As promised just last week, Googles self-serve tool is now available to enable Low Energy Bluetooth mode on your Stadia Controllers.
The End is nigh
Stadia is now in its final days before the plug is plugged, and it takes place ‘literally’ in the cloud. A good majority of players have received their refunds and there is now another silver lining, one last hurrah as it were… Google is allowing us to enable Bluetooth Mode on our Stadia controllers, meaning that we can continue to use the controller on the devices we want.
Right tool for the job
The tool is available at https://stadia.google.com/controller/ which requires Chrome 108 or greater. The process is simple enough with a wizard to guide you through the update steps. However this process is permanent and comes with a warning
Switching is permanent
Once you switch your controller to Bluetooth mode, you can’t change it back to use Wi-Fi on Stadia. You can still play wired with USB in Bluetooth mode.
There’s no need to rush and update all of your controllers straight away, you still have a day to take full advantage of the Wireless connection to the Google servers that we grew accustomed to. After January 18th you will have until the end of the year, December 31st 2023, to change over to Bluetooth mode.
The Process
Upon entering the self-serve tool you’ll be welcomed by the image above ‘Play wirelessly with Bluetooth’.
Firstly connect your controller via a USB-A to USB-C cable into your PC/Mac or laptop and hit Start to start the process. You’ll be asked to accept the Terms of Service and you’ll be onto the wizard
The next step is for Chrome to verify your Stadia controller is in fact a Stadia controller and has the correct starting firmware.
The next step is to “unlock” your controller so that it is ready to receive a new custom firmware.
The next step will guide you through downloading the “Bluetooth mode” firmware update.
Once downloaded, all that is left is to install the new firmware in order to enter “Bluetooth mode”.
Congratulations! Your controller is now in Bluetooth mode!
How to pair
Once you have completed the process, to enable pairing mode is as simple as pressing and holding the Stadia button + the Y button for two seconds. The status light on the Stadia button will start to flash orange, you will now see the Stadia controller as an available device to pair. Upon selection, the status light on the controller will change to white confirming the connection. In future the Stadia controller will connect to the last paired device.
A few things to note
Compatibility
As it currently stands the Stadia controller will not connect via Bluetooth to PlayStation, Xbox or Switch devices. e.g.
Through our own testing we have found the following have been successful:
- Windows Devices
- Android (Phone, Tablet, Google TV)
- Chromebook
Battery
The battery level can be displayed via the device that you are connected to, as shown below:
Audio
Whilst using the controller wirelessly via Bluetooth, the 3.5 mm aux port will not be available to use with headphones. At this moment it is unclear as to why as this seems to be a standard for the majority of controllers. There is an option via the self-serve tool to check for Bluetooth updates. So it is possible this could change in a future update?
Remapping Buttons
The Google Assistant and Capture buttons will no longer have any function, except to factory reset the Stadia controller. Both of these buttons are free to be remapped via button mapping services.
If you do experience any problems during the update process such as not completing steps or your controller is not working, you can refer to the Bluetooth mode Help Center.
