Google Stadia has figured out a way to ditch the fancy gamepad for TV play

Today, there’s only one official way to play Google’s Stadia game streaming service on your 4K TV — the last-gen Chromecast Ultra, connected to the company’s proprietary Stadia Controller over Wi-Fi. That’s because Google hasn’t yet brought Stadia to the new-and-improved $50 Chromecast, and its predecessor didn’t support Bluetooth, meaning the only way to pair a controller was to loop through Google’s servers in the cloud.

But Google now has a workaround, 9to5Google reports. There’s a new “bridge mode” hidden in the latest version of the Stadia app on Android that should let you send controller signals from your phone — letting you play Stadia with your phone’s touchscreen, or even connect another gamepad to your phone. You’ll be able...

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