What is the issue with Gamepads in Android 11?
So it turns out that in Android 11 there is a critical bug that prevents Game Pads from working in a good portion of apps/games. Upon updating your gamepad will basically either stop working, or begin to only selectively work in games. Issues range from:
And it turns out that this is a known issue with Android 11 affecting multiple devices (Pixel, Galaxy S20, Galaxy Note, OnePlus, ect), controllers (Xbox, Dualshock and other Third Party Controllers) and either not working or working selectively for many different games like:
Potential Fix
There is a potential fix which is hinted at in the issue tracker, but it only seems to work for some people in the thread. And that is to go into your device and disable every single accessibilty setting. Upon doing so, controllers apperently work again. I personally haven't been able to verify this since it doesn't work for me. But according to others it apperently works. So if you are affected, it might be something to try.
Edit: On a suggestion from Shadow I decided to try recycling my Accessibility permissions and low and beyond my Kishi works again! Thanks for the idea!
Unfortunately this confirms that Google basically screwed up something in the Accessibility settings with Android 11 since this never should have been an issue to begin with. But atleast my controller has been brought back to full functionality!
What I've personally run into
I've personally run into this issue myself after installing Android 11 on my Samsung Galaxy S20 5G, My Razer Kishi controller and my Xbox One Controller are both only selectively working in games. It was perfectly fine before I had updated a couple days ago. But now that I've updated I'm running into the issues of gamepads being unresponsive. What I'm seeing ranges between it outright not working, or it deciding to work but ignoring inputs from the controller.
Where it works:
So yeah. If you are a heavy user of Game Streaming or in general playing with a Gamepad on your Android device, or just spent $100 on a controller specifically for game streaming and you don't want it to break just yet... Dont update to Android 11 unless you want your games to stop working.
So it turns out that in Android 11 there is a critical bug that prevents Game Pads from working in a good portion of apps/games. Upon updating your gamepad will basically either stop working, or begin to only selectively work in games. Issues range from:
- Gamepads not being recognized in Android (USB and Bluetooth)
- Gamepads working in some games but not others
- Gamepads selectively working
- Only Face Buttons (ABXY) work
- Only Triggers work
- Only Analogue Sticks work
And it turns out that this is a known issue with Android 11 affecting multiple devices (Pixel, Galaxy S20, Galaxy Note, OnePlus, ect), controllers (Xbox, Dualshock and other Third Party Controllers) and either not working or working selectively for many different games like:
- Call of Duty Mobile
- Fortnite Mobile
- Grid Autosport
- Xbox Game Pass (XCloud)
- Steam Link
- GeForce Now
Potential Fix
There is a potential fix which is hinted at in the issue tracker, but it only seems to work for some people in the thread. And that is to go into your device and disable every single accessibilty setting. Upon doing so, controllers apperently work again. I personally haven't been able to verify this since it doesn't work for me. But according to others it apperently works. So if you are affected, it might be something to try.
Edit: On a suggestion from Shadow I decided to try recycling my Accessibility permissions and low and beyond my Kishi works again! Thanks for the idea!
Unfortunately this confirms that Google basically screwed up something in the Accessibility settings with Android 11 since this never should have been an issue to begin with. But atleast my controller has been brought back to full functionality!
What I've personally run into
I've personally run into this issue myself after installing Android 11 on my Samsung Galaxy S20 5G, My Razer Kishi controller and my Xbox One Controller are both only selectively working in games. It was perfectly fine before I had updated a couple days ago. But now that I've updated I'm running into the issues of gamepads being unresponsive. What I'm seeing ranges between it outright not working, or it deciding to work but ignoring inputs from the controller.
Where it works:
- I'm the Android UI
- In the Testing App linked above
- In Minecraft Android edition
- Xbox Game Pass App (After you begin streaming a cloud game all thumbstick/directional buttons/triggers stop functioning)
- GeForce Now (same issue as Xbox)
- Steam Link (doesn't recognize any inputs)
So yeah. If you are a heavy user of Game Streaming or in general playing with a Gamepad on your Android device, or just spent $100 on a controller specifically for game streaming and you don't want it to break just yet... Dont update to Android 11 unless you want your games to stop working.
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