# Couchside — Remote — Remote console for your HTPC > Remote console, game launcher, and controller for Linux gaming PCs. (iPhone/iPad app by Taylor Emery.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/couchside-remote/id6786884115 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Taylor Emery](https://appshunter.io/developer/1896613747) - Category: Utilities, Entertainment - Price: Free with in-app purchases - Rating: 5.00/5 from 7 App Store ratings · 7 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 16.4 · 54 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-07-15 - Data updated: 2026-09-08 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/couchside-remote/id6786884115/reviews.md ## What is Couchside? Couchside turns your iPhone into the monitor, remote console, game launcher, controller, and TV remote for your living-room Linux gaming PC — a SteamOS or Bazzite HTPC, a docked Steam Deck, or any systemd Linux box. When the TV shows a black screen and the box seems dead, Couchside is the screen. See what's actually happening, read the logs, restart the display session, launch a game, or pick up a virtual controller — all from the couch, entirely on your own home network. LIVE CONSOLE A real-time dashboard of your box: CPU temperature, load, memory, per-disk usage, uptime, and — on a handheld — battery and power profile, plus the health of the systemd services you care about. A "now playing" card shows what's on the TV, and when the box drops off the network a clear "unreachable" banner tells you when it was last seen. Running more than one box? The Fleet view watches your whole lineup and switches between them in a tap. FIX IT WITHOUT A KEYBOARD One-tap runbook actions, grouped by danger level, each confirmed before it runs (twice when it's destructive): • Restart the display session — the classic fix for a wedged gamescope black screen • Switch to Desktop / Return to Game Mode — no keyboard needed • Reboot or power off Browse recent journald logs for any watched service, right from your phone — no SSH, no laptop. LAUNCH GAMES FROM THE COUCH The agent finds the Steam games installed on the box and lays them out as cover art. Tap a cover and it launches on the TV. Add custom launchers — a label and a command — for anything else the box runs. Streaming from a gaming PC elsewhere in the house? Couchside lists your Steam Remote Play hosts and starts the stream on the box. VIRTUAL GAME CONTROLLER The agent creates a genuine virtual Xbox 360 controller on the box, so Steam, Big Picture, and your games see real gamepad input. Three modes, one tap apart: • Gamepad — dual sticks, D-pad, ABXY, bumpers, analog triggers • Swipe — an Apple-TV-remote-style surface: swipe to move, tap to select. Perfect for Kodi and Big Picture. • Trackpad — a real relative-mouse pad with tap-to-click, two-finger right-click, and two-finger scroll Plus an on-screen keyboard that types straight to the box. LIVING-ROOM REMOTE & TV CONTROL A proper remote for the whole setup — including the TV itself. Control an LG webOS or Google TV over your network: power, volume, and input, right beside the box's own controls. EASY PAIRING Install the open-source agent with one command. Scan the QR code it shows, or type the 6-digit PIN from the box's screen — either way the app connects with nothing to configure. If the box's .local name stops resolving (as it can in Game Mode), the app falls back to its last known IP automatically. PRIVATE BY DESIGN Couchside talks only to the agent on your own LAN. No cloud, no relay, no accounts, no analytics. Auth is a bearer token stored in the iOS Keychain; on the box, the agent's privileges are limited to an exact, audited allowlist of commands. The agent that runs on your box is open source (MIT); the app is source-available — read the code or build it yourself. TRY FREE FOR 7 DAYS, PAY ONCE Free to download with a full-featured 7-day trial — every screen, no account, no card. After the trial, a single one-time unlock keeps everything forever. No subscription, ever. Prefer to compile the app yourself from the public source? That's allowed and documented. REQUIREMENTS • A SteamOS, Bazzite, or other systemd-based Linux machine on your home network • The free open-source Couchside agent installed on it (one command, no dependencies) • iPhone and box on the same LAN ## Key features - Live system monitoring dashboard - One-tap runbook actions for troubleshooting - Browse system logs remotely - Launch Steam games and custom applications - Virtual Xbox 360 game controller - Trackpad and swipe control modes - Easy QR code pairing ## Pricing and in-app purchases Base price: Free. **One-time purchases** | Purchase | Price | Type | | --- | --- | --- | | Couchside Forever Unlock | $4.99 | one-time | ## Recent user reviews (7 of 7) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/couchside-remote/id6786884115/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Get this keyboard/mouse replacement *2026-09-06* Best $5 I’ve ever spent. Seamlessly works on my tablet to be a complete keyboard/mouse replacement for my steamOS pc, which is connected to my living room TV. Everything else is a plus - nice to monitor cpu & gpu temps, can switch games or switch to desktop mode right from the app without issue (like when uplay fails to launch for the 1000th time). Seriously get this app before steam hires this developer away! ### 5/5 — Truly Wonderful *2026-09-05* The perfect companion to SteamOS, allows for exceptionally quick library launching, a wonderful interface for interacting with the computer (and your smart TVs!). This is a must buy for me. Everything just works. ### 5/5 — The best app for Bazzite *2026-08-29* Wow. This was money well spent. I’ll never need a keyboard/mouse again. Thanks! ### 5/5 — Perfect for a Steam Big Picture Rig *2026-08-22* I don't leave a lot of reviews, but as a dev myself, I get the importance of it, especially for young projects like this one. I am legitimately impressed by this thing, the various remote/pad types alone are extremely useful, but the system info stuff provided to be valuable a few times. I'd love to see better compatibility with things like Kodi - the selector jumps 2 items every time I swipe, despite playing with combinations of "TV navigation" and "send keys instead of a controller". Either a fix for that, or a way to send button/key combinations would be fire. **Developer response:** Thanks for taking the time to write this — it genuinely shaped the last update. Your ask for a way to send button/key combinations is now built in: hold the keyboard button on the Pad to open a Combos panel with copy/paste