BetterJoy has exactly one official version line, and it is shorter than most download sites pretend. Davidobot published the first build in February 2018, iterated quickly for two years, and landed on v7.1 in November 2021 — where the official line still sits today. This page is the complete, dated history of that line, taken from the GitHub Releases of the one official repository. At the end, clearly separated, we cover the community fork that now uses v8.x numbering — because it is not part of this history, and confusing the two is how people end up on fake download sites.
The official line at a glance
| Version | Date | What it added |
|---|---|---|
| v1 | 27 Feb 2018 | First release: Pro Controller gyro over Cemuhook, 64-bit only |
| v2 | Mar 2018 | Joy-Con support |
| v3 | Mar 2018 | XInput via ViGEm, rumble, key rebinding |
| v4 | May 2018 | GUI, HidGuardian support |
| v5 | Aug 2018 | Passive scanning, single Joy-Con mode |
| v6 | 3 Apr 2020 | SNES controller, remapping, gyro-as-mouse |
| v6.1 | May 2020 | DS4 emulation; name shortened to BetterJoy |
| v6.2 – v6.4b | May – Oct 2020 | Lag fixes, power-off options, gyro toggles, rumble fix |
| v7 | 18 Nov 2021 | Third-party controller support, gyro-to-joystick |
| v7.1 | 22 Nov 2021 | Hotfix: one config-reading bug (see below) |
As of October 2026, the repository shows 4,799 stars and 392 forks, and the v7.1 ZIP alone has been downloaded about 1.75 million times — figures from GitHub’s own counters, dated here because they keep moving.
2018: from gyro hack to system-wide mapper
v1 — 27 February 2018
The first release (then called BetterJoyForCemu) did one thing: feed a Switch Pro Controller’s motion data to Cemu through Cemuhook, so gyro aiming worked in Wii U games. It was 64-bit only, and the author cheerfully described the gyro as “shaky.” USB support and a recompiled hidapi followed days later in v1.5.
v2 — Joy-Cons arrive
Version 2 (the shipping build was v2c) added Joy-Con support, exposing two Cemuhook controllers — one per Joy-Con — with the choice of which hand supplied the motion data. This is the feature the program is still known for.
v3 — XInput changes everything
v3 added XInput support through the ViGEm driver, plus rumble and key rebinding. From here, a Pro Controller or Joy-Cons could pose as an Xbox controller for the whole system — Steam included — not just for Cemu. A/B and X/Y swap options arrived in the v3a/v3b point builds.
v4 — a GUI, and HidGuardian
v4 (May 2018) replaced the console with a graphical interface and added HidGuardian support to stop Windows and Steam from glitching over the hidden physical controller. It came with a warning that still echoes through our troubleshooting hub: uninstall the old driver before installing the new one, and don’t move the program folder afterwards.
v5 — quality of life
v5 (August 2018) added progressive scanning (leave BetterJoy running; it picks up controllers as you connect them), the first single-Joy-Con mode, a UI rework with battery indication via icon colour, and the option to turn off HidGuardian and XInput emulation — letting BetterJoy serve purely as a gyro source alongside other tools.
2020: the big rebuild
v6 — 3 April 2020
After a gap of a year and a half, v6 was the “huge update”: Switch SNES controller support, full button remapping, gyro-as-mouse, start-minimised-to-tray, multi-pair Joy-Con support, gyro drift fixes, and an option to remove affected devices at shutdown — the ancestor of the cleanup step in our uninstall guide.
v6.1 — DS4 emulation, and a shorter name
v6.1 added DualShock 4 emulation alongside XInput, simplified driver installation, fixed rumble lag, and renamed the project from BetterJoyForCemu to simply BetterJoy (the executable kept the old name, which is why both names still circulate). v6.2 followed with input-lag fixes and power-off options (hold Home for two seconds), v6.3 with gyro-to-trigger mapping and a multiple-instance guard, and the v6.4 alpha/beta pair with mappable shake input, accelerometer fixes and — in v6.4b — a low-battery notification.
2021: third-party controllers, then the hotfix
v7 — 18 November 2021
Version 7’s headline was third-party controller support through an “Add Controllers” button, with calibration values editable in the config file for pads whose gyro or sticks misbehave (see our third-party guide). It also added gyro-to-joystick, a much steadier gyro-to-mouse using a DCM filter, double-click-stick Joy-Con orientation switching, a DoNotRejoinJoycons option, updated ViGEm drivers and DS4 mapping fixes.
v7.1 — 22 November 2021: one fix, honestly
The official v7.1 release notes contain exactly one fix: config reading failed when the Windows locale used a comma as the decimal separator instead of a dot. That is the whole changelog. Any site that lists “Windows 11 memory optimisations,” “calibration enhancements” or other new features for v7.1 invented them — we know, because our own download page used to print such a list, and we removed it. v7.1 remains the latest official release; the repository is not archived, but its last push was in July 2024, so the honest description is “stable and dormant,” not “actively developed” and not “abandoned and deleted.” To install it, follow the update guide or go straight to the download page, where the ZIP is linked from the official release and printed with its measured SHA-256.
Not part of this history: the community fork line
Since 2021 a separate project — d3xMachina’s fork of BetterJoy — has continued development under v8.x version numbers, currently the v8.5 LTS line. It is a community fork by a different maintainer, built on a newer .NET generation, with HidHide replacing the legacy HIDGuardian; Davidobot did not release it and it does not continue the official changelog above. We cover it on its own page, labelled as a fork everywhere: the BetterJoy LTS fork guide. The practical rule: v1–v7.1 = Davidobot; v8.x = the d3xMachina fork. A site offering “BetterJoy v8/v9 official by Davidobot” is mislabelling one or inventing the other — see how to verify a download.
Frequently asked questions
What is the latest official BetterJoy version?
v7.1, released 22 November 2021 as a hotfix to v7. There has been no newer official release. The v8.x builds you may see belong to the d3xMachina community fork, a separate project.
Is BetterJoy still maintained?
The original repository is dormant (last push July 2024) but not archived or deleted, and v7.1 still works for its original purpose. Active development continues only in the community fork.
Which version should I install?
For the classic, most-tested behaviour, v7.1 from the official release. If you want current maintenance, newer runtimes and HidHide, read the fork guide and decide with the trade-offs in front of you.
More trust and safety context lives in the Versions & Trust hub.