Windows 10 / 11 (beta)
Your phone runs the gaming PC.
Couchside puts a remote, a game launcher, a keyboard, and a backup controller for your Windows gaming PC on your phone — over your own Wi-Fi, no cloud, no account. Start a couch session, launch any game to the big screen, type into search and login boxes, drive menus and volume, and glance at what’s running.
We don’t stream your game off the PC — it stays on the TV where it belongs. Your phone is the remote, not the screen.
Double-click to install — it sets up the service and shows a PIN and a QR. It’s unsigned for now, so Windows SmartScreen shows a one-time “More info → Run anyway”; the admin prompt after that is the normal Windows UAC. Prefer the terminal? PowerShell one-liner below ↓
Free for a week, then a one-time $4.99 unlock on the phone app — no subscription, no accounts. Same app as Linux / SteamOS; it adapts to whatever your box can do.
What your phone does on Windows
The couch controls, in your hand.
Couchside doesn’t replace your monitor or your gamepad — it replaces getting up. The phone is the thing that starts a session, un-sticks it, and drives it from across the room.
Launch any game to the big screen
One cover grid for your whole library — Steam, Epic, GOG, and Xbox / Game Pass. Tap a game and it starts on the TV, not on your phone. No more walking to the desk to open a launcher.
Type from the phone
Your phone keyboard drives the box: a Steam search, a launcher login, a product key, a browser bar. The one thing a gamepad is miserable at, done in a second.
Remote & volume
Roku TVs, media playback, and the PC’s own volume from the same screen. The living-room remote you actually lost, on the device you never do.
A backup controller
A full virtual Xbox pad over Wi-Fi (via ViGEmBus) for when you can’t find yours or the batteries died. Not a replacement for the pad you own — the one that’s always in your pocket.
Glance at what’s running
What game’s open, which controllers are connected, and a shortcut to the desktop when something wedges — without reaching for a mouse.
Beta, and honest about it
Newer than the Linux build.
Couchside started on SteamOS / Bazzite, and that’s still the most polished target. The Windows service does the above today, but it’s younger — expect the odd rough edge, and please file anything you hit. TV support on Windows is Roku for now; more brands are on the Linux build and porting over.
The installer is unsigned while it earns a reputation, so the first double-click trips SmartScreen once. Everything is open — the Windows agent source and the install script are right there to read.
Install on the PC
One double-click, about 15 seconds.
Install the tiny service on the gaming PC, then scan the PIN it shows with the phone app. No dependencies, no account.
Get the installer on the PC
Double-click it. Unsigned for now, so Windows SmartScreen shows a one-time “More info → Run anyway”; the admin prompt after that is the normal Windows UAC.
Prefer the terminal? In PowerShell (asks for admin via UAC):
> irm https://couchside.tv/install.ps1 | iex
Either path installs the same unprivileged service that can only run an audited allowlist of commands — no root daemon. Read the install script →
Get the phone app
Install Couchside on your phone, then point it at the PC and enter the PIN (or scan the QR).
Full walkthrough (with the QR-pair step and troubleshooting) is on the Get started page →