Review Insights · App Store
Backbone - Next-Level Play
Backbone Labs, Inc · 98,282 ratings · ★ 4.8
4.8
★★★★★
98,282 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 44 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"backbone"
17 negative reviews mention this · 39% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Complete scam. I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and…" - JerryCJr1997
2
"controller"
16 negative reviews mention this · 36% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Misleading subscription page. I have to controller for the app but when I open the app it’s permalocked on a 40 dollar subscription page with no exit button. Genuinely no point of having the controller if it’s gonna force me to pay more on an app just to use it. I used …" - Cryst_su
3
"play"
13 negative reviews mention this · 30% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Complete scam. I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and…" - JerryCJr1997
4
"game"
11 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Complete scam. I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and…" - JerryCJr1997
5
"work"
11 negative reviews mention this · 25% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Misleading subscription page. I have to controller for the app but when I open the app it’s permalocked on a 40 dollar subscription page with no exit button. Genuinely no point of having the controller if it’s gonna force me to pay more on an app just to use it. I used …" - Cryst_su
6
"subscription"
10 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Misleading subscription page. I have to controller for the app but when I open the app it’s permalocked on a 40 dollar subscription page with no exit button. Genuinely no point of having the controller if it’s gonna force me to pay more on an app just to use it. I used …" - Cryst_su
7
"phone"
10 negative reviews mention this · 23% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Complete scam. I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and…" - JerryCJr1997
8
"bought"
9 negative reviews mention this · 20% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Complete scam. I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and…" - JerryCJr1997
9
"games"
8 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Complete scam. I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and…" - JerryCJr1997
10
"money"
7 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Complete scam. I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and…" - JerryCJr1997
11
"year"
7 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Complete scam. I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and…" - JerryCJr1997
12
"working"
7 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "says a game which i play with controller lacks controller support. the app wants me to leave a review on the game so that it gets controller support but the game already has controller support, also i cannot remap the buttons so the confirm button is on the right side like the nintendo orientation i am use…" - a_cass.
📋 All 44 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Misleading subscription page
I have to controller for the app but when I open the app it’s permalocked on a 40 dollar subscription page with no exit button. Genuinely no point of having the controller if it’s gonna force me to pay more on an app just to use it. I used the app only once before and it worked fine but now it’s stuck on the subscription page even when I made a new account.
Complete scam
I bought my Backbone for the PS a few years ago and at first it was pretty dang cool but now I can’t play any PS4 games unless my PS4 is turned on. I can’t play it away from the house because I lose internet connection and which is dumb and if I want to play certain games I have to download it onto my phone which is just plain stupid. Then to play any of the Xbox games I have to pay for a plan even though I’m already paying for a backbone subscription. A complete scam and waist of money and time. Don’t buy or a backbone.
says a game which i play with controller lacks controller support
the app wants me to leave a review on the game so that it gets controller support but the game already has controller support, also i cannot remap the buttons so the confirm button is on the right side like the nintendo orientation i am used to, i have to remap in iOS so all the glyphs in game are incorrect.
and they have the audacity to ask for $40 a year to access their garbage 'premium' features.
get your app working correctly first, then add premium sub.
controller is great, everything else about this app is so poorly implemented.
and they have the audacity to ask for $40 a year to access their garbage 'premium' features.
get your app working correctly first, then add premium sub.
controller is great, everything else about this app is so poorly implemented.
Holy backbone fix your controller
My controller is getting out of hand and is keep on putting notifications on my phone by saying “if you want to play backbone get it in the App Store” I didn’t even press the back bone button and still puts up the notification like I’m gonna sue backbone if they don’t fix this and we bought another one just for that to happen again
Stopped working on iOS works fine on Android (Backbone One USB-C)
Got it back in Jan 2024 it was working great until recently. It started with UP on the left stick not working and now the whole left side of the controller doesn’t respond. When I try to calibrate it, the left stick is now stuck going diagonally UP/LEFT and non of the button work on the left side. I plugged it on a spare Android phone and the controller works great as intended. Checked for firmware updates on both iOS and Android and it’s on the latest 1.2.6.
