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Valve has released a standalone smartphone app for Steam chat.
The new smartphone app will let you directly chat with your Steam buddies, through your smartphone. This is a separate app from the Steam Mobile app, which also includes chat functionality (but can feel a bit obtuse).
The app includes most of the same features in the desktop version of the Steam Client, including:
- Friends list: See who’s online and who’s playing what, so you can decide whether to rush home and join a game of DOTA or not.
- Rich chat: The app boasts ‘higher fidelity’ links, videos, tweets, GIFs, Giphy, Steam emoticons, and more.
- Invite links: You can add new friends on Steam just by sending them a link! The link can be texted, emailed, written down and posted, written on a tiny parchment scroll and attached to a carrier pigeon – it’s up to you!
- Custom notifications: You can customise your notifications per friend, group chat, and chat channel.
- Group chats: You can create groups in order to stay in touch with certain communities and organise game nights with your friends.
It’s worth mentioning the app doesn’t support a few things, like voice chat, however Valve is planning to add these later. The main Steam Mobile app is also set to receive a number of upgrades in the future as well.
iOS users can grab the app here, and Android users can grab the app here.