Uplink

What it is

Uplink: FPV Sim Controller turns an iPhone into a transmitter for desktop flight simulators. Stick and switch input from the phone streams to Uplink Companion, a free app on the computer running the simulator, over your own Wi-Fi or a USB cable — and the simulator reads it as a controller.

The phone is already in your pocket. Sim practice normally means owning a radio and remembering to pack it; this is for the evening you want to fly and the radio is in the other bag, and for anyone deciding whether the hobby is for them before spending anything on hardware.

The controls

• Flight axesThrottle, yaw, pitch and roll, 100 times a second over Wi-Fi or a USB cable
• SwitchesFive, laid out like a RadioMaster Pocket: arm, rate profile, turtle, beeper, and one you assign
• Stick feelRates, expo and dead band, per axis
• Stick modeMode 1 or mode 2
• PairingScan the QR code on your computer, type the 9-digit code under it, or tap once while the pairing window is open
• Other devicesYour computer also serves a controller in the browser, for phones and tablets that cannot install Uplink

It is not a simulator — the simulator on your computer draws the flying. It is not a radio, and not for flying real aircraft.

Your simulator

Will it work with my simulator? If your simulator reads a standard game controller, yes — that includes Liftoff, VelociDrone, Uncrashed, TRYP and DRL.

Platform support

• WindowsAvailable now
• macOSAvailable now
• LinuxNot ready yet

Uplink Companion is out now for macOS and Windows, and it is free. The iPhone app is not on the App Store yet. Download has the companion and the current state of each platform.

How it works

1. Install Uplink Companion on the computer running the simulator.
2. Open Uplink on your iPhone, on the same Wi-Fi as the computer — or plug the phone in with a USB cable if the Wi-Fi keeps them apart.
3. The phone and the companion pair directly — no account and no internet connection required.
4. The simulator sees a controller. On macOS it is listed as Uplink Transmitter; on Windows it appears as an Xbox 360 controller, because Windows names it after the driver, not the app.

Where it stands

The desktop companion is out. The iPhone app is finished and heading to the App Store, so there is no store link to give you yet. If you want one email the day it appears there, that is the whole list — one message, no newsletter.

The iPhone app's free version is the whole flying experience: pair, fly, lay out your own sticks, one saved model, three rate profiles.