DSC Live is an iOS / iPadOS app for driving Disney Galaxy’s Edge interactive droids (BB Series and R/C/A‑TL Series) over Bluetooth Low Energy. It lets you fire actions live, build cue‑based shows, trigger them from MIDI, and run synchronized shows across multiple devices.

This page covers the most common questions and fixes. If something here doesn’t solve it, please reach out with the steps to reproduce, your iOS version, and your droid model.

Quick Start

1. Power on the droid. Make sure the stock remote that came with the droid is OFF. Only one controller can pair at a time, and if the remote claims the link first, DSC will not see the droid.
2. Open DSC and tap Connect (top of the Live Control tab).
3. Set the Unit Type before connecting:
   • BB Series — BB‑8, BB‑9E, R2 style “ball” droids that use heading‑based drive.
   • R/C/A‑TL Series — R‑Series, C‑Series, and the A‑LT astromech bodies that use individual motor IDs.
4. Set the Volume (0–31). Like Unit Type, set this before connecting. Changing it mid‑session may not take effect until you reconnect.
5. Tap Scan (the radio‑waves icon in the upper right of the Connect sheet).
6. When your droid appears under Discovered, tap the › chevron to connect.
7. Wait for the activation chirp — that’s the droid confirming it’s online. The indicator dot at the top of the screen will turn green.

Connection Indicator — What the Colors Mean

The colored dot in the connection bar tells you the BLE state at a glance:

Color	Meaning
Gray	Idle / Disconnected — ready to scan.
Yellow	Scanning or Connecting — give it a few seconds.
Green	Connected — you’re good to go.
Red	Bluetooth is off, not authorized for DSC, or the connection failed.

Tap Connect / Manage to see the full status text and (if red) the underlying reason.

Connection Problems

“My droid doesn’t show up in the scan list”

• Turn off the stock remote. This is the #1 cause. The droid will only advertise/pair with one controller at a time.
• Power‑cycle the droid. Droids drop the BLE link after a short timeout if nothing pairs. A quick off/on puts it back in advertising mode.
• Make sure Bluetooth is on in iOS Settings, and that DSC has permission to use it (Settings → Droid Show Controller → Bluetooth).
• Get closer. BLE range is realistically about 10–15 feet through obstacles. Check the RSSI number on the entry — values closer to 0 are stronger; below about ‑85 dBm can be flaky.
• Battery. A weakly powered droid advertises intermittently. Charge it.

“It connects, then drops”

• Distance / interference from Wi‑Fi or other BLE devices is usually the culprit. Move closer and re‑try.
• Crowded RF environments (cons, parks, weddings) are notorious. If you can, keep the controller device within line of sight.
• If iOS backgrounds the app for too long, the link can drop. Keep DSC in the foreground during a show.

“Bluetooth not authorized”

• iOS Settings → Droid Show Controller → toggle Bluetooth on.
• If you don’t see DSC in Settings, force‑quit and relaunch the app — iOS will re‑prompt for the permission.

“Bluetooth off”

• Pull down Control Center and make sure Bluetooth is enabled (not just toggled off in Control Center, which is temporary — go into Settings → Bluetooth to fully enable).

“I changed Unit Type / Volume but nothing happened”

These two settings are sent during the connection handshake. Disconnect, change the setting, then reconnect.

Live Control

The Live Control tab is the playground — every tile fires its action immediately.

• Tap a tile to fire the action.
• Long‑press a tile → Add to Cue List to drop it into the current show.
• Movement slider sets motor speed for the next move command you send.
• Saved Shows strip at the top plays a stored show with one tap. The Stop button in that section header halts playback.
• Sound Library — pick a bank, tap a numbered track to play it. Long‑press a track to add it to the cue list.

Action categories

• Movement — direct drive. On BB Series, Forward/Backward use heading‑based drive; on R/C/A‑TL Series, individual motor IDs.
• Sounds — eight named sounds plus the full Sound Library (11 banks, multiple tracks per bank).
• Lights — head LED control. On / Off / Flash act on all head LEDs.
• Head — R/C/A‑TL Series head motor commands plus scripted wiggles. The direct head‑motor buttons hide automatically when you’re connected as BB Series (they have no separate head motor).

“The motors don’t stop!”

This is by design. Drive commands run until you tell them to stop. For live driving, send a Stop cue or tap the Stop button after the motion. In a show, put a Stop cue right after any movement cue.

“I tapped a tile and nothing happened”

• Watch the log strip at the bottom of the screen — it shows the exact bytes that went out over BLE. If you see a line, the command was sent; the issue is on the droid side (battery, audio bank loaded, mechanical state).
• If no line appears, you’re not actually connected — the indicator dot will tell you.

Sound Library — bank reference

Bank	Name	Tracks
0	General	6
1	Depot	13
2	Resist	6
3	Uncharted	1
4	Detector	1
5	Antiquities Shop	6
6	The Order	6
7	Activation	1
8	Motor	1
9	Empty	0
10	Blaster	2
11	Thruster	2

Banks/tracks reflect what shipped in the droid’s audio firmware. Not every droid has every bank loaded — empty or silent tracks mean the firmware on that unit doesn’t contain that sample.

