Ways to play

Stream plays the console on this phone over your home network, and it wakes the console first if it is in rest mode. Remote does the same from anywhere through your signed-in account. Pad turns the phone into a controller with no picture, for when you watch the game on the TV. The card remembers the last choice for each console.

Pad mode only sends your input to the console, so you watch the game on the TV. It needs the phone and the console on the same network, and if the console is in rest mode it wakes it and keeps retrying for about 30 seconds. To see the game on the phone, open the menu and tap Switch to streaming.

No. The phone connects as the Remote Play controller of the account it was set up with, so it takes the place of your controller instead of joining alongside it. A controller connected directly to the console cannot play at the same time: the console makes it use a different user, such as a guest, and the two then keep taking control from each other. Use the phone when there is no controller at hand, not as an extra player.

The app looks for the console on your current network for a few seconds. When it is not found, the card switches to Remote without connecting, so you decide whether to go through your account. At home this usually means a VPN, a guest network, or a console that is switched off completely. The connection doctor shows which one.

When the console is on the same network, Remote streams locally instead, because that is faster. Turn off Stream locally at home in Settings if you want Remote to always go through your account, for example to try it before you leave the house.