Use Your Phone as a Controller in Steam Big Picture Mode

Steam Big Picture and the new Steam Deck UI both require a controller. Use your Android or iPhone with Gamepad — Play Anywhere — it appears as an Xbox 360 controller which Steam detects and fully supports in Big Picture and game launch.

Steam Big Picture + Phone Controller Setup

Connect your phone via the Gamepad app as usual. Open Steam and switch to Big Picture Mode (View → Big Picture Mode, or press the Steam button shortcut). Steam immediately recognises the virtual Xbox 360 controller and the Big Picture interface becomes fully navigable: browse library, launch games, access settings.

Steam Input — Steam's controller remapping layer — also applies. You can open Steam Input settings for individual games and remap buttons, create action sets, or even overlay Steam's own gyro implementation on top of Gamepad's gyro.

Playing Games Launched from Big Picture

Games launched from Big Picture Mode (or the Steam Deck UI) inherit the controller recognition at launch. The virtual Xbox 360 controller is available immediately when the game starts — no additional configuration needed in most games.

For games that use Steam Input hooks (rather than raw XInput), the Steam controller layer processes input before it reaches the game. This is seamless — the game receives whatever input Steam sends, whether remapped or direct from the virtual Xbox 360 device.