Open Joystick Display For Mac

Streaming is big business nowadays, and there are plenty of streamers who prefer to play controller-friendly games and would like to show their viewers exactly what they are doing at all times. Specialized streaming software doesn't always offer this feature, but there are plenty of third-party plugins or applications that can come to the rescue. Open Joystick Display is an open-source app designed to be used together with your streaming software. It generates an overlay that highlights every action on a virtual controller and helps viewers follow your gameplay. This overlay can be placed anywhere on your screen using your preferred streaming solution.

Whether you want to use an Xbox, PlayStation or Nintendo controller, this app has you covered. There are pre-configured mappings that you can load instantly, and you can also create new ones if the available options aren't to your liking.

From the right-hand sidebar, you can specify which button should be associated with each label on the overlay, as well as fine-tune dead zones and add triggers for various other actions. All your settings are saved to a profile, and you can switch between them instantly.

Once your mappings are in order, you can choose a theme that best fits your stream. Some of them show the entire controller, while others keep only the buttons for a more minimalistic style. The background color can also be changed.

When everything is done, simply press ESC to switch to broadcast mode. The configuration interface will be hidden, and only the small overlay window will be left on your screen. Using a streaming application like OBS, you can put the overlay anywhere on your stream fairly easily.

If you use only one Mac for both gaming and encoding, you can just stick to the client app. However, if you need the overlay to run on your streaming system, you will have to install the server on the Mac you use for gaming. Once you've done that, it is a simple matter of selecting the server as the input driver from the client app.

While streaming from a Mac may not be all that common, this is a great controller overlay solution for broadcasters who prefer this platform. It is very easy to set up, it comes with support for an impressive number of devices, and it can even be extended with user-made themes and controller mappings.