How to control a Mac mini on your TV from the couch

A Mac mini makes a fine home theatre. The catch is that there is no remote, and a keyboard on your lap is a poor way to watch anything. If you already own a game controller, you already own the remote.

The setup

Connect the Mac mini to the TV by HDMI and pair a controller over Bluetooth in System Settings. A PlayStation pad can also use a USB cable with no pairing. Install Ottoman, which sits in the menu bar. It needs an Apple silicon Mac, macOS 15 or later.

One thing to do at the desk, once: macOS makes you allow Accessibility by hand, with a keyboard or mouse. After that, the couch takes over.

Safari, YouTube and Plex from the sofa

The left stick moves the pointer and Cross clicks. The right stick scrolls long pages and lists. L1 and R1 switch tabs. Holding R2 slows the pointer so small buttons are easy to hit on a TV across the room.

The "Couch browsing" preset puts back, forward and paging on the face buttons and D-pad, with faster scrolling. For video, "Media remote" puts play, skip and volume on the buttons. Pick either preset in the mapper, then change anything you like. Couch browsing uses Triangle for the address bar, so push-to-talk is not on Triangle while it is loaded.

Typing, volume and sleep

Hold L2 and press R2 for an on-screen keyboard. It does not steal focus from the page you are searching in, and the left stick moves across the keys. Prefer to talk? With the default map, hold Triangle and use a dictation app that listens for Right Command.

Play, pause, volume up and down, and mute can go on any button. There is no sleep button in the default map, so choose Sleep from the Apple menu with the pointer.

Try it on your own Mac

No terminal, no JSON, nothing to build. Download, press a button, done.

Download the free trial

14-day free trial, no account. $29 one time. Refund within 14 days, see the terms.

Questions

Does it work on an Intel Mac mini?

No. Ottoman needs an Apple silicon Mac running macOS 15 or later.

Can I use the Mac mini without a keyboard at all?

Almost. You need a keyboard or mouse once, to allow Accessibility. After that the controller does the rest, with the on-screen keyboard and dictation for text.

Does it work in full-screen video?

In general, yes. It sends the same pointer and key input as a keyboard and mouse. Test your own player during the free trial to be sure.

I also play Steam games on this Mac.

When a Steam game or the Steam app is in front, Ottoman steps aside so the game gets the pad.

Known issue: Spotlight closes while I hold a button

On macOS 26, holding a controller button while Spotlight is open can close Spotlight. Use the keyboard there for now.