on Twitter that the V40’s codename is “Storm.” This doesn’t provide much insight into specifics regarding the phone, but it is suggestive that LG’s flagship will be big and powerful.

Since there’s not much else to say about this, here are a few storm emojis 🌩🌪☔️

What specs can we expect?

Talk about the V40’s specs is still relatively quiet, but even so, we can make a few guesses about what it’ll come equipped with.

At the heart of the V40 will likely be Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 845 processor. This has been the chipset of choice for most 2018 flagships, and as we’ve seen before, the 845 is a beast when it comes to performance, camera processing, battery life, and more.

Something else the V40 will likely carry is an OLED display. In May, LG confirmed that it reserves its OLED panels for entries in the V series. Unless something has radically changed since then, this is a sure bet that the V40 will be graced with an OLED screen.

Lastly, the V40 will come with at least two cameras on the back. We don’t know what kind of sensors will be used or what the aperture rating will be like, but similar to past LG flagships, we should get a primary lens with a regular focal length and a secondary, wide angle one.

When will the LG V40 be released?

According to one source, the V40 is scheduled for a release in either the late summer or early fall of this year. If accurate, this will see it launched during a similar window compared to the September 21 release of the V30.

Along with this, another publication claims that the V40 will be announced during IFA (late August / early September) and then go on sale about a month later on October 5.

How much will it cost?

We have a pretty good idea as to when the V40 will be released, but what about its price?

Details on this are still few and far between, but to make an educated guess, let’s first look at past retail pricing for other entries in the V series.

• LG V10 — $600
• LG V20 — $830
• LG V30 — $800
• LG V30S — $930
• LG V35 — $900

LG’s been steadily increasing the price of its V phones with just about every release, and based on the most recent V30S and V35, I think it’s safe to say that the V40 will cost around $900 and possibly cross that $1000 threshold.

The V series has never been cheap and the V40 won’t be an exception to that rule.

Samsung Galaxy Note 9 rumors: Release date, specs, price, and features!

LG V30 + V30S ThinQ

• LG V30S hands-on: A 2017 phone with 2018’s buzzwords
• LG V30S specs
• LG V30 review: The no-BS flagship
• Top LG V30 camera features
• Full LG V30 specs
• Join our LG V30 forums

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Apple Accepting Mercy Corps Donations to Help People Affected by Flooding in Kerala, India

Apple today added banners to the App Store and iTunes Store on Mac and iOS devices as well as its homepage allowing customers to donate to Mercy Corps to support those who have been affected by massive flooding in Kerala, India.

Flooding began in Kerala earlier this summer with the arrival of monsoon rains, and picked up again on August 8 following days of torrential downpour. Approximately 420 people have died since the flooding began, and more than a million are living in relief camps.

Apple is allowing customers to donate to Mercy Corps using credit and debit cards that are already on file with the iTunes Store and App Store for a no-hassle donation process. Apple customers can donate $5, $10, $25, $50, $100, or $200, 100 percent of which goes to Mercy Corps.

Apple often uses the iTunes Store and App Stores to raise money for charity during major disasters. Apple recently collected money on behalf of the American Red Cross to help fight California wildfires, and Apple has also collected donations for major disasters like the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the 2013 Philippines typhoon, Hurricane Sandy in 2012, the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, and the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Mercy Corps is a global humanitarian aid organization that says its mission is to “Alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities.”

From the period between August 13 to August 20, Kerala received 18.5 inches of rainfall, an above average amount caused by two bands of heavy rain exacerbated by areas of low pressure in the Western Ghats mountain range, according to NASA.

Rain has started to abate this week, allowing rescue and relief operations to deal with the devastation the flooding has caused.

For those who do not want to donate through Mercy Corps and iTunes, there are other options. The government of Kerala is accepting direct money transfers and has set up a website where people can donate using credit and debit cards.

Other relief organizations working in Kerala are also accepting donations, including Oxfam India, Goonj, and Habitat for Humanity India.

Tags: App Store, iTunes
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Walmart Gets Into eBooks With Launch of New iOS App, Reveals $9.99/Month Audiobook Service

Walmart today announced that it has partnered with Rakuten Kobo to launch its own dedicated eBooks platform, simply called Walmart eBooks. The service will be available as an iOS and Android application, as well as on Kobo’s eReaders, and function similarly to rival eBook services from Apple and Amazon.

“More than six million” eBooks will be up for purchase on Walmart’s site, and once you find your next book you can choose the “eBook” option, click “Buy”, checkout, and find the book in any app or eReader synced to your Walmart account. It appears that you can’t buy books directly from the iOS app, and can only download a sample of each novel to read.

