How I use my phone to make playing console games even better

PlayStation App

Download games, message friends and more

The PlayStation App can do basically everything your PS4 or PS5 can do, except play games. I've used it most often to buy things from the PlayStation Store and start the installation process on my PS5, but the app offers access to the console's social features, too.

The only downside of the PS App is that if you let it, the app will send you notifications for just about everything that happens on your console.

You can see what friends are online, send messages and even start a voice chat all from the app. Critical for anyone using the PS App for remote downloads, you can also manage the storage on your console, deleting games to make room for the new one you want to download. The only downside of the PS App is that if you let it, the app will send you notifications for just about everything that happens on your console. You can disable notifications if you don't want them, but I have found it handy to get a nudge when the game I want is on sale.

Xbox

Console management and an Al assistant

The Xbox app offers a similar set of features to the PlayStation App in the sense that it carves out many of the game management and social components of Microsoft's console into something you can access on your phone. I've primarily used the app to see what games are available on Game Pass, but you can also start downloads and manage your Xbox's storage directly from the app.

Besides social features like seeing what friends are online and what they're playing, the app also features Microsoft's Gaming Copilot beta, which can offer game recommendations and help when you're stuck in a particularly challenging game. The AI assistant isn't reportedly all that helpful, but at least Microsoft is trying something different. Even if you don't want to mess with AI, the Xbox app is also a great way to access any screenshots you've taken on your console so that you can share them on social media.

PS Remote Play

Stream games from your console to your phone

While there are great third-party options for streaming games from your PlayStation 5 to your computer or Steam Deck like Chiaki, PS Remote Play is your best option for your phone, particularly if you own an iPhone. The app creates a wireless connection between your console and your smartphone so you can play games when you're away from your TV. It's limited by the speed of your Wi-Fi and the strength of your connection, but when it works, it just works.

The app includes on-screen touch controls, but you'll get the best experience using an actual controller. Unfortunately, the app only recognizes a limited set of options at the time of writing: the PS4 DualShock 4, the PS5 DualSense controller and the Backbone One PlayStation Edition phone controller. Those limitations might be enough to drive you towards something like the PlayStation Portal, which can also stream games directly from the cloud, but it's worth having something you can use on your phone, too.

Nintendo Store

Keep on top of Switch sales from your phone

Nintendo's recently released Nintendo Store app is best understood as the dedicated mobile version of its website, offering news on upcoming hardware and games, and a way to check how long you've played your games, alongside the ability to buy them and download them directly onto your Switch.

Making purchases opens an in-app browser window where you can pay with whatever card you have on file (and avoid Google or Apple taking a cut of the transaction), but what I've found most useful is the wishlist function. With the Nintendo Store wishlist, I was able to build a collection of games I'm interested in and sort the list by which ones are on sale. Once a good enough deal rolls around, I just buy them on my phone so they're ready to download on my Switch 2 the next time I pick it up.

Nintendo Switch App

Access second-screen experiences and screenshots

Before Nintendo had an on-device way to handle voice chat (a responsibility filled by Game Chat's video and voice calls on the Switch 2), the Nintendo Switch App served a more critical purpose. Now it's just a way to access your friends list, screenshots and the second-screen experiences you get by paying for Nintendo Switch Online. Those include things like Nook Link, for managing in-game features in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Zelda Notes, which tracks where you visit in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and unlocks extra pieces of lore you can read inside the Nintendo Switch App.

If none of those features float your boat, I've gotten the most use out of the app as a quick way to access screenshots from my Switch, something that used to be much harder to do. After a bit of setup, you can view and download the images and video clips you've captured, and use them for whatever you want on your phone, whether it's sharing to social media or using them as a profile picture.

Steam Mobile

Buy games and securely sign-in

Like the PlayStation and Xbox apps before it, Steam Mobile tackles the social elements of Valve's Steam launcher and marketplace (community pages, friends lists, etc.) along with the commercial elements, as well, like sales, recommendations, and store pages. If you want the easiest way to impulse buy games during a sale, then Steam Mobile is it.

Steam Mobile can even specifically notify you when a game you're eyeing is on sale.

The app offers wishlist and sale tracking features like the Nintendo Store app, and makes buying things ridiculously easy. That shouldn't detract from its more practical uses, though. I regularly use Steam Mobile as an easy two-factor authenticator when I need to log in to the Steam website or launcher on a computer I've never used before, thanks to a feature called Steam Guard.

DeckSettings

Get every game running great on your Steam Deck

Valve's Steam Deck is amazing for its ability to run most Windows games in a handheld form factor (on Linux, no less), but it is ultimately a PC and that means you might have to tinker with settings to get the best experience and performance out of your favorite games.

Websites have sprung up since the Steam Deck was launched to catalog the optimal settings for each game, but the DeckSettings app saves you the trouble and compiles multiple of those databases in one place (including Valve's Steam Deck Verified list, ProtonDB, ShareDeck, and SteamDeckHQ). You can find out it a game will run on your Steam Deck and how to make it run better if it's not up to snuff when you first download it. The app is not a miracle worker -- some games just run on the Steam Deck's specs or on Linux -- but it can really expand the options available to you.

Make your gaming life as convenient as possible

Game consoles aren't hard to use, but if you can make everything even easier, why wouldn't you? This list of apps hopefully illustrates that there are multiple ways you could optimize your experience, or at the very least, buy games and not have to wait for them to download.

Once you're set up with your app and console of choice, you might want to try tracking and logging the games you're playing. If that sounds like you, Pocket-lint has another list covering all the best apps that can help you do that.