What?
Either the Stadia mobile app' needs to at least be able to be installed on more phones, or we need another way to update the controller - say, via USB PC. Not really understanding why this isn't the case already since it comes with a USB cable for charging and input.
Why?
I can't update my controller's firmware because, apparently, none of my devices are compatible with the Stadia app', and as such, I'm unable to install it even for the sake of controller updates. If an issue with the stock firmware renders it disadvantaged or unusable at some point, then I'm left having to spend even more money just to get it back into working order.
Furthermore, this particular process isn't detailed on the controller's store page. Android 6 is listed as a requirement on its store page - is A7 not supported? £59 and no update support.
Hey @GIRTHQUAKE,
Just another thought after chatting with some other folks – you may be able to install it by sideloading it from here https://www.apkmirror.com/?post_type=app_release&searchtype=apk&s=Stadia instead of installing it through the Play Store. You will have to keep it updated yourself, but it's worth a try. WARNING: this is not an officially supported solution! If it works for you, it's better than no solution at all.
The Stadia Controller should update itself as long as it can access your WiFi network when it powers on. See "Critical software updates to your Stadia Controller" in this link: https://support.google.com/stadia/answer/9565956
That said, it sounds like you have a new controller that hasn't been configured yet (and therefore hasn't been added to your WiFi network). It's surprising the app doesn't work on any of your devices. Can I ask what device you have?
Hi @JohnZoidberg,
It's not going to connect to WiFi without a password, and it's best not to remove password authentication from my router just to get it installed in my neighbourhood. This is why the app' is important, and why an alternative way of telling it how to connect is also important (i.e, via the USB cable when connected to a PC that could run software specifically for the controller.)
My phone isn't in the list of supported devices for Stadia. It's a Sony Xperia L1 running Android 7, fully updated. No root. The Play Store won't allow me to install the app', so it's not even a case of trying to run it in experimental mode.
Your phone should be just fine – any Android phone running Android 6 or newer should work. So, it should be supported to install the app for configuring your controller and accessing the store. You may or may not be able to play Stadia games on the phone (there's an experiment you can enable in the app to try it out). I don't know why the Play Store isn't letting you install the app (I installed it on my iMac inside of the BlueStacks Android emulator – if that's possible, you should be able to install it). Here are a couple things I can think of:
Hey @GIRTHQUAKE,
Just another thought after chatting with some other folks – you may be able to install it by sideloading it from here https://www.apkmirror.com/?post_type=app_release&searchtype=apk&s=Stadia instead of installing it through the Play Store. You will have to keep it updated yourself, but it's worth a try. WARNING: this is not an officially supported solution! If it works for you, it's better than no solution at all.
Unfortunately, nothing in that second-last response applied to me. I agree - it doesn't make a lot of sense that my phone is for some reason blacklisted from obtaining the app'.
I did however get it to install and operate fully (even attempted a stream successfully) using your last response, so thank you.
Obviously, I think my suggestion still stands. It would give consumers more options to set up. Imagine if I didn't have a smartphone or Blutooth-capable PC?
I'm glad to hear the side-load method worked! It's still pretty strange, though – I couldn't find any reports of other people having this issue (and people are using the app on Sony Xperia devices).
I agree that this should have been a smoother experience for you. Honestly, setting up the controller should probably be done through the Google Home app instead of the Stadia app (or at least that should be an option). That said, all of Google's Home/Nest products require an app to install, set up, and maintain. They seem to have decided there's a big enough market that they can get away with that requirement. They're very data-driven, so I expect they've done the analysis to come to that conclusion. Like I said, though, this should have "just worked" for you, and I don't know why it didn't.
Your right about stadia. I bought a steelseries Stratus Duo controller just to play stadia games and it was working fine halfway through my resident evil village and then their end stopped working. Because my controller will work within the app, but when I start the game it doesn't want to work after that. The only thing it will do in the game now is let me push the b button and after I push it it gives me the choice of resuming the game or exiting it. Mind you, though, the controller works fine even when I play all my other games outside the stadia app on my phone. Also, when I tried to get help stadia didn't want to help me and they tried to act like I was stupid or something, even though I'm a techie myself and I'm very smart. So, I said screw them and decided to go to Nvidia GeForce now.
Hi everyone,
This is an older post so we're going to go ahead and lock it now. If anyone still needs help after trying the suggestions here, I'd recommend creating a new post so that you can get better visibility in our community.
Thank you,
James