Every theme in GammaOS Nano moves the same way, so once you learn it in one home you know them all. Here is how to get around quickly with your controller (and with touch, if your handheld has a touch panel).
The core controls
Four buttons do almost everything on the home:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| D-Pad | Move around. Up/Down move through a list, Left/Right move across XMB categories |
| A | Confirm or launch the highlighted item (also opens a submenu) |
| B | Back one level, exit a submenu, or close a dialog |
| Options | The Options button (Triangle glyph) opens the context menu for whatever is highlighted |
The Options button is the same physical button as X on the pad. You can also open the Options menu with Tab on a keyboard or a middle-click with a mouse.
A couple of extra buttons come in handy on the home:
- Y cycles Sort By in game and media lists (in Music it cycles the visualizer, in Photo it swaps 2D/3D).
- Select opens global Search from anywhere on the home.
Hold to scroll faster
Long libraries are no problem. Hold a D-Pad direction and the list starts to accelerate: it begins after a short delay, then speeds up the longer you hold, so a big collection flies by. Let go to stop on the item you want.
The DSi carousel at the top level scrolls at a steady, gentle pace, and only kicks into the accelerating scroll once you drill into a list.
Page-skip and reordering with L1 / R1
The shoulder buttons give you big jumps and quick reordering:
- Inside a drilled game or media list, L1 jumps back 10 items and R1 jumps forward 10 items. This is the fastest way through a large library.
- On the home level (on a game-system row), L1 and R1 reorder that system up or down the list.
- Also at the home level, L1 can toggle XMB / text mode and R1 can toggle Quick Resume.
Lists wrap around
You never hit a dead end. Press Up on the first item and you wrap to the last item, and press Down on the last item to wrap back to the first. The analog stick and HAT behave exactly like the D-Pad, so use whichever feels natural.
Touch, mouse and keyboard
If your handheld has a touch panel, tap a row to select and activate it, drag to scroll a list, and fling the DSi carousel (it snaps to the nearest slot). You can also drag slider tracks, tap Yes/No/OK in dialogs, and tap the dimmed area around a dialog to cancel.
USB mice and keyboards work too. For the full mapping, see Mouse and Keyboard.
Learn more
For the complete button chart and the system-wide shortcuts (like brightness and the Power menu), see OS Controls. To master the Options button, head to Context Menus.