Hotone Ampero Control

I bought this controller to make it easier to control my looper and record guitar when I’m not sitting at my desk in the studio.

Before buying, I did my usual research—read reviews, watched YouTube videos—and everything looked solid. I even bought a new pedalboard to make room for it, since space was getting tight. I was pretty excited.

I unpacked it, set everything up on the new pedalboard… and then got briefly interrupted by my dog, who decided to chew up the original packaging. Not ideal, but no big deal at the time—the device itself looked great, and the app (at least in the videos) seemed intuitive and easy to use.

But here’s the problem: it’s currently impossible to use the app on up-to-date iOS or macOS devices. It connects, then immediately fails. And without the app, you can’t configure the unit—so it’s basically unusable.

Once I realized it wasn’t user error, I checked Reddit and confirmed the issue: iOS 26 is not supported. I even tried using an old Android tablet, but the app isn’t available for a 2-year-old Android version. I also attempted running an older iPad version on my Mac—same result: connection fails.

I contacted support, and they replied:
“Thanks for your support to Hotone. Yes, it's a known issue that Ampero Control is not compatible with the newest iOS 26. Our R&D team is working on a fix and will release a compatible version in a future update. Really sorry for the inconvenience.”

Since I no longer have the box (thanks to my dog), I can’t return it. So now I’m stuck waiting for a fix to the Bluetooth/app issue.

It’s a shame, because the hardware itself looks excellent, and I’m sure it’s a great product when it works.

I just wish I had known about this compatibility issue before buying. Take care!