With the PS5 launch on the horizon, Sony has been hard at work trying to streamline its ecosystem. As is the case with every new product launch, the PS5 will also dilute Sony’s offerings. So, in order to absolutely curb any confusion about SKUs and apps, there needs to be a culling.
The first things to go earlier last week were the PS Vita and the PS3 stores. The PS Vita has been dead for a while now and Sony stopped supporting its (terrible) storefront a very long time ago. This was just the nail in the coffin and official confirmation. As for the PS3, the console will be 2 generations old by next month, and trying to support something for over 15 years just doesn’t make any sense.
Getting rid of these will massively help with streamlining the new storefront experience on the PS5 and will erase any confusion about different variants of games. However, with what we’ve heard so far about next-gen upgrade paths, we don’t expect it to be as streamlined as Sony would have liked.
In terms of mobile apps, Sony has the PlayStation App and the PS Messages app among many others. We still don’t really understand the reasoning behind dividing those apps in the first place as it just bloats up your device. So, to fix their wrongs, Sony has now decided to officially get rid of the PS Messages app on both Android and iOS.
PS Messages has a new home within the PlayStation App
According to Sony, having things like remote play, communities, messages, profiles, and trophies on a single app was making the app too hefty. However, the division of these features within different apps turned the ecosystem into a bloated mess. So, Sony has made a U-turn and has decided to do the right thing.
At the end of October, Sony will be pulling the plug on the PS Messages app and integrating it into the main PlayStation app. And, while the app will still continue to work for some time after that, you won’t receive push notifications for your messages anymore. This step is to be appreciated since it would eliminate another app from your massive PlayStation apps folder.
The new integration comes with a PS app update that’s being pushed out to smartphones today alongside the PS4 version 8.00 update. This will set up a seamless transition into the next-gen with PS5 as we go into top gear for it.
Sony should continue on this path going forward
The PlayStation app should, ideally, be a hub for all things PlayStation. Despite the PS Messages switch over to the PlayStation app, more work remains to be done on the PlayStation mobile ecosystem. Things like remote play and communities should also be integrated into the PS app. However, it is easier said than done since developing a single great app that does it all efficiently is much harder than separating them.
Having said that, Sony’s main competitor, Xbox has managed to pull it off with the new Xbox app having some really good functionality including console streaming. At this point though, a new redesigned PlayStation app is probably not high on the priority list for Sony as the company has shifted its entire focus towards the PS5 launch later next month.
Nevertheless, this is a good step forward and the right direction for Sony before the PS5 comes out. More of the same, please.
Do you think that the PS Messages app being integrated back into the PlayStation app is a good move by Sony? Let us know down in the comments below!