In stores, Walmart will also debut “digital book cards” of nearly 40 novels, which will provide codes that you can then go home and redeem to save the eBook on your devices. The partnership is also introducing Kobo eReaders on Walmart.com and in 1,000 Walmart retail stores, starting at $99.99 with the Kobo Aura.

Summer is almost over, which means there are only a few more weeks left to soak up the sun and enjoy one of the beach reads all of your friends have been talking about. Today, we’re making it easier than ever to check out the latest new releases with the launch of Walmart eBooks by Rakuten Kobo, Walmart’s partnership with Kobo to offer an all-new digital books catalog in stores and online.

Walmart eBooks will complement our vast physical book assortment and offer customers a comprehensive digital book solution, introducing an entirely new category that hasn’t been previously available at Walmart.

The free Walmart eBooks app is available to download today from the iOS App Store [Direct Link], and will act as a hub for Walmart’s new initiative, collecting your eBooks, audiobooks, graphic novels, and children’s books on iPhone and iPad. Features include resizable text, a Night Mode, screen orientation lock, automatic bookmarks, bookmark syncing across devices, free book previews, and more.

The app provides “Awards” for accomplishing certain literary tasks, such as finishing a certain number of books, highlighting quotes, sharing a passage on social media, and more. The app will also track your reading stats and library activity, showing the percentage complete of the current book you’re reading, the amount of time you’ve spent reading the book, and number of pages turned. Additionally, Walmart eBooks will track the total hours you spend reading, hours per book, pages per hour, pages per session, and more.

There’s also a new audiobook subscription service that will let customers subscribe for $9.99 per month and gain access to one audiobook every month. Comparatively, Amazon’s Audible service offers credit for one audiobook every month at $14.95 per month. Customers who sign up online will also get $10 off their first a la carte audiobook or eBook, and the audiobook service includes a 30-day free trial.

Walmart’s entry into the eBook market comes eight years after Apple announced iBooks alongside the iPad in 2010, and just over ten years after Amazon’s original Kindle launched in the United States alongside the Kindle eBooks store.

Tag: Walmart
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Apple’s Shazam Acquisition Set to Gain European Approval

European Commission antitrust regulators are set to approve Apple’s acquisition of music discovery service Shazam with no conditions, reports Reuters.

Apple announced its planned acquisition of Shazam in December, but the deal has yet to be completed due to an ongoing EU investigation.

Regulators were worried that the merger between the two companies would provide Apple with a wealth of data that could allow it to target its competitors’ customers, ultimately resulting in fewer music streaming options for European citizens.

There were also concerns that Apple would disallow Shazam from referring EU customers to Shazam’s rivals, such as Spotify. At the current time, Shazam can be connected to either Apple Music or Spotify, allowing Shazamed songs to be opened in either service.

While European Commission spokesman Ricardo Cardoso declined to comment at this time, a final decision on the acquisition is expected on September 18. Once approved, Apple will be able to finalize the deal and complete the Shazam purchase.

Shazam, for those unfamiliar with the service, is a cross-platform app designed to identify music, TV shows, and more. It has been baked into Apple devices as part of Siri for several years now, and it’s what powers Siri’s ability to answer questions like “What song is this?” Shazam also offers apps for iOS devices, Android devices, Macs, and PCs.

When announcing the acquisition of Shazam, Apple said that it had “exciting plans in store,” but declined to provide further information on how the Shazam service would be used.
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Qualcomm’s next flagship mobile chip will feature 5G connectivity

Qualcomm Technologies announced today that its next major flagship chip for smartphones will be able to be paired with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X50 5G modem for a super-fast mobile data connection, while also being smaller than ever before.

This new chip — assumed to be the Snapdragon 855 — will feature a system-on-chip built on the 7-nanometer process node. That should mean that this new chip will be smaller, faster, and more power efficient than this year’s extremely powerful Snapdragon 845. While the Snapdragon X50 5G modem isn’t new tech — it released in 2016 — this will be the first time it’s been used in smartphones, and Qualcomm expects it to be the first 5G-capable mobile platform for premium flagship smartphones.

Qualcomm has stated that sample tests are already underway with multiple companies, and it expects to see real progress made in making 5G available over this year and the next.

“We are very pleased to be working with OEMs, operators, infrastructure vendors, and standards bodies across the world, and are on track to help launch the first 5G mobile hotspots by the end of 2018, and smartphones using our next-generation mobile platform in the first half of 2019,” said Cristiano Amon, President of Qualcomm Incorporated.

