Why it exists
A controller can be electrically connected, visible to Steam, and still be useless in the game you actually want to play. PadProbe helps identify that gap. It shows which physical controls produce independent signals, learns unfamiliar layouts, and turns the result into a reusable controller profile.
The first real target was delightfully specific: make a wired PDP controller comfortable for Java Minecraft with Controlify on a Mac so a parent, a kiddo, and friends could get to the game instead of spending the evening debugging input.
What the alpha can do
- Discover supported HID and USB controllers and show live button, stick, trigger, and D-pad input.
- Listen for physical controls, flag firmware aliases, remap independent buttons, and disable unwanted inputs.
- Calibrate analog ranges, deadzones, centers, and inversion without hiding the observed signal.
- Create once, held, toggle, or turbo macros and keep them with the local controller profile.
- Launch scoped compatibility recipes for Minecraft with Controlify, Steam, or a selected SDL application.
The game still owns the game
PadProbe owns physical decoding, calibration, portable remapping, and compatibility. Minecraft, Controlify, Steam Input, or another game still owns gameplay actions, glyphs, sensitivity, and menus. That separation makes a controller profile reusable without pretending every game wants the same button layout.
When an application already handles controllers well, PadProbe gets out of the way. When a game needs a standard system gamepad, the optional virtual output presents the mapped controller through macOS instead.
Security is part of compatibility
The system-gamepad path is waiting on Apple's managed Virtual HID capability review. PadProbe will not ask people to weaken System Integrity Protection, disable code-signing checks, or install an unexplained kernel extension to make that path work.
Controller input and profiles stay on the Mac. The app does not require an account, transmit gameplay input, provide remote control, or run analytics.
Availability
Private alpha: the public download and App Store link will appear here only after the virtual-controller capability, signing, compatibility tests, and release listing are ready.
PadProbe is a proprietary, closed-source Gamertan app intended for people who want their controllers to work. No public source release is planned.