As everyone patiently awaits for Steam to release an official app for Android, another developer has gone ahead and released a decent alternative with quite a few features. IBF Programs has released “Steam for Android” into the Android Market, and while it’s not an official Steam app, it’s definitely worth a look. The Steam for Android app brings the Steam community to your handheld and provides many features such as:

• • Summary tab – Check your Steam’s public profile.
• • Friends tab – See whether your friends are online or playing a certain game.
• • Groups tab – Check your groups updates.
• • Games tab.
• • Specials! tab – Check to see if there are any interesting discounts on the Steam store.
• • Favorites tab.
• • Smooth user interface: swipe left/right or simply click on the desired tab. The tabs are linked circularly, meaning that there is no first or last tab, so there is no need to go all the way back!
• • Bandwidth friendly: the only information downloaded is the one on the opened tab, the rest of the tabs remain asleep until you open them.
• • Battery friendly: no background tasks or services that consume your phone’s battery. Once the app is closed, it is closed for good.
• • Compatibility: works (or SHOULD work, please email me with any bugs you find) with any phone running Android 1.6 to Android 4.0.
• • Install to SD Card: for phones with Android 2.2 (Froyo) or later.

Unfortunately since this is an unofficial app and simply pulls information from the Steam website, you won’t have the ability to purchase games within the app, message friends or add/remove friends. It’s a small price to pay to have a functional Steam application to use while waiting for the official Steam app to hit the market. Until then, this is an excellent alternative, and one that’s available for free in the Android Market. Maybe the release of this third party alternative will kick Steam into gear and force them to work a bit faster at getting us an official app — one with all the bells and whistles. Get to it Steam!

Android Market Link | Steam for Android