PlayStation App finally notifies you when you get new messages

PlayStation-App-friend-request

As much as I love my PlayStation, I’ll be the first to admit there are plenty of problems with the PlayStation Network. Messaging friends, for instance, is nothing short of painful — particularly on a PS3. Fortunately, Sony finally gave us the ability to chat via the official PlayStation App for Android and iOS.

And now that app finally supports notifications, meaning you’ll actually get an alert when you receive new messages and friend requests. You can also use photos saved on your phone as your profile picture, and send friend requests via SMS and email.

I do almost all of my PlayStation chatting through the official app now. Not only is it more convenient — you can read and reply to messages without leaving your game — but it’s also faster.

Admittedly, messaging isn’t too bad on the PlayStation 4. Typing messages with a controller is slow, but at least the interface itself is pretty quick. On a PlayStation 3, however, the experience is awful.

Getting to your inbox can sometimes take a good 10-15 seconds depending on what your system is doing at the time, and opening a message can take just as long. Deleting messages in bulk is the most frustrating; it can take up to minute — even if all the messages in your inbox are just 56KB in size combined!

And no, I’m not an impatient person (I am), but it angers me that the PlayStation software is so bad. Anyway, that’s why I recommend using the official PlayStation App, which is now even more useful. It’ll send you a notification when you have a new message, meaning you no longer need to check your inbox manually on a regular basis.

What’s more, it’ll now let you select photos you have saved on your phone as your PlayStation profile picture. Simply tap the “Profile” button on the main screen, then tap “Edit Profile.” A “Change Profile Picture” button will appear at the bottom of your screen, and you’ll then be given the option to “Select Photo.”

Adding friends to PSN is also easier now — you can send them an SMS message or email — and Sony promises that this update will improve stability of the PlayStation App. If you don’t already have it, follow the Google Play link below to download it for free.