Not worth it
Bad experience trying to get it connect to stream platforms full of adds and pour options for gaming on App Store so in general don’t achieve the reason that I bought it for
Not worth it
The hardware is cool but the app is useless. It literally just serves as a launcher for apps you already need to install on your phone. I got the free trial of the subscription 2 weeks ago thinking it would help my Xbox remote play not use the browser it defaults to but it still does the same thing. Charging $40 a year for that is abysmal. On top of that I’m pretty sure I cancelled my subscription immediately after but still got charged $40 at 2AM saying I still had it. I just don’t see the point in the app or the subscription when remote play for every console already exists. The hardware too sometimes doesn’t get recognized on iPhones and the connectivity is hit or miss. Getting my money back and gonna delete the app
The backbone sucks
I got the back bone it broke in 2h i got a new back bone it broke in 1 day and when you try to contact them it brings you to a page that dose not work lost my money i know they wont do anything about it and if anyone reads this before buying a back bone dont ribbin cabe suck stick drift look at the bad reviews on yt i want my 200 dollars back
App makes the controller act up
Up until recently, I’ve been playing without the app on my phone, which was working great. But now it’s forcing me to have to download the app which sucks in my opinion, it makes the controller constantly take photos when I’m just playing the game and also glitches out. I haven’t had my controller for more than six months so not sure why when I download the app. It makes everything worse instead of better. Imagine being mid game and the remote decides it’s gonna take a screenshot all the while you’re getting shot at and losing your match. Fix the bug! I just wanna be able to play my video game without having to download your app to do so
Don’t work
I click “continue without controller” and it doesn’t let me continue and just stays on the same screen
Unable to continue
I don't know if this is a bug, or if it's intentional, but I am trying to use the app to see if Backbone is something I want to invest in, but I am unable to get past the set up. There's a button that's available that says "Continue without a Controller" which is the option I want to add. Unfortunately, it is unresponsive, yet every other button available works. I tried to use a standard Ps5 controller to see if I can get around the issue, but unfortunately, it didn't seem to work. It seems you cannot continue without a backbone controller
PlayStation backbone
I got one but it physically doesn’t work I’ve updated everything tried a different phone it doesn’t work do not recommend
There’s better apps
Controller remapping doesn’t work while in Bluetooth mode even with a Backbone pro controller. Emulation is locked behind a paywall when there are better emulators for free. Just use the app your gaming platform uses.
.
Whole left side of the controller stopped working and couldn’t be fixed (took about a month to break after i bought the backbone controller from target) after so the app became pretty useless.
THIS CONTROLLER IS NOT GOOD
So I got this controller in early 2024 & by July it already started having problems. Buttons would respond as other buttons & I couldn’t even use it anymore. I recently got a replacement in December and it’s having problems faster than the last one. Most of my buttons have stick drift and playing mobile games or on ps remote play is hard without being able to control the game. I’ve already started using my ps portal more but I’ll promise this. I won’t be using this product anymore until they fix this issue.
Beware of Buggy Subscription Plan and Bad Customer Service.
I bought the annual backbone subscription for $39.99 in September 2025. In October, my subscription suddenly went away.
I contacted support, provided proof of purchase, and instead of fixing the problem, they just gave me a free trial.
3 months later, I get charged $39.99 again. Because the trial ended. So now I have been charged $39.99 twice in less than a year. I contacted support again, give them proof of both purchases, and they refund me $39.99 and cancel my subscription. But I paid $39.99 twice.
So I basically paid $39.99 and don’t have a backbone + subscription to show for it. Customer service was terrible and this company stop $39.99 from me.
I contacted support, provided proof of purchase, and instead of fixing the problem, they just gave me a free trial.
3 months later, I get charged $39.99 again. Because the trial ended. So now I have been charged $39.99 twice in less than a year. I contacted support again, give them proof of both purchases, and they refund me $39.99 and cancel my subscription. But I paid $39.99 twice.
So I basically paid $39.99 and don’t have a backbone + subscription to show for it. Customer service was terrible and this company stop $39.99 from me.
Not letting me play
I try to play games here in the US but it keeps saying this game is not available in my country or region, it won’t even let me download games like rainbow six mobile
I need help on the game. It’s not working.
I was logged in the other day and then now it says I’m not logged in
It don’t work on my device
Look like I just buy a handlebar
Poor product quality
Barely have for a year and the joystick is malfunctioning I never dropped it or had any liquid spilled inside and this was the waste of money spent overall it works good but this worst product that barely lasts for my moneys worth
Can you make the emulator free
The only thing free is using it for supported game
Great hardware ruined by predatory software tactics
The controller itself feels solid, but the setup experience is absolute garbage. As soon as you plug it in and download the required app, it automatically enrolls you in a "Backbone+" subscription trial.
I bought a piece of hardware; I didn't ask for a recurring monthly bill. Forcing users into a subscription funnel just to access the basic features of a controller I already paid full price for is scummy and anti-consumer. If you don't stay on top of your phone’s subscription settings, they’ll start charging you the second the trial ends.
The hardware gets 4 stars, but the company’s "opt-out" business model gets 0. I shouldn't have to dodge hidden fees just to play games on my phone. Avoid if you hate being "subscription-trapped.
I bought a piece of hardware; I didn't ask for a recurring monthly bill. Forcing users into a subscription funnel just to access the basic features of a controller I already paid full price for is scummy and anti-consumer. If you don't stay on top of your phone’s subscription settings, they’ll start charging you the second the trial ends.