plus one-tap Kodi/media shortcuts (context menu, info, play/pause, back). On the Kodi selector jumping two items: I dug in, and the cause is Steam Input quietly duplicating the virtual pad, so Kodi ends up seeing two controllers and each swipe counts twice. I know you already tried the TV-navigation and send-keys settings — in my testing the send-keys path moves one item at a time, so I'd really like you to give this update a run once it lands and tell me whether it behaves on your rig. If it still doubles, send over your setup (distro, and whether Kodi's in Game Mode or on the desktop) and I'll get it fully sorted. Thanks again — this is exactly the kind of feedback that makes it better. ### 5/5 — Great for couch side gaming *2026-07-22* Great app really helpful ### 5/5 — Perfect *2026-07-21* Works perfectly with my set up where I stream between my desk and tv. Thank you! ### 5/5 — Great for couch side gaming *2026-07-16* Great app really helpful ## Frequently asked questions about Couchside ### What is Couchside? Couchside turns your iPhone into a monitor, remote console, game launcher, and controller for your living-room Linux gaming PC. It allows you to see system status, launch games, and control your PC without needing a physical keyboard or mouse. ### What Linux systems does Couchside support? Couchside supports SteamOS, Bazzite HTPCs, docked Steam Decks, and any systemd Linux box. The agent is installed with a single command on your Linux machine. ### Can I launch any game with Couchside? Yes, Couchside discovers installed Steam games and displays them as cover art for easy launching. You can also add custom launchers for non-Steam applications by providing a label and command. ### How does the virtual game controller work? The agent creates a virtual Xbox 360 controller that your Linux PC recognizes. It offers three modes: a full gamepad layout, a swipe-based interface for menus, and a trackpad for desktop sessions. ### Is Couchside secure? Couchside is designed for privacy, communicating only over your local network with no cloud services or accounts. Authentication uses a bearer token stored securely in the iOS Keychain. ### How often is Couchside updated? Couchside was last updated on July 15, 2026, with version 2.7.0. The release date for this version was also July 15, 2026, indicating recent development activity. ### What devices can I use Couchside on? Couchside is available for iPhone and iPad devices. It requires iOS 4+ and is compatible with both platforms. ### Is Couchside free to use? Yes, Couchside is available for free. The application does not have any advertisements or require a subscription. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.9.57 — 2026-09-07 Make the app your own. The customize gesture that was on the Console tab now works on the Fleet and Actions tabs too: tap the sliders icon in the corner (or press and hold any card) to reorder cards and hide the ones you don't use. Your layout is remembered. Coming from an older version? This update also brings: - Theme packs — give the whole app a new look: OLED Black (true black for OLED screens), Steam, Nord, Dracula, Solarized, High Contrast and more, in Setup → Appearance. - A calmer Console that opens to what's happening right now, with lights, display and tools tucked behind one "More" tap. - "Did you know" tips that gently point out features you might have missed — one at a time, never naggy. - Auto-drop the pad: an option so that, while a game is running, your phone stops acting as a controller and can't take player one from your real gamepad. Plus polish and reliability fixes throughout. ### 2.9.56 — 2026-09-06 Theme packs — give the whole app a new look. Choose OLED Black (true black, made for OLED screens), Steam, Nord, Dracula, Solarized, High Contrast and more in Setup → Appearance. The accent picker still layers on top. A calmer Console — it opens to what's happening right now (media, streaming, a running game, your box's vitals), with lights, display, audio and tools tucked behind one "More" tap. A new button in the header lets you reorder or hide any card — tap it, make the Console yours. Auto-drop the pad — for playing with a real controller: turn it on and, while a Steam game is running, your phone stops presenting a controller so it can't take player one from your gamepad. The full pad comes back the moment the game exits. "Did you know" tips — occasional one-line hints introduce features you might have missed, right where they live. One at a time, at most once a day, never naggy — and you can turn them off with the onboarding tour. Plus polish and reliability fixes throughout. ### 2.9.55 — 2026-08-27 New Combos panel — hold the KEYBOARD button on the Pad to open one-tap key combinations: copy, paste, undo and more for the desktop, plus Kodi and media shortcuts (play/pause, context menu, info, back). Turn it on in Setup. See the volume change on your phone the moment you adjust it from Couchside — a quick on-screen readout so you don't have to look at the TV. Have an unlock code? The purchase screen now points you to redeem it in the App Store. New Portal light theme — a flickering orange-and-blue split down your RGB strip. On the Watch screen, Select and Back now work even when the box's window isn't in front, so the pad keeps driving after you switch away and back. If you tinker with OpenPuck receivers, there's a new shortcut to open its configurator right on the TV and drive it with the remote. Plus a snappier connection and reliability fixes throughout. ### 2.9.52 — 2026-08-19 Experimental: drive your streaming apps from the couch. Turn on Watch in Setup to open Netflix, YouTube, Max and more on your box — then swipe the pad to move between tiles, tap to select, and skip forward or back without reaching for a mouse. Open any web page on the TV too, and zoom it for the couch. It's early and opt-in, so expect a few rough edges. Plus a faster feel when a service is starting, and reliability fixes throughout. ### 2.9.50 — 2026-08-14 Encryption now turns on by itself. Once your box has the latest update, the app detects its encrypted connection and locks onto it automatically — the green lock appears on your boxes with no re-pairing needed. Plus reliability fixes and polish. ## More apps by Taylor Emery - [BlueBird Alerts](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bluebird-alerts/id6768893482) - [SplitShot Puzzle Shooter](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/splitshot-puzzle-shooter/id6771167407) All apps by Taylor Emery: https://appshunter.io/developer/1896613747 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-09-08.*