Setup and sign-in

The console only pairs with a device that says which account it belongs to, so the Account ID is part of pairing itself. It is a 12-character ID tied to your account, not a password. Setup asks for it first, and you can add more accounts later under Settings, Accounts. An account added by signing in can also list the consoles on your account, set them up without a code and use Remote.

Get your Account ID offers two groups. Signing in, the recommended one, has Sign in inside the app, which uses your password on the official page, and Sign in with your browser, which works with passkeys and password managers. Local setup only needs no sign-in: Use your Online ID covers 4th gen consoles below 8.0, and Enter an Account ID under Advanced takes the ID from another phone where this app is already signed in. Without signing in you can still pair and play at home, but not set up without a code or use Remote.

Pick Sign in with your browser. Passkeys do not work on the sign-in page inside the app, but they work normally in your browser, and the address is picked up automatically when you come back to the app.

When the sign-in finishes, the browser lands on a blank page. That is expected. Copy the whole address from the address bar and come back to the app, where it is picked up automatically. If nothing happens, paste it into the field below and make sure the copy includes everything after code=.

Some networks and phones block that page inside apps. The app notices when it stays empty or fails, says why, and offers Try again and Use the browser instead. Signing in with the browser gives the same result, so switch to it if trying again does not help. Two-step verification is handled on the sign-in page itself.

The code in the address only lasts a short time. Open the sign-in page again, sign in, and come straight back to the app. With the browser, tap Open sign-in page again and copy the new address.

Yes, with Local setup only. Use your Online ID works for 4th gen consoles below 8.0; for newer consoles, pick Enter an Account ID under Advanced and copy the ID from Settings, Accounts on another phone where this app is signed in. Either way you can pair and play on your home network, but setup without a code, the consoles on your account and Remote all need a signed-in account. An Online ID is looked up through a public service.

Tap Sign in again next to it under Settings, Accounts; it opens the same way you signed in before. The sign-in is only used for Remote, setup without a code and listing the consoles on your account, so consoles you already paired keep working at home either way.

Pair with a code takes a few seconds, but you have to be at the console and the phone has to be on the same network. Set up without a code works from anywhere, even with the console in rest mode, and takes about 30 seconds. It needs a 5th gen console signed in to the same account, an account added by signing in, Remote Play turned on and the latest system software. Either way, the console works the same afterward.

A pairing code works for 300 seconds and only once. Get a fresh one on the console under Settings, System, Remote Play, Link Device, or Settings, Remote Play Connection Settings, Add Device on a 4th gen console, and enter it right away. Console passcode (optional) is a different number, the four-digit passcode set on the console, and stays empty unless the console asks for one. On a 5th gen console you can also tap Choose another way and try Set up without a code.

The message names the cause: the console is not on your account or not its primary console, Remote Play is off, the console did not answer, two consoles share the name, the network would not allow a direct connection, or the sign-in expired. Fix that and try without a code again, or tap Choose another way and pair with a code at the console, which needs the phone on the same network.

Only this phone forgets it, along with its sign-in. Consoles linked to it keep working at home, but have no account until you pick one under Settings, Consoles, the console, Console account. Nothing changes on the console or on the account itself.

No. You type your password on the official sign-in page, and this app has no server of its own, so nothing you type there passes through us. The app keeps the Account ID, the Online ID and the sign-in tokens on this phone, and the tokens and pairing keys are encrypted with the Android keystore. Looking up an Online ID goes through a public service.