Your GamepadOS account: sign in with email or Google, reset a password and delete your account

You can use GamepadOS without an account. The controller, the layout builder, tilt steering and wheel mode all work signed out. An account becomes useful in two situations: when you want your layouts backed up so they survive a new phone, and when you want to buy a plan, because a plan belongs to your account rather than to one phone. This guide covers everything about the account itself: creating one, the two ways to sign in, what to do when you forget a password, and how to delete it.

Do you need an account at all?

No. Every install starts with 30 free minutes of play and no sign-up, and you can earn more time by watching an optional ad. If you only ever play on one phone and you do not buy a plan, you never have to make an account. The sign-in page even has a Continue without signing in link, so you can look at it and leave.

Make one when you want either of these:

• Layout backup. Your custom layouts are copied to your account, so they come back when you reinstall the app or move to a new phone. The backup guide explains it in detail.
• A plan. Buying Lifetime attaches it to your account. Sign in on any phone and the plan is there. The play time guide covers what each option gives you.

Where to sign in

In the app, tap the person icon at the top right, or open the Plans tab (called Time in the Google Play version) and tap Already have an account? Sign in. Both lead to the same sign-in page. You can also sign in on the website's account page, which uses the same account, so a plan you buy there is available in the app.

Create an account with your email

1. On the sign-in page, choose Create an account.
2. Enter a display name (at least two characters, and it does not have to be your real name), your email address and a password of at least eight characters. The eye button shows what you typed, which helps on a phone keyboard.
3. Tap Create account. We email a six-digit code to that address.
4. Type the code into Confirm your email and tap Confirm email. You are now signed in.

If the email does not arrive within a minute or two, check your spam folder, then use Didn't get it? Send a new code. Typing the wrong address is the most common cause, so go back and check it. If you try to sign in before confirming, the app takes you straight to the confirmation step instead of showing an error.

Sign in with Google

If you would rather not manage another password, use Continue with Google, which appears above the email form when it is available.

1. Tap Continue with Google. The app opens your phone's browser, because Google does not allow its sign-in inside another app's window.
2. Choose the Google account you want to use.
3. The browser hands you back to GamepadOS. If it does not switch back by itself, tap the Open GamepadOS button on the page it shows.

The same works on the website: tap Continue with Google on the account page and you land back on it, signed in.

What we receive from Google

Your email address, but only if Google has verified it, and your name. Nothing else from your Google account, and not your Google password. We use them to find or create your GamepadOS account. If an account with the same email already exists, you are signed in to that same account rather than a second one, and it is marked as confirmed because Google has just proved you own the address. The privacy policy lists exactly what is kept.

If Google sign-in does not work

• The button is not there. Update the app to the current version and open the sign-in page again. The button is only shown when the service is available.
• "Google sign-in was cancelled." You closed the Google page before choosing an account. Tap the button and try again.
• "Google says that email address isn't verified." Google will not vouch for that address, so it cannot be used. Sign in with a different Google account or use email and password.
• "That sign-in took too long." The one-time sign-in expires after a few minutes. Start again and finish the steps without leaving the page.

Forgot your password

1. On the sign-in page, tap Forgot your password? and enter the email address of your account.
2. Tap Send reset code. If that address has an account, a code is on its way. We say it that way on purpose, so nobody can use the form to find out who has an account.
3. Enter the code and a new password of at least eight characters, then tap Change password.
4. Sign in with the new password.

Changing your password signs out every other device that was using the account, which is what you want if you suspect someone else had it.

Signed up with Google and want a password too?

An account created with Google starts with no password you know. That is fine, because you can keep using Google. If you want an email and password option as well, or you need a password for something like deleting the account, use Forgot your password? with the same email. The code arrives in that inbox and lets you set one.

Sign out

Open the account tab and look for the Danger zone section at the bottom. Sign out ends the session on this phone. Your layouts stay on the phone, and your backups stay in your account for the next time you sign in.

Delete your account

In the same Danger zone, choose Delete account and confirm with your password. This is immediate and permanent. The account, its sign-in sessions, every layout backed up to it, and its plan, payment and play time records are erased, and we keep no copy. Layouts already on your phone stay there, and the app keeps working without an account.

Two practical points before you do it. A plan lives on the account, so deleting the account deletes the plan, and there is no way to move it to another account afterwards. And if you can no longer sign in at all, email support@gamepad.space from the address you signed up with and we will do it for you.

Keeping the account safe

• Use a password you do not use anywhere else. We store only a salted hash of it, never the password itself.
• Do not share the six-digit codes. We will never ask you for one by email or message.
• If you play on a shared phone, sign out when you finish.

Stuck on something this guide does not cover? Use the contact form, mention what you see on the screen, and we will help.