The hardware gets 4 stars, but the company’s "opt-out" business model gets 0. I shouldn't have to dodge hidden fees just to play games on my phone. Avoid if you hate being "subscription-trapped.
Would get 5 stars but
Don’t get me wrong. It’s an amazing product. However, a lot of us bought this product for one reason and one reason only to get the Clyde skin in Fortnite. They are still advertising on their website that you can still get this perk. Support is trash and won’t do their job to make things right with its customers
Pack
Never had a subscription and accidentally downloaded and charged my card 40 dollars don’t buy this app it sucks burn in hell
9.9/10
I have to pay for some things but that’s life and a few little bugs with the thing but it’s worth it
Won't connect
It won't connect with everything I try
Control Stopped working
Loved the controller when it worked. But now mostly get device not supported. iPhone 13 Mad Pro.
Y
Great app!!
Can’t Redeem Free offer/Access Cloud streaming Services
So I just got a Backbone One 2nd Gen (Lightning) BRAND NEW. There’s an offer for 3 months Free Apple Arcade, click to redeem, won’t work. Error. Okay then, box says LUNA on it. So it should be connected with Amazon Luna Cloud Streaming. I click the home button, “Go to a Website”. Won’t go to LUNA. Won’t go anywhere.
If I can get some fixes for these, I’d gladly change my review.
EDIT: APPLE ARCADE Redemption: no matter what I do, I always see it, and it says “Failed to Retrieve perk information, please try again later”. Still no solution regardless if i have my Backbone plugged in or not. I can’t get it. The complete setup pops up and then disappears showing only my free reward. Click on “Redeem now”, then the error. Everytime.
AMAZON LUNA: yes, I know you can do all the cloud gaming via the web browser but within the Backbone App itself, there’s a button that says, “go to a website”. Well why would I want to open a website unless it was for cloud gaming, so I typed it in, nothing works. The button does nothing. I thought BACKBONE had a way to make the Web Browser integrated within the Backbone App and it’s Gaming UI.
Also, since I’ve got the Devs for a moment, is there a way to upgrade my current Gen 2 Lightning Backbone One? Better analog? Grip cases? And can the Lightning port built into the Backbone use peripherals? Like use of HUBs or Ethernet plugged through the backbone to access on the phone itself. Can the Headphone Jack do more then just connect headphones? Can I use it with something else plugged in? I’d like to know some specs if possible.
If I can get some fixes for these, I’d gladly change my review.
EDIT: APPLE ARCADE Redemption: no matter what I do, I always see it, and it says “Failed to Retrieve perk information, please try again later”. Still no solution regardless if i have my Backbone plugged in or not. I can’t get it. The complete setup pops up and then disappears showing only my free reward. Click on “Redeem now”, then the error. Everytime.
AMAZON LUNA: yes, I know you can do all the cloud gaming via the web browser but within the Backbone App itself, there’s a button that says, “go to a website”. Well why would I want to open a website unless it was for cloud gaming, so I typed it in, nothing works. The button does nothing. I thought BACKBONE had a way to make the Web Browser integrated within the Backbone App and it’s Gaming UI.
Also, since I’ve got the Devs for a moment, is there a way to upgrade my current Gen 2 Lightning Backbone One? Better analog? Grip cases? And can the Lightning port built into the Backbone use peripherals? Like use of HUBs or Ethernet plugged through the backbone to access on the phone itself. Can the Headphone Jack do more then just connect headphones? Can I use it with something else plugged in? I’d like to know some specs if possible.
Controller disconnected
Controller disconnected
Works okay, some weird quirks though
They asked if I wanted to open a support ticket like I haven’t already opened several and been told by their AI that I’m wrong.
Their AI has now replied to this several times, each time insisting I’m the problem. They can’t accept the fact that they made a mistake.
Update 2:
Looks like Backbone responded again, insisting I’m wrong and asking for details. I literally sent them pictures and details over email, but their stupid AI assistant answered and wasn’t helpful. This company does not care about you. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. They don’t even know how their own app works.
Update 1:
Regarding Backbone’s response to this review, they are 100% WRONG. They are claiming something that I tried before writing this review and it DOES NOT WORK. You get a message telling you to message the game’s developer to add controller support, even if it already does. I’ve actually removed one star from my review because of this, and another star because they use AI as their support agent.
Original Review:
It’s nice that you can add games to your library and easily launch them from there. However, it only lets you do this if these apps support controllers (despite having plenty of games listed that are touch only).
Worse is there are several games that have controller support that Backbone says don’t, and won’t let you add them. This makes no sense why they designed it this way. At the very least, it should warn you that the game might not properly support controllers and add it anyway.
Their AI has now replied to this several times, each time insisting I’m the problem. They can’t accept the fact that they made a mistake.
