Sony is set to launch a free PlayStation App for iOS and Android devices on November 13, 2013 in North America, two days before the launch of the PlayStation 4. The app’s central feature is, of course, second-screen support for PS4 titles that allow it. It’s the same sort of stuff that Microsoft’s own Xbox SmartGlass enables.
The app also allows users to access their Sony account profiles on the PlayStation Network. You’ll be able to view your friends list and send messages, check out your Trophies, browse through the PlayStation website, purchase content from the PlayStation Store, and use your app-equipped mobile device as a remote control for the console.
There’s one other noteworthy feature as well: the app allows users to actually spectate PS4 gameplay. According to the press release, notifications appear in the What’s New section of the app when friends are live streaming or if they’ve shared a new clip. By tapping the link, the app launches “pre-installed applications, such as browsers, to spectate the uploaded gameplay.” So no in-app streaming.
It’s not clear which games, if any, will make use of the PlayStation App at the console’s launch. Games like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Battlefield 4 both relegate second-screen functionality to dedicated apps of their own. We know that Knack supports co-op via the PlayStation Vita’s Remote Play feature, but that’s a completely different kind of second-screen play.