Show Builder

The Show Builder tab is where you arrange a timed sequence of cues.

• Tap + to add a cue, or long‑press a tile in Live Control and pick Add to Cue List.
• Drag a row to reorder. Swipe left to delete.
• Each cue has an editable label, a wait‑after slider (how long to pause after the cue fires), and — for Wait cues — a duration slider.
• Tap GO to play. It turns into STOP while the show is running.
• The currently‑firing cue highlights yellow.
• Use the File menu (folder icon) to Open, Save, Save As, or start a New Show.

“My show plays too fast / cues run on top of each other”

Most cues fire and return instantly — they don’t have a built‑in duration. Add a Wait cue (or set a wait‑after value on the preceding cue) to give a sound or movement time to play out before the next cue fires.

“A movement cue keeps running into the next cue”

Same answer: motors don’t auto‑stop. Add a Stop cue after the move, with a Wait cue between if you want the motion to play out first.

“I saved a show but can’t find it”

Saved shows live in the app’s local library, accessible from:

• The File menu on Show Builder (Open).
• The Saved Shows strip at the top of Live Control.
• The Show selection picker on Show Control (for synced playback).

If you deleted the app, the local library went with it. Back up shows you care about by exporting before reinstalling.

Show Control (MIDI + Synced Playback)

MIDI Input

DSC accepts Note On messages from any Core MIDI source — USB MIDI interfaces, Network (RTP) MIDI, and Bluetooth MIDI.

• Toggle MIDI Input on to start listening.
• Tap Add Mapping to bind a note to an action. Either drag the slider to the note number, or enable Learn and play the note from your controller — DSC will capture it.
• Swipe a mapping left to delete it.
• Network MIDI uses Apple’s built‑in RTP‑MIDI session. Pair the device from another Mac/iOS host’s Audio MIDI Setup → MIDI Studio → Network.

“MIDI isn’t triggering anything”

• Make sure MIDI Input is toggled on.
• Verify the source is actually sending Note On with velocity > 0 (Note On with velocity 0 is treated as Note Off and ignored).
• Confirm the note number matches the mapping. If unsure, use Learn mode and play the note to capture it.
• For Bluetooth MIDI, pair the controller through Settings → Bluetooth first.
• For Network MIDI, both ends have to be on the same network and have to actively connect to one another in the Network MIDI directory.

Synced Playback

Multiple devices can fire the same show in unison — useful when you have several droids and want them performing together.

• Pick a saved show and a start time on each device controlling a droid.
• Hit Schedule. The Show Control tab shows a • badge while a sync is armed.
• Use the same wall‑clock start time on every device. They each independently fire the show at that moment using their device clock.
• Devices stay in sync via their internal clocks (NTP / iCloud time). On a good network you should see sub‑second accuracy.

“Devices fire at slightly different times”

• Make sure every device has automatic time enabled (Settings → General → Date & Time → Set Automatically).
• Connect every device to the same Wi‑Fi network with internet access for at least a few minutes before show time, so iOS can refresh its clock.
• Cellular‑only or fully offline devices will drift.
• Tiny offsets (tens of milliseconds) are expected — BLE itself has variable latency on the droid side.

“One droid didn’t fire”

• Was the controller device still connected (green dot) at the start time? If it dropped BLE between scheduling and start, the show couldn’t reach the droid.
• Keep DSC in the foreground on every controller device until the show finishes.

General Tips

• Set Unit Type and Volume before connecting. Changes after connect may not apply until reconnect.
• Motors run until stopped. Always pair a movement cue with a Stop cue (or stop button).
• Watch the log strip at the bottom of the screen. It shows the exact bytes sent over BLE — a quick way to confirm a command actually went out.
• Save common sequences (Welcome, Goodnight, Idle Loop, etc.) so you can fire them with one tap from the Saved Shows row on the Live tab.
• Keep DSC in the foreground during a show. iOS may suspend the app in the background and drop the BLE link.
• One controller per droid at a time. The droid’s stock remote, another phone running DSC, or the Disney “Droid Depot” app will all fight for the same BLE pairing. Power down anything you aren’t using.

Known Limitations

• One droid per device. DSC pairs with a single droid at a time. To control multiple droids in unison, use multiple iOS devices and Synced Playback.
• Sound bank availability varies by droid. If a track plays silence, that sample isn’t loaded in your droid’s firmware — there’s nothing the app can do to add it.
• BB Series has no separate head motor. Direct head‑motor controls hide automatically when you connect as BB Series.
• iOS background limits. DSC needs to stay foregrounded during shows. Use a stand or mount and consider disabling auto‑lock during a performance (Settings → Display & Brightness → Auto‑Lock → Never).

Reporting an Issue

If you hit something that isn’t covered above, please include:

• iOS version (Settings → General → About → Software Version).
• Device model (iPhone / iPad model).
• Droid model and Unit Type setting in the app.
• What you tapped or scheduled.
• What you saw vs. what you expected.
• If possible, a screenshot of the log strip at the bottom of the Live Control screen at the moment the issue happened.

Thanks for helping make these droids do their thing.