USBoss

USBoss is a USB controller bridge between Android and Linux.

It lets an Android device act as the USB host, forwards supported controller traffic over the local network, and recreates the controller on Linux as a local input device.

Android host app Linux client HID support through /dev/uhid Xbox 360 style XInput support through /dev/uinput Local-network operation with automatic reconnect support USBoss is well suited to setups like an NVIDIA Shield or Android phone/tablet hosting a USB controller dongle and forwarding it to a Linux gaming or streaming machine.

Tested working with:

NVIDIA Shield / Android TV as host Linux as client 8BitDo Ultimate 2C Wireless Controller via 2.4G dongle in XInput mode

How It Works The Android app enumerates supported USB controller interfaces and opens them through the Android USB host APIs. The Linux client connects over TCP and attaches to one or more advertised controllers. Linux sees a local virtual controller created through uinput or uhid

Current Status Supports Android host to Linux client controller forwarding Prefers Xbox 360 style XInput when available Also supports USB HID controllers Supports long-running attach mode and attach-all for multi-controller setups Supports rumble on the tested Linux XInput path

Runtime Notes attach-all is the recommended mode for normal use attach is useful when you want to pin a specific controller manually XInput devices use /dev/uinput HID devices use /dev/uhid If needed, install the udev rule from docs/99-usboss-uhid.rules to avoid running the Linux client as root After an Android reboot, the USB host service can restart automatically with Boot: On Android USB permission may still need to be re-approved after a reboot before controllers become available again If you are using Moonlight and Sunshine, avoid double input by disabling duplicate gamepad forwarding on one side of the session

Limitations Generic USB forwarding is out of scope Xbox One / GIP devices are not implemented Rumble support is currently focused on the tested Xbox 360 style XInput flow With multiple controllers already powered on during an Android reboot, the second controller may require one manual Grant USB action before it reconnects