Zwift Click V2 with Other Trainer Apps — The Ultimate Guide

Q: Do I really have to unlock it every 24 hours?

Not anymore. Since BikeControl 6.0.0, the app handles it itself: the right controller works without any Zwift involvement, and the left controller needs a quick restart every minute (or the classic unlock). On older versions: yes — expect to run the unlock at the start of each session, especially if you only ride a couple of times a week.

Q: Do other Zwift controllers have the same problem?

No. The other Zwift controllers (e.g. Zwift Play, Zwift Ride, Zwift Click V1) do not have this problem and do not need to be unlocked. We hope Zwift will decide to remove this restriction in the future.

The Zwift Click V2 is one of the best-feeling cycling controllers on the market. It's bundled with the Zwift Cog upgrade kit, ships with most modern smart trainers, and the buttons feel genuinely premium. There's just one catch: out of the box, it only really works with Zwift, and now Rouvy.

This is the complete guide to using the Click V2 with every other trainer app — MyWhoosh, TrainingPeaks Virtual, and all the others. We'll cover what's natively supported, what isn't, why the device behaves the way it does, and how to unlock it for use with BikeControl.

🎉 Update (June 2026): BikeControl 6.0.0 finally removes the daily unlock — the Click V2 no longer needs to be unlocked with Zwift every 24 hours. Jump to the details.

The Current Situation

Unlike the original Zwift Click (V1) — which speaks a fairly open Bluetooth protocol — the Click V2 ships with proprietary firmware that expects to talk to Zwift's servers regularly. Specifically, the device requires an encryption handshake that has to be refreshed roughly every 24 hours to keep delivering button events to third-party apps.

For every app outside Zwift and Rouvy, BikeControl acts as the bridge: it pairs to your Click V2, decodes the button events, and translates them into virtual shifts, keystrokes, any many other actions.

Why the 24-Hour Unlock?

Once the Click V2 leaves Zwift's session, the encryption context times out. If you don't refresh it, the device will likely stop sending button events after roughly a minute of being connected.

The fix is to "wake up" the encryption context once per day — either by briefly opening Zwift, or by using BikeControl's built-in Unlock feature. Once unlocked, the Click V2 works reliably in any trainer app of your choice for the rest of the day.

The users raised this with Zwift before — they've removed this kind of restriction on earlier generations of hardware, and we genuinely hope they do so again. In the meantime, BikeControl 6.0.0 ships a proper solution of its own — details below.

Want the full hardware comparison? See our Best Controller for Indoor Cycling post — it covers how the Click V2 stacks up against the Zwift Play, Cycplus BC2, Thinkrider VS200, Shimano Di2, and others.

The Fix: BikeControl 6.0.0

With the help of Sander, a BikeControl user, we were finally able to find a solution: starting with BikeControl 6.0.0, your Click V2 no longer requires unlocking with Zwift every 24 hours — BikeControl keeps the device alive by itself.

The current state of the solution:

Right controller: works perfectly — connect and ride
Left controller: needs a quick restart every minute (or you unlock it with Zwift like before)

Our recommendation for now: customize your button mapping so gear shifting sits on the right controller, and use the left controller only for actions you don't need frequently — screenshots, music, U-turns and the like. That way the restarts won't get in your way.

BikeControl 6.0.0 is available on all platforms. The new unlock is rolling out to Pro users first and will be enabled for everyone once some feedback has been collected.

⚠️ Important: Never update your Zwift controller firmware unless BikeControl recommends it. Firmware updates can change the protocol and break third-party compatibility until we catch up.

How to Unlock the Zwift Click V2

On BikeControl versions before 6.0.0 — or if you want the left controller to keep working without restarts — you have two options for unlocking your Click V2 each day. The first is automated inside BikeControl; the second is a manual fallback that some riders prefer.

Option 1: The BikeControl Unlock (Recommended)

BikeControl has a one-tap unlock built directly into the app.

1. Open BikeControl and go to the Devices tab

2. Tap the "Unlock" button next to your Click V2

3. Follow the on-screen instructions — BikeControl walks you through the handshake step by step

That's it. The Click V2 will keep talking to any trainer app you connect it to for the next 24 hours. A short video walkthrough is available here:

https://youtube.com/shorts/bSQKnpHnWCo?feature=share

Option 2: The Manual Method

If the in-app unlock doesn't work for any reason, the manual approach is to briefly use the Zwift app itself. This refreshes the encryption context on the device, after which any other app can read it.

