8BitDo for Anki: Zero 2 & micro Setup (and the iPhone Fix)

Why 8BitDo controllers are a favorite for Anki

The appeal is simple: review without holding your phone or touching a keyboard. Map a few buttons to Again / Hard / Good / Easy and Show Answer, and you can grind cards on a treadmill, on the couch, or lying down. 8BitDo's tiny controllers are cheap, fit in a pocket, and have real tactile buttons — which is why they took off in the medical-student Anki community.

Which model: Zero 2 vs micro

Both are great; they differ in feel:

• 8BitDo Zero 2 — keychain-sized, ultra-portable, a bit cramped. Excellent for pocket review.
• 8BitDo micro — slightly larger, more comfortable buttons, includes a dedicated Keyboard Mode switch that's handy for the iPhone route below.

Either works for Anki. If you only review on the phone, the micro's Keyboard Mode is a little more convenient.

Desktop Anki: use Contanki

If you review on desktop Anki, the cleanest path is the Contanki add-on. Install it from AnkiWeb, plug in or pair your 8BitDo over Bluetooth, and map the buttons to review actions. This is a fully free, open path and doesn't involve a phone at all.

The iPhone problem nobody mentions

Here's the catch that trips people up: AnkiMobile (the official iOS app) won't accept the small 8BitDo controllers in gamepad mode. AnkiMobile only listens to Apple's GCExtendedGamepad profile, and the Zero 2 / micro don't expose it. So the exact cheap controllers people buy for Anki work great on desktop and silently do nothing in AnkiMobile.

The fix: bridge the controller through your phone

The workaround is to put the controller into Keyboard Mode and let an app that listens for keyboard events forward the presses. The Guru Anki Remote does exactly this: Guru listens for both Apple's GCExtendedGamepad profile and GCKeyboard events (which is what 8BitDo's Keyboard Mode sends), then forwards the matching review action to desktop Anki over Wi-Fi.

The result: plug the Zero 2 / micro into your iPhone (or pair over Bluetooth) in Keyboard Mode, and the controllers AnkiMobile rejects suddenly drive your reviews — because the phone is the device in the middle. Full background in the free wireless Anki remote comparison.

Button mappings

In Keyboard Mode, the defaults map cleanly to Anki's review keys:

• 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 → Again / Hard / Good / Easy
• Space → Show Answer
• R → Replay audio · Z or U → Undo

If you're using an MFi gamepad instead of an 8BitDo in Keyboard Mode, Guru also maps the standard face buttons (A → Good, B → Again, X → Hard, Y → Easy, shoulder buttons → Show Answer / Replay).

Setting it up, end to end

1. Pair the 8BitDo to your iPhone and switch it to Keyboard Mode (check 8BitDo's button combo for your model).
2. Install the Anki Remote add-on on desktop Anki (code 1196082853) and pair your phone by scanning the QR code.
3. Open a deck on the desktop and press a button — the card flips and rates. Done.

FAQ

Do I need both Contanki and Guru? No. Contanki is for driving desktop Anki directly from a controller plugged into the computer. The Guru route is for when the controller is on your phone and you want it to drive the desktop. Pick whichever matches where your controller is.

Will the 8BitDo work directly in AnkiMobile? The small models (Zero 2 / micro) generally won't, because of the GCExtendedGamepad limitation. Bridging through Guru is the way around it.

Is there any cost? The controller is ~$20-30. The Anki Remote add-on and remote feature are free; Contanki is free.

← All posts