Starting on Wednesday, it’ll be much easier to switch between devices with your PlayStation controller. That’s when the PS5 update Sony promised in July begins rolling out. Jumping between your console and, say, Windows will be as simple as pressing a button combo. Up to this point, you’ve had to unpair and repair your DualSense controller each time.
After installing tomorrow’s system update, it will only take a few steps to set up multi-device switching. With your DualSense controller powered off, press and hold the PS button and one of the action buttons. (That’s triangle, circle, cross or square.) Hold that combo for over five seconds. The light bar and touchpad LED will flash twice. From there, open the target device and pair the controller via Bluetooth settings.
You can pair four slots: one each for triangle, circle, cross or square. After that, switching will be as easy as holding down the PS button and the device’s assigned action button. DualSense controllers are compatible with Windows, macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS and Android.
Tomorrow’s PS5 update also adds a new energy-saving mode. In system settings, you’ll find a new option called Power Saver. This option reduces your console’s energy consumption by scaling back performance for supported games. Games will need to be updated to support it. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach, Demon’s Souls, and Ghost of Yōtei will be first in line.
I’m not sure how many people will want that tradeoff. Sony even went out of its way to stress that your games will still play the same unless you explicitly activate the feature. “If not enabled, or if games do not support the feature, the performance will not be scaled back and power consumption will not be reduced,” it wrote. But at least a new green-friendly option is there. The planet needs all the help it can get.
