Help

Getting the most out of SofaBox on Windows and Android.

Windows setup

1. Run the installer (or the portable version). SofaBox opens in full screen — press F11 to switch between full screen and a window.
2. Press + to add games: import your Steam or Epic library, add any PC program, or add a web page.
3. Xbox controllers: the Guide button brings you back to SofaBox from any game. To stop Windows from also opening Game Bar, go to Settings → Gaming → Xbox Game Bar and turn off "Open Xbox Game Bar using this button on a controller".
4. PlayStation, Switch and 8BitDo controllers work too, including their Home / PS button. If yours isn't detected, turn on Back + Start = Home in Settings → Controller, or use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Shift+Home.
5. Want SofaBox ready whenever you pick up a controller? Turn on Start with Windows. SofaBox waits in the tray and jumps to full screen when a controller connects.

Android setup

SofaBox works right after installing. These optional steps make it feel like a console:

1. Allow restricted settings (needed for apps installed outside Google Play): Settings → Apps → SofaBox → ⋮ → Allow restricted settings.
2. Turn on the Home button service: Settings → Accessibility → Installed apps → SofaBox Home button (or tap Turn on in SofaBox's Settings → System; SofaBox first explains what the service does and asks you to agree). It lets you control your phone with a game controller: your controller's Home button (or Select + Start) bring you back to SofaBox, opens SofaBox when you plug into a TV or DeX, makes DeX windows full screen, powers button mapping and mouse mode, and closes the old game when you switch.
3. Optional: make SofaBox your Home app so the phone's Home button always goes to SofaBox.

Emulators

1. Install the emulator you want (RetroArch, Dolphin, NetherSX2, DuckStation, PPSSPP, Eden …) and make sure it runs a game on its own.
2. In SofaBox: + → Manage emulators → Add emulator and pick the preset. On Windows, point it to the emulator's .exe.
3. + → Scan a ROM folder and choose the folder with your games. Each game gets a tile.

Tips

• RetroArch on Android needs All files access (in RetroArch's app settings) and the right core downloaded in RetroArch first.
• Name ROMs like Super Mario World (USA).sfc to get cover art automatically.
• If an emulator has no preset, choose Custom. On Windows you can add a post-launch macro that presses keys (for example 3000 {F11} for full screen).

Artwork

Steam games and many emulator games get artwork automatically. For everything else (Switch, Epic, Android …) SofaBox can download cover art for free, and background art for each game with SofaBox Pro:

1. Sign in at steamgriddb.com (free), then open Preferences → API and generate a key.
2. Paste it in SofaBox: Settings → Library → Artwork, then press Find missing artwork now.

Covers are downloaded in all three tile shapes (portrait, landscape and square), so changing Settings → Look → Tile shape shows the matching picture.

You can also set any image yourself: press X on a game → Change cover art. Your own cover is used for every tile shape.

To put one picture of your own behind the whole library (free), use Settings → Look → Background image. To start over, Settings → Library → Remove all artwork clears every game's covers and backgrounds; your games stay.

Web games

• Add a web page or cloud gaming site with + → Web page / link. Web games get their own Web tab in your library.
• They open full screen inside SofaBox: the Home button brings you back and SofaBox can close them, like any game. Sign-ins are remembered. To use your normal browser instead, edit the game and choose Open web pages in → My web browser.
• Ads are blocked with the same filter lists as uBlock Origin (uBlock filters, EasyList, EasyPrivacy, Peter Lowe's list). Turn it off or update the lists in Settings → Web. Ads served by the site itself, such as YouTube's, can still appear.

TV & Samsung DeX

Step by step: How to play games on Samsung DeX with a controller.

• TV (HDMI / USB-C): plug your phone in and SofaBox moves to the TV, scaled to fit. Your phone's resolution is never changed. Adjust TV interface size and TV safe area in Settings → TV.
• Samsung DeX: SofaBox and your games open full screen on the DeX desktop, and SofaBox can open automatically when DeX starts (both need the Home button service).

Controls

• A / ✕ — play or resume · B / ○ — back
• X / □ — game options (edit, cover art, favorite, quit) · Y / △ — add games
• LB / RB — switch tabs · Start — settings · Select — search
• Home / Guide — back to SofaBox from any game
• Hold Home / Guide for 1 second for mouse mode (SofaBox Pro) (Windows and Android) — the left stick moves a pointer, A clicks and the right stick scrolls, so you can use any app with your controller. Hold again to switch back. On Windows it works with Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and 8BitDo controllers; turn it off or change the pointer speed in Settings → Controller.
• Button mapping (SofaBox Pro): give a button a new job that works everywhere, even inside games, in Settings → Controller → Button mapping (for example View → Screenshot). On Android the game no longer sees a mapped button; on Windows it still does, so map buttons your games don't use.
• Keyboard: arrows or WASD, Enter, Esc. Mouse: click, scroll the wheel or drag the tiles; right-click a tile for options.

Still stuck?

Email support@otbvision.com with your device, what you tried and a screenshot if you can.