1. Open the Zwift app (the desktop or mobile app — not Zwift Companion)

2. Log in — a paid subscription is not required for this step

3. Go to the device connection screen

4. Connect your trainer, then connect your Zwift Click V2

5. Keep the Click V2 connected for ~10–30 seconds - confirm by clicking a button on the device

6. Close Zwift completely

7. Open BikeControl and connect the Click V2 normally

Once you've done this, the Click V2 will behave correctly in MyWhoosh, TrainingPeaks Virtual, or any other app you pair it with — for the next ~24 hours.

Heads up: We've tested this with Click V2 firmware 1.1 and 1.2 — both behave the same way and both respond to the unlock procedure. That said, never update your controller firmware unless BikeControl recommends it — firmware updates can break third-party compatibility overnight.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Click V2 work natively in any non-Zwift app? Yes — Rouvy was recently acquired by Zwift, and now officially supports the Click V2 natively. You might prefer using it with BikeControl though, as you're able to fully customize the controller buttons to any action you want, including contorlling music, creating screenshots, and more.

Why does my Click V2 disconnect after one minute? This is the encryption-handshake timeout. The Click V2 silently stops sending button events shortly after its LED enters battery-saving mode if it hasn't been "blessed" by Zwift in the last ~24 hours. Update to BikeControl 6.0.0, or run the unlock procedure, and the problem goes away.

Do I really have to unlock it every 24 hours? Not anymore. Since BikeControl 6.0.0, the app handles it itself: the right controller works without any Zwift involvement, and the left controller needs a quick restart every minute (or the classic unlock). On older versions: yes — expect to run the unlock at the start of each session, especially if you only ride a couple of times a week.

Do other Zwift controllers have the same problem? No. The other Zwift controllers (e.g. Zwift Play, Zwift Ride, Zwift Click V1) do not have this problem and do not need to be unlocked. We hope Zwift will decide to remove this restriction in the future.

Do I need a Zwift subscription to perform the unlock? No. You only need a free Zwift account. The device connection screen — which is all you need to reach for the unlock — is accessible without an active subscription.

Will Zwift remove this restriction? We hope so. Zwift has done this before with earlier hardware generations, and a firmware update would be the cleanest fix. Until then, BikeControl 6.0.0's built-in solution covers it. Make your voices heard.

I unlocked it already, but the buttons still don't work. In seldom cases the device will not respond to the unlock procedure. You can verify this by running the manual procedure outlined above. If you don't even see button reactions in Zwift itself, give the device a few minutes and try again.

BikeControl does not find the Click V2. Check that:

The controller is in pairing mode (LED blinking)
The Click V2 is not still connected to another device (Zwift, Companion app, another phone)
A quick Bluetooth restart on your phone or PC fixes 90% of pairing oddities

My Click V2 connects, but no buttons work. Run the Unlock procedure. If you're on Android, especially on Xiaomi/Redmi or other Chinese-OEM devices, follow the steps on dontkillmyapp.com — disable battery optimization for BikeControl, enable auto-start, and grant the accessibility permission. See GitHub issue #38 for full details.

My Click V2 connects in BikeControl + MyWhoosh, but the gears don't shift. You can always go into the Activity tab in BikeControl and see what's going on. If nothing appears in the Activity tab, you might need to unlock again. For the full MyWhoosh walkthrough, see the Zwift Cog & Click with MyWhoosh setup page.

Do More With Your Zwift Click V2

Once BikeControl is in the loop, your Click V2 is no longer limited to virtual shifting. Every button — including double-click and long-press gestures — can be mapped to anything you like:

Virtual shifting — the obvious one, and it works in every supported trainer app
Steering and U-turns — hold a button to steer your avatar, double-click for a U-turn
Screenshots — grab a screenshot of the moment without reaching for your phone or keyboard
Media controls — play/pause, skip tracks, adjust the volume of whatever's playing on your phone or PC
Workout actions — skip an interval, lap, pause, resume, take a break, or change the difficulty mid-ride
Smart accessories — control your fan, lights, or any other Bluetooth peripheral straight from the bars
Custom shortcuts — trigger arbitrary keystrokes on your PC or Mac, or launch a command

With single click, double click, and long press supported on each button, a two-button Click V2 pad effectively gives you up to 30 distinct actions across the full set — no extra hardware required.

The Bigger Picture

The Click V2 is excellent hardware held back by a single design decision. With BikeControl 6.0.0 that hurdle is finally mostly gone — the right controller just works, and we're polishing the left-controller workaround. Glad to finally offer a proper solution for this.

If this situation frustrates you, and understandably so, here's a list of alternative controllers.

Happy riding.