What’s all the fuss about 5G? 5G represents the next major step in mobile internet, and while there’s a lot of technobabble surrounding this new standard, the upshot is that 5G-capable smartphones will be able to download, browse, and stream at much higher speeds than 4G. 5G-capable smartphones will likely start dropping in earnest from next year, but we’ve already seen something of what to expect — the Moto Z3 has an optional 5G Moto Mod that will allow it to use the new standard when it’s available,

Outside of this announcement, Qualcomm has been coy about the specifics of this flagship “flagchip,” if you will. As mentioned, we fully expect this chip will be the Snapdragon 855, and we expect it will be a key component of the next generation of premium flagships, including the Samsung Galaxy S10, LG G8 ThinQ, and other powerful smartphones in 2019. Full details regarding this chip will be released in the fourth quarter of 2018, just in time for the next generation of powerful smartphones.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Motorola Moto Z3 vs. Moto Z3 Play
• Sprint and LG team up on a 5G smartphone set for release in first half of 2019
• Need more juice? Here are the phones with the best battery life
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• Trust us, you need to pay attention to Samsung’s new mobile modem

What to keep your phone secure? Here’s how to use Android 9.0 Pie’s Lockdown Mode

Google’s Android 9.0 Pie is finally here, bringing a host of great new features to Android phones, along with a few sleek design updates and more. One of the most overlooked new features, however, has nothing to do with design. Lockdown Mode is more security focused — and while it may not be a feature that you use on a daily basis, it’s probably still important to know how to activate it.

Before we dive into how to use Lockdown Mode, we should go over what it actually is. The feature is aimed at people who want to protect their private data from the prying eyes of phone thieves, law enforcement officials, and anyone else who might try and break into your phone without your permission. It blocks things like the fingerprint sensor, facial-recognition, and voice-recognition features from being used. That can be pretty important — it’s already illegal for law enforcement to make you enter your PIN code or a phone pattern, and with Lockdown Mode, they can’t force you to use your fingerprint sensor or facial-recognition tech either.

Thankfully, enabling Lockdown Mode is actually very easy. Here’s how to do it.

• Open the Settings app.
• Select the Security & Location option.
• Scroll down and select Lock screen preferences.
• Toggle on Show lockdown option.

Now, the option to turn on lockdown mode will show up when you need it to. To turn on Lockdown Mode, hold down the power button. You’ll now see a Lockdown option under the power and restart options. Once Lockdown mode is activated and you try to use the fingerprint sensor, you’ll be prompted to use your PIN code, password, or pattern. After entering the code, Lockdown mode will be automatically deactivated — so you’ll need to manually activate it again if you want it to stay on.

To be clear, you will need Android 9.0 Pie to make use of this feature — so if you don’t have the new operating system just yet, check for a software update on your device. Many phones don’t yet support Android 9.0 Pie — though hopefully your phone will get the operating system at some point in the near future.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Android 9.0 Pie: Everything you need to know
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• How to use Android 9.0 Pie’s gesture navigation, and how to turn it off

Here are the Android Pie features that work on earlier versions

Your phone might never see Android Pie, but that doesn’t mean you won’t see some of the new features.

One of the reasons Android has become the most popular computer operating system in the world can also create a big headache — any company can do almost anything they want to do with it. That not only means that devices running Android can look very different and use very different hardware, but even “traditional” uses of Android like phones that include support for Google services aren’t all going to be running the same version.

There are about 20,000 different devices running Android and most of them are running an older version.

This will never change. Google has tools that make it easier for hardware manufacturers to all migrate to the current version of Android (9 at the time of this writing) but even those tools aren’t going to be enough to get every supported device on the same platform version at the same time. Google handles this issue for phones and other devices that follow the Android Compatibility Definitions with some tools like Google Play Services to provide supplemental security improvements and functionality. If you have the Play Store on your phone, you have Google Play Services up and running regardless of the version of Android you’re using.

Google also has tools for app developers who want to make use of the cool new things each platform update brings and have their apps be compatible with as many phones as possible. These are known as the Android Support Libraries, and developers can use them to add some of the things that Pie brings to the table back to Oreo or Nougat.

Along with Android 9, one of the big announcements at Google I/O 2018 was Android Jetpack. Jetpack is a set of components for developers that makes it easier to build apps and is comprised of the new AndroidX libraries. One of the features of AndroidX and Jetpack is to make features from the latest versions of Android work on older platform versions. Another great feature is Jetpack’s modularity which means it can be updated quickly and independently of Android itself. This makes adding features that work across multiple platform versions much easier.

Right now there aren’t a lot of visible features of Pie that can be used in older versions like Oreo and Nougat, but the Support Libraries are filled with changes that help developers build apps for Android Pie that will still function on older versions. That’s the most important part, but everyone at Google is excited about how Jetpack and AndroidX will be able to keep bringing newer features to older versions of Android, and I expect we’ll see the list grow.

