From your couch to the game, in five minutes.
You don't need to read this to use Dish. If you want to know what to expect, here is the whole thing, from installing it to the moment the game responds.
- 1
Install two free apps
Put Dish on your phone and Satellite on your gaming PC. Both are free, with no ads and nothing to sign up for. If your controller is plugged into another Windows PC, Mac, or Linux PC, install Dish there instead, and if you already run Sunshine, Apollo, or Wolf, Dish can pair with that host directly.
- 2
They find each other on your Wi-Fi
Open Dish and your PC shows up by name within a second or two, with no IP addresses to type and no router settings to change. Your phone and your PC only need to be on the same network.
- 3
Pair once with a 4-digit code
Tap your PC and type the 4-digit code Satellite shows on its dashboard, or accept the request on the PC when the codes match. You do this once. After that, your phone reconnects to that PC on its own whenever you open Dish.
- 4
Choose how you want to play
Play on the touch screen, with an Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch layout to match the pad your game sees. Or plug a controller into your phone over USB, or pair one over Bluetooth, and Dish sends that instead.
- 5
Press a button, and the game responds right now
Over Wi-Fi, Dish is about as fast as a controller plugged straight into your PC with a cable, and noticeably snappier than Bluetooth. Fast games stay playable.
- 6
Your game sees a normal controller
Satellite shows your game a standard Xbox or PlayStation controller, so any PC game with gamepad support works without setup. You choose per player what it shows up as: an Xbox pad, a DualShock 4, a DualSense, or a Switch Pro.
- 7
Everything comes back to your hand
The connection runs both ways. Rumble buzzes when the game shakes, the lightbar follows the game, motion and gyro aim work, and your controller's battery level shows up. With Satellite on Windows, a DualSense also gets its adaptive triggers, HD haptics, microphone, and speaker.
It remembers your PC
Pairing is a one-time step. After that first 4-digit code, your phone reconnects whenever you open Dish, without asking again. Friends' phones work the same way: each pairs once, and the next time they visit they go straight into the game.
"But what about Sunshine and Moonlight?"
Sunshine and Moonlight are the go-to way to stream the video from your gaming PC to another screen, whether that's your TV, a tablet, or a Steam Deck. They can pass a controller along too, but they assume the controller and the screen are the same device. Dish is for the times that isn't true:
- Controller in your hand, game on the TV. Stream the picture to your TV with Moonlight and hold your phone, or your own pad, as the controller.
- No Satellite needed. Dish can pair with a Sunshine, Apollo, or Wolf host directly and act as a controller there.
- Couch co-op. Several phones can connect to one PC at once, each its own controller, even when only one screen is showing the game.
- No streaming at all. Plenty of people just play on the same monitor as their PC, using their phone as a wireless gamepad. No video streaming required.
The names nod at the same lineage. See why "Dish" and "Satellite".
Try it for yourself.
Five minutes from install to first input.
Download Dish