Update 2:
Looks like Backbone responded again, insisting I’m wrong and asking for details. I literally sent them pictures and details over email, but their stupid AI assistant answered and wasn’t helpful. This company does not care about you. DO NOT BUY THIS PRODUCT. They don’t even know how their own app works.
Update 1:
Regarding Backbone’s response to this review, they are 100% WRONG. They are claiming something that I tried before writing this review and it DOES NOT WORK. You get a message telling you to message the game’s developer to add controller support, even if it already does. I’ve actually removed one star from my review because of this, and another star because they use AI as their support agent.
Original Review:
It’s nice that you can add games to your library and easily launch them from there. However, it only lets you do this if these apps support controllers (despite having plenty of games listed that are touch only).
Worse is there are several games that have controller support that Backbone says don’t, and won’t let you add them. This makes no sense why they designed it this way. At the very least, it should warn you that the game might not properly support controllers and add it anyway.
No idea how this has 4.8 stars
I have no idea how this app has 4.8 stars. I mean I get it. The app is great, the user experience is good. But the app itself has zero value. You need to have either a PlayStation, a game pass subscription, a gaming PC for you to use Steam Link, and even if you want to use GE force you still need a subscription anyway. So you’re only paying to link the apps together instead of clicking on separate apps. Switching apps takes 2 seconds. I dont think we need to pay for that. The app has potential for something bigger and better. You guys need to step it up!
Hard to cancel
My son has the iCloud account. I cancel on my end, but am unable to cancel his account. He has never used the service!!! Do not buy!!!
Review
Do not waste your time buying their subscription and then buying Xbox game pass. This app has a long way to go to even be worth $40 a year! You cannot play all of your Xbox games! You can barely play any damn games at all on this pos app. Don’t waste your time and money on this! Horrible
The app is Okey, but the company is bad
I bought the Backbone pro; took their trial offer of the app pro. After 2 days, I asked for a cancellation for the trial as it it not a product I needed so I returned the item. However, they claimed they could not find my account; then 7 days later they charged $39.99; I then sent the receipt to the customer service so they could locate my account. However, they said the trial was over, I am in an annual subscription, they could cancel next year renewal, but not the current year. This is so ridiculous.
Don’t try the paid subscription as this is totally unacceptable practice.
Don’t try the paid subscription as this is totally unacceptable practice.
DO NOT BUY!!!!!!
This product is notoriously known for the left side of the controller to stop responding. I have both the Xbox and PS versions and both of them within a couple of months the left side stopped responding/working. THEN to make matters worse, they offer you one replacement controller a year (mind you mine broke in a couple months…) but you have to jump through hoops to get it, wait weeks for a response, and even then they might make you start the whole process from the beginning if they feel like some info was invalid or left out. It’s awful. DO. NOT. BUY!
Everything is amazing, controller, app, UI, but…
The emulator, though i know its still in beta i have a very limited amount of time to play my roms before the emulator crashes them, causing me to lose whatever progress i made in the last 13 seconds or less, please look into this and address this as soon as possible i dont want to miss out on the biggest reason im subscribed to backbone+
Horrible
Roms
Not worth it
1st of all you can’t sight into your own Xbox account. And secondly you have to pay for backbone plus if you want to even play one game! 👎
Their controllers suck
Can’t write a review on any shopping website since I’m not the one who bought it so I’ll settle for writing one here. But a friend of mine bought me a backbone for my iPhone 14. The left side failed and is almost completely unresponsive only 1 month after use. If this is the level of quality backbone delivers, I think I’ll just get gamesir devices next time I have money to replace this junk instead
Horrible
It says it fits my phone but it doesn’t fit at all it says it’s for iPhone but it doesn’t fit any iPhone I have and that my girlfriend has it constantly gets stuck on the camera and just doesn’t work waste of money and the game stop won’t even take it back trade it in or give me a new one
Good experience
It lets you play games wirelessly and is super fun but it dose lag and has issues sometimes
Sorry Backbone
So I wish I could give this app a higher rating but I can’t get this to work, like just now 3/24/27 I figured out how to play with my phone case on and I got this like 2-3 YEARS ago but that’s on meI didn’t read what it said on the box UNTIL NOW but other thing like not being able to see any games at all even I the Home Screen and It’s not the wifi because I was playing just fine till I put this on my phone.
This is a good attachment and I do recommend but I just can’t get it to work so sorry (P.S I’m 13 and doing this by myself so…)
This is a good attachment and I do recommend but I just can’t get it to work so sorry (P.S I’m 13 and doing this by myself so…)
It asks for a subscription
I had gotten the back bone for a while and could open the browser for the time until it wants me to pay for a subscription that includes the browser
Sentiment summary
95%
Positive (4-5★)
2%
Neutral (3★)
3%
Negative (1-2★)