Slices

A Slice is a tiny piece of an app that can be filled with dynamic content and appear anywhere in any Android app or inside any Google-provided service. A Slice can bring important and contextual information from an app right where we need to see it and can include things like live data, intents, inline Actions as well as deep linking to other portions of its parent. Useful information or controls that we want to have at our fingertips without opening an app, like music player controls or flight schedules can appear where we can easily use them.

Slices are something developers can work on right now and will be rolling out to user accounts “soon” — and thanks to Jetpack and the Support Libraries, that means they won’t be restricted to only Android 9.

Actions

Google Assistant already brings Conversational Actions to phones with Google Assistant and devices like Google Home and Smart Displays. They’re part of your Google account and developers have been eagerly adding more and more of them that you can include in your own routine.

Soon, we’ll also have Actions on our phones that use the same ideas. They are designed to bring functionality from an app into any Google service, but what’s really cool about them is that Google’s AI will bring them automatically and intelligently where you need them when you need them. App Actions are difficult to describe, but when you see one in action it just clicks; you can see how App Actions will work right now. Visit Google.com and type something like ” how many U.S. dollars is 25 Euros” and you’ll be presented with the answer and a small conversion tool you can use right at the top of the page.

While a currency converter isn’t that exciting, think of how other apps can inject parts of themselves into things like Search or Gmail or Docs. App Actions are in beta right now, and we expect them to come to our phones soon. Again, thanks to Jetpack and the Android Support Libraries they won’t be restricted to Android 9 and almost all of us can use them as they appear.

Google says that any new Android app should work on 90% of active devices. That means it also needs to provide tools and means for apps that feature new APIs and interface elements to work on older versions. We’ll keep updating this list as more news about the Android Support Libraries comes to light and look forward to lots of new additions during the 2018 Android Dev Summit in November.

Will my phone get Android Pie?

Android 9 Pie

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• Join the Discussion

How to use a PlayStation 4 controller on Android

Don’t buy a mobile controller before trying your DualShock 4.

If you own a modern gaming console, chances are you already have a usable Bluetooth controller for your Android phone. That’s because most newer console controllers either use Bluetooth as standard or include it for use on other platforms.

Which means, yes, it’s possible to use a PlayStation 4 controller on your Android phone, tablet, or TV device. We’re here to show you how.

What you’ll need

You’re going to want a DualShock 4 controller, first and foremost. Unlike the Xbox One controller, all DualShock 4 controllers have Bluetooth built-in no matter when and where you got it because the PlayStation 4 uses Bluetooth as its standard wireless connection protocol.

If you already have a PS4, congratulations — you have all you need. And if you don’t have a PS4 controller, you can always buy one on Amazon (though we’d sooner recommend you buy something else, and we’ll tell you why in a bit).

See at Amazon

How to use a PS4 controller on Android

With the controller and phone in hand, the pairing process is simple. We’ll take you through it step-by-step:

On your Android device, ensure your Bluetooth radio is turned on by opening settings and heading to the Bluetooth menu. Make sure the phone is in scan mode.
With the controller, simultaneously hold the PlayStation button and the Share button for a few seconds. The controller’s light will begin blinking to let you know it’s in pair mode.
Back on the phone, look for a device named Wireless Controller in the list of nearby Bluetooth devices. Tap that device to begin the pairing process.
The controller’s light should stop blinking and you should get confirmation on your phone that the connection was successful.

If all goes well, you’ll be connected and the controller can be used to navigate the Android UI.

Potential issues

In testing, I’ve found that it may not behave quite as well as a dedicated mobile controller or even the Xbox One’s controller. For instance, while I could move my character and turn the camera using the analog sticks in Modern Combat 5, the aim and shoot buttons were relegated to the Share and Option buttons, respectively. This made for a pretty awkward and uncomfortable control scheme that I certainly couldn’t play the game with in the long run.

Your mileage may vary in this regard. Give your favorite controller games a try and see if they present any issues. Ideally, a game would simply let you remap all the buttons like an emulator would, but that’s just not the case with most games.

One potential route you can take is to root your device to customize the HID profile and make your controller layout more standardized for the games you play, but we wouldn’t recommend this option for the inexperienced. In fact, you should try to stay away from rooting your device in general, as it can open you up to nasty security issues and odd device behavior that just might not be worth it.

Should you use a PS4 controller on your Android device?

If you have a game that works well with it or that allows you to remap the buttons, go nuts. But we’d sooner recommend an alternative, or just pick up the Xbox One controller with Bluetooth. Even if you don’t find it immediately useful, some popular games like Fortnite could offer controller mapping in the future, and you’ll be glad that you already know how to set this up if and when that day arrives.

See at Amazon