Are bluetooth game controllers supported by Sailfish OS and can Android apps running in Alien Dalvik find and make use of them?

Anyone ever pair a PS3 SixAxis controller with Sailfish OS?

In general :
- Sailfish OS is a GNU/Linux distribution. It works a lot like any other Linux.
- If the controller is a standard one (i.e.: present it self as a HID device - mice, keyboards and some standard gaming controller) you can pair it as any HID device
- Sailfish OS it self has support for Bluetooth HID Keyboards (but doesn't do anything peculiar with other HID devices).
- If the controller is something weird (uses some specific proprietary Bluetooth protocol like the WiiMote) you can't do much, you'll need to compile drivers for it. (e.g.: Wii mote relies on a special user-mode library talking to it).

I don't have experiences with PS3 GamePad, I don't know if they are standard HID or not.

For Android :
- Currently Android doesn't directly "see" the Bluetooth Stack (Sailfish OS uses BlueZ like any normal GNU/Linux distribution, whereas Android uses its own custom bluetooth stack). So if an app needs to directly talk to a Bluetooth peripheral it won't work (e.g.: the app specific to your wireless speaker that is used to send configuration - like asking two speaker to pair with each other and present themselves as a stereo set, or send an alarm to start automatically playing in the moning, etv.)
- On the other hand any standard device that has been paired by SailfishOS and shows up as a normal device will be usable by android (e.g.: bluetooth keyboard is just yet another keyboard for android, bluetooth speaker is simply an audio out - the music players will play as if it was a normal audioout, even if the hardware-specific app fails, etc.)

So it all boils down to :
- is the controller you plan to use a standard Bluetooth HID peripheral, or does it need some weird specific trick ?
- is the game designed to use a standard Linux game pad (from /dev/input/xxx): most games ARE NOT. You're lucky if Android games even pay attention to the standard keyboard.

You'll typically need some application to remap the button from the gamepad into something that the game will recognize. (I know there's a universal anything-to-anything remapper in the Google Play store)


ArchLinux has a wiki page about Gamepads. It applies to most GNU/Linux distribution, including sailfish.

Caveat : some versions of Sailfish (like the Xperia) use a fixed kernel that doesn't accept modules. If the Bluetooth HID is missing you cannot compile your own (note: it seems compiled in the Xperia).

Other caveat : the OTG functionality in the Jolla 1 doesn't work (missing wiring) thus you can't plug in USB gamepads.

Gotcha, thanks.

I only mention the PS3 gamepad specifically because Ive noted some discussion previously in other contexts that it doesn't always pair like regular bluetooth controller do, but once paired plays nice.

Ive used bluez directly on the command line before, I just wasn't sure if Jolla shipped all the profiles and how things were exposed to GUI apps or Alien Dlavik.

It occured to me at work today that the Android builds of PPSSPP would likely work well on my SailfishX and was thinking about how exactly I wanted to do the controller end of things if I go that route.

After googling around : it seems to have 2 modes.
Either you need to make a button combo on the controller, and this starts normal bluetooth pairing like any device.
Or you use the "Playstation way" : you plug it into the USB port and there's a tool to send the configuration over USB.


HID is definitely supported, I'm using it with keyboards

In theory, like any other GNU/Linux app, but in practice I haven't heard of some Sailfish OS using it.

Like I've stated before :
- Bluetooth stack isn't exposed to Alien Dalvik
- The standard devices (audio-out, etc.) are exposed.

I think it would be better to find a native emulator compiled for Sailfish, rather than insert an extra emulation layer (the Java-Like VM used by Alien-Dalvik to run Android apps).

Regarding controllers : I would maybe have a look at USB controllers first, if I were you.