Microsoft have finally released their My XBOX Live app to the Google Play Store, read on to find out what the app has to offer.
If you’re one of the many XBOX Live members out there – of which I am, too – then you’ll be happy to know that you can now access your XBOX Live account on your Android phone. Microsoft had previously released an app for iOS but, now at long last you can do the same on your beloved Android device.
The app itself weighs in at around 15MB and is super easy to set up, simply sign in using your Windows Live ID – this is the e-mail that you signed up to XBOX Live with – and it’ll sync all your activity together.
The app itself is broken up similar to that of the XBOX’s own Dashboard; there’s a Spotlight screen (in which you can view videos of upcoming games etc), a Social screen and of course, a Games screen. You can swipe right to left and back through these screens like you do in a good many Android apps nowadays. It’s a quick app and you can quickly access portions of the XBOX Live experience there and then on the phone.
You can also quickly check your messages and send messages in the app by tapping on the icon in the upper right-hand corner. This works well and it’s easy to select multiple recipients. I’m sure this is going to be especially nice for those that spend more time talking to their friends over XBOX Live than they do anywhere else on the internet.
Of course, what with this being a Microsoft app on a mobile platform it’s all Metro-ified and whilst, it sticks out from the overall user experience of Android 4.0 it does match the Metro based UI that’s on the XBOX itself.
Overall, the app is well done and it’s super easy to set up and the ability to access your XBOX Live account anywhere on your phone is something that’s been long overdue for Android. It’s nice to see Microsoft waking up and bringing apps of this level and polish to their users, regardless of their mobile platform. If they can bring this level of polish to a simple app like this then it’s going to be interesting to see how good Smart Glass on Android becomes and whether or not Android will have to lack behind iOS yet again.
Get the My XBOX Live app in the Google Play Store now.