Sony breaks out PlayStation Messages into its own app
Almost anyone and everyone has a messaging platform these days and it seems that Sony isn't going to be left behind. Sort of. The Japanese tech giant does have its messaging service but it is one that is intimately tied to its PlayStation Network and, therefore, to gaming. That, of course, doesn't mean that there's no room for yet one more messsagin app, right? Welcome PlayStation Messages, the standalone yet connected messaging app sprung forth from its former all-in-one PlayStation App on smartphones.
The split will probably be reminiscent of how Facebook extracted its Messenger functionality into an app of its own. Back then, there was a lot of loud voices raised in opposition, though the split seems to have gone pretty well in the end.
Here, there will probably be very few complaints aside from "now I need to install yet another app" sentiment. There will probably be no love lost, as the messaging section of the original PlayStation app wasn't exactly the best of its class. There will also probably be no confusion as, like the Facebook split, users will automatically be taken from one app to another, from main app to messages, as the need arises.
The separation does promise to bring more speed and convenience, as users will no longer have to wade through the information dense main app just to fire a one off message or to see which of your PSN friends are ready to party.
The PlayStation Messages app is now available for both Android and iOS. In fact, if any PlayStation mobile app user wants to continue sending messages over PSN, they'd have to download this new app. Needless to say, you'll need a PSN account to even use it, so it's not a more general-purpose, phone number based messaging service.