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Apex Legends Mobile does have controller support, but only semi-officially. The developers have said that the global launch does not support controllers, but they are working on it. However, players have found that some controllers work just fine in Apex Legends Mobile. There are also controller settings in the menu so there is some controller support.
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Enable controller support in Apex Legends Mobile
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There is no switch to enable controller support in Apex Legends Mobile. Your controller should turn itself on automatically when you plug it in. We recommend starting a firing range instance so you can test your controller before starting a real match.
The virtual controls remain enabled even if a controller is connected. However, you can change this by editing the virtual controller. You do that by going into Settingsthen Serviceand tap the Custom Layout knob. You can resize, move, and lower the opacity of elements on the screen to get them out of the way.
The game features three controller layouts, so you can keep the regular layout and have a second layout that will get everything out of the way for your controller. The game supports up to three virtual HUD layouts.
What controllers are supported in Apex Legends Mobile?
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Unfortunately, this is a pretty short list. We expect it to grow over time, but this is all you need to work with for now. The links will take you to Amazon if you want to buy one of the controllers.
Keep in mind that even those controllers seem to hit the bull’s eye for some people. In some cases, a controller will work on iOS but not Android or vice versa, so support for the above controllers is shaky at best. We tested with the Xbox Series X controller and it worked fine. However, our tests with a Moga XP5-X Plus showed less than desired results. It just didn’t work.
We will update this list as soon as an official list of supported controllers is released.
How to remap controller buttons in Apex Legends Mobile
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While the developers say there will be no official controller support at global launch, there are settings that allow you to configure your controller.
- Open Settings from the main screen.
- On the right, tap the Controller v1.0 choice.
- Go to the Controller v1.0 portion of the Settings.
- Below the Knob tab, press the Custom Layout knob.
- Tap the command you want to change. If it’s highlighted, tap the button on your controller to change it to that button.
- If the desired button is already assigned to another action, the game will reverse the two. For example, reload is Square and crouch is O. If you set reload to O, crouch is automatically reassigned to Square.
Configure your controller in Apex Legends Mobile
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The Controller v1.0 some of the settings have three tabs. The first is Knob and we describe above how that works. The other two are Base and Camera that allow you to further customize your controller. This is what every thing does.
Base
- Joystick dead zone (motion) — Determines how much you can move your joystick before it is recognized as movement in the game. This setting is for the left joystick only.
- Cursor Sensitivity — This controls the in-game cursor and can help speed things up like loot selection.
- General sensitivity scale — This is what you think, a general general sensitivity setting.
- Vertical Sensitivity Scale — This is a general sensitivity setting, but only applies to the Y-axis (up and down).
- FPP without ADS — This setting allows you to adjust the sensitivity of your joysticks in first-person mode when not aiming down.
- TPP without ADS — It’s the same as above, except for the third person mode.
- 1x-10x Optical ADS — The game allows you to adjust your sensitivity based on weapon zoom. There are options for 1x (iron sights), 2x, 3x, 4x, 6x, 8x and 10x. You can adjust each zoom range individually to fine-tune your experience with each weapon type.
Camera
- Joystick dead zone (rotation) — This determines how much you can move your joystick before it is recognized as motion. This only applies to the right stick.
- External Threshold — This setting determines the maximum amount of joystick movement before the game stops recognizing it as movement. A handy in-game graphic will show you the difference between this and dead zone as you customize both, but it’s only available under the Camera tab.
- Extra rotational speed — With this setting you can add extra camera rotation speed if you want.
- Extra rotation speed Vertical zoom — This is the same as Extra Rotation Speed, but for vertical zoom.
- Extra ramp-up time for speed — The game gives you the option to fade in movements so that it is less jerky. This setting adjusts the time it takes for the rotational speed of the right stick to reach its maximum sensitivity.
- Extra speed ramp up — This setting further refines the fade-in motion effect for even less jerky motion.
It’s honestly quite nice to see such fine controls in a mobile game. Those with controllers definitely have an advantage over on-screen players. We recommend using the shooting range mode to test any adjustments you make before going into a real game to make sure everything works as expected. Don’t forget to tap the Sync with cloud to save your settings.
Read next: How to Unlock Fade in Apex Legends Mobile
FAQ
The most likely answer is that it is not supported yet. Many people even have problems with the controllers mentioned above. For now, there’s not much you can do about it. You can try disconnecting and reconnecting the controller, closing and opening the game, and rebooting your device. However, we think the developers will fix this in a future update and add better controller support.
The answer probably isn’t out yet, but it can’t hurt to load up on a shooting range game and try it yourself. If it works, leave a comment and let us know.
That’s a tough question to answer because every gamer is different. We recommend fiddling with some things, starting a firing range instance to test and fine-tune until it feels right. The same goes for configuring On-Screen Controls in Apex Legends Mobile.
It depends. Some people are very good at playing with three or four fingers with on-screen controls, and they will give you great value for money. However, it is much easier to use a controller for novice and advanced players, so yes, it can give you an advantage.