After All That, Sony Unceremoniously Rolls Out PS4 Remote Play To All Android Devices
from the too-late dept
Remote play capability for the Playstation 4 has been something of a twisted, never ending saga. One of the most useful features of the gaming console, Sony has jealously guarded the ability to play its flagship console remotely on all kinds of devices. Originally, the only way you could connect to your PS4 was if you bought a Playstation Vita, a product all but abandoned at this point, or a Sony Xperia Android phone, a line of products the public almost universally ignored. When tinkerers on the internet went about making their own remote play apps that would work with Android phones and PCs, Sony worked tirelessly to update the console firmware to break those homebrew apps. Then Sony came out with its own PC remote play app. Subsequently, some months ago, Sony released remote play functionality for iOS devices only. The explanation at the time was that Sony was likely still trying to push Xperia phones, despite the complete lack of traction.
And now, unceremoniously via yet another firmware update, Sony has given up the game and enabled remote play for all Android devices.
Fortunately, 7.0 expanded the feature, making it compatible with most Android devices. This means that anyone with an Android-compatible phone in their pocket can play PlayStation 4 games on the go. The new update also coincides with a small quality-of-life patch for iOS remote play, the game streaming app itself having been available since March of this year on the platform.
Now, the post goes on to note that there are some aspects of the remote play app that are janky, some of which weren’t issues with the homebrew Android app. But the more frustrating aspect is just how long a walk Sony took in getting here. Again, enabling more remote play functionality for the PS 4 makes the console more valuable. It could have been used as a selling point for the PS4, an already immensely popular device, rather than remote play being used as selling points for the Vita and Xperia phones, which were barely adopted by the public. And what was with the odd steps in enabling all of this? Sony already had a working Android app when it decided to release remote play for iOS first, sitting on the Android version it already had for several months, seemingly for no reason.
The source post calls this what it was: a hostage situation.
That said, it’s nice to see Sony finally give up on the remote play first-party hostage situation they’ve kept up for most of the generation. With Apple Arcade, Xbox Game Pass, and Google Stadia all making moves, gaming is once again shifting away from the television, and Sony is smart to make an attempt to capitalize on this trend. This console generation may be swiftly coming to an end, but this may indicate that features of this sort will be available on day one when the PS5 drops next December.
You would really, really hope that Sony wouldn’t have to learn this lesson all over again with the Playstation 5. On the other hand, it is Sony.
Filed Under: android, playstation 4, ps4, remote
Companies: sony
Comments on “After All That, Sony Unceremoniously Rolls Out PS4 Remote Play To All Android Devices”
Better late than never
I mean, yeah, it’s been frustrating, but I’m not sure what your "too late" tagline means. In my opinion, better late than never, and I’m thrilled to finally have the feature. In my house, we don’t have TVs in every room. We have a theater room in the basement, and no TVs on the main floor, so TV watching is a deliberate active choice rather than a passive, persistent background activity. I love this…
…except that as a working adult, Friday nights are my only night to game. And with four daughters, the theater is almost always monopolized by sleepovers on Friday nights. Enter remote play. Finally, I have the option to play on nights when I don’t have access to the PS4 otherwise. And for me, at least, remote play worked flawlessly. Lag is minimal-to-imperceptible. Pairing was quick and flawless. And Bluetooth support for Dual Shock 4 on Android 10 means the experience is almost identical, except for the screen size.
So, I strongly disagree with the characterizations of "too late" and "janky." Frankly, it’s everything I hoped for. Just wish it had gotten here sooner. And I agree, hopefully we don’t have to go through this same learning curve on the PS5.
Re: Better late than never
Sounds like your TV situation is perfect. Why should TV be something that is passively consumed? It should be a choice to sit down and watch something as an activity rather than just having it on by default.
Maybe it was late because the ps4 is the no 1 console in sale,s ,
well ahead of the Xbox1 . which never recovered from a disastrous launch .
Gaming is not shifting away from tv,s , tv,s are getting better with hdr and 4k displays and more powerful consoles, coming next year .i might work ok on large tablet,s , i would not like to try and play complex ps4 game s like
call of duty or Days gone on a small phone screen .
Phones are good for watching tv or youtube video,s ,or simple mobile type game,s
if for some reason you cannot use a large tv .
Is Sonny ps4 worth it?
If you are good with x box then stay with it i just bought ps4 and honestly it is was the worst thing happened to me, each country has its own store and no one told me that and my country where im staying now is not listed in the PSN setting so i chosen other country now i realized i cant redeem codes and i cant buy online and even i cant change the setting for other country it was wast of money, and you will be lucky if some one from sonny or PS support team answer you, you cant log in from other pc to see your account you will get error message problems if adding new users and might effect the game or show errors.
A new generation of consoles means a new generation of games, but hard drive space does not appear to be scaling in proportion to install sizes. With a single game topping 50 GB for PS4 titles, you may be able to access only about 4 games at a time, even if you buy discs instead of digital downloads.
I need always to delay a game after loosing too much money to downloading it to play another game, loosing all new maps and levels, this is unfair, in x box i see my friends can have in their hard drive more than 11 games, my PS4 have 500 as it said in the manual description but actually i have just 440 GB.
PS4 always frozen or stop working or stop downloading, contacting Sonny support or ps4 support team will have no answer, no one will bother him self calling you or writing you back, after you buy it you are on your own risk.
The PlayStation 4 doesn’t have a specific menu option to clear cache some times lots of data need to be deleted or get corrupted and affect your new downloading and for that you need to delete the older cash but as we said it is hard task to delete older cash.
If you have issue with redeeming codes or purchasing products play station will ask you or direct you if you was writing them through your email account to play station link to provide them with picture of your invoice or code but when you try to send the photo you will get this message Oops, something has gone wrong. Please try a different document.and you try and try but no result and you get no help because you didnt send the image which they didnt accept it.
Call of duties codes or maps or add ones are hard to be accepted and cant be found in the console .
For Europe version or addition consoles there is changing country options but other regions will not have this option, so if you move to other country you will be in a big problem, you will not be able to purchase or do any thing online,the team support service is one of the worst you will see in your life, no one will read your emails or requests you will get just automatic copy relative answer to your issue
Xbox in general is much smother and easier and less complicated it was the worst decision in my life to buy play station 4.
For me it was my biggest mistake buying ps4 i will never buy any thing further from Sonny not now and not in the future.