Privacy: what stays on your network and what doesn't

A controller app sees a lot of what you do with your hands, so it is fair to ask where that goes. The short answer for GamepadOS is that controller input travels from your phone to your PC and nowhere else. This guide walks through each kind of data in plain language. The legal wording is in the privacy policy, and if the two ever differ, the policy is the one that counts.

Your controller input

Every press, stick movement and tilt travels directly from your phone to your PC. Over Wi-Fi it crosses your own router as local network traffic. Over USB it travels through the cable. It is not uploaded to any server and is not stored. Both apps work without an internet connection for the controller itself. That is the core of the design, and everything else on this page is optional or incidental.

What stays on your devices

• Your layouts and settings are stored on your phone. Tilt sensitivity, dead zone and wheel range are settings in the app and are not sent anywhere.
• The pairing key is stored on your phone and your PC so you do not have to scan the QR code each time.
• Your play time when signed out is counted on your phone only.
• The apps contain no analytics. They do not report which games you play or how you use the controller.

What happens if you create an account

An account is optional. Without one, every controller feature works within your play time. With one, you get:

• Layout backup. Your layouts are copied to your account so they survive a lost or replaced phone. You can switch backup off or run it manually in the app.
• Plans across devices. A plan follows your account to any phone you sign in on.

To provide that, the account stores your email address, a hashed password (we cannot read it), a display name, a session token, your backed-up layouts, your plan and your play-time records. Play-time records are session start and end times and seconds played per day. They never include which games you play and never include controller input. You can delete the account in the app under Account, then Danger zone, and it is erased immediately. See sharing and backing up layouts for the practical side.

Ads in the app

Most versions of the app include Google AdMob, so you can choose to watch a short rewarded video for 30 more minutes of play. An ad appears only when you tap the watch button. It never appears on its own and never covers the controller. Because ads are served by Google, the Google Mobile Ads software on your phone collects information such as the advertising ID, IP address and ad interactions, under Google's privacy policy. Where the law requires it, for example in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, the app asks for your consent first, and you can change your answer later under the ad button. You can reset your advertising ID in your phone's settings. Lifetime players never see the ad button. The play-time guide explains how rewards work.

Ads on this website

The home and support pages of this website show Google AdSense ads. Those ads use cookies. You can opt out of personalised ads in Google's Ads Settings. The account, payment, refund, contact and privacy pages show no ads. Visitors in the EEA, UK and Switzerland are asked for consent first.

Update checks

Both apps ask our server for a small version file when they start, and when you tap Check for updates. If a newer version exists, the app shows a download button. The request carries no account, device or usage information, and nothing installs without your action.

Support tickets and feedback

If you contact us or send feedback from the app, we store what you submit, so we can answer: your name, email, subject and message. Feedback from the app also includes the app version, phone model and Android version, to help reproduce problems. We use it only to handle your request, and we delete it if you ask.

Payments

Plans are optional. On this website and the direct version of the app, payments are handled by Razorpay. We never see or store your full card number, CVV, UPI PIN or bank password, and we keep a record of each payment: amount, status and method. The Google Play version sells nothing, so the only way to get more time there is rewarded ads.

Where server data is kept

Accounts, backed-up layouts, plans and tickets live in a database hosted in the Mumbai region. The backend runs on Railway, the website on Vercel, and transactional email on Brevo. Shared layout codes are stored without any link to an account. We do not sell your data, build audience profiles or send marketing email. Account email is limited to confirmation and password-reset codes.

Things you can do to stay private

• Use it signed out. Nothing about you is collected that way.
• Turn off backup if you have an account but would rather keep layouts on the phone.
• Reset your advertising ID in Android settings under Google, then Ads.
• Decline personalised ads in the consent prompt where it appears.
• Use a private home network. Controller input stays on your network, so a trusted network is part of the picture. Avoid pairing on public Wi-Fi.

Questions

If something here is not clear, or you want data deleted, use the contact form or write to the support address in the privacy policy. We would rather answer a question than leave you guessing.