If you missed the big news, Steam Link was finally released on the App Store for iOS and tvOS recently after a long period of radio silence that likely involved a back and forth between Valve and Apple to get the app approved. The good news is that the app works brilliantly. In a surprising move, Valve released another app on iOS and Android today. Steam Chat (Free) is now available for free on the App Store and Google Play. Facebook did the same thing with Messenger a long time ago and that worked out pretty well because I know a lot of people who only care about Messenger and not the actual mess that is Facebook.

Over the last year or so, Valve drastically improved chatting with friends on Steam’s desktop client with link previews, embeds, and more. They have now brought that to iOS and Android with Steam Chat that has customizable notification options and everything from the desktop chat experience. Right now, custom emotes are slow on certain devices but hopefully this gets addressed soon. Given that Steam Mobile hasn’t been updated in 2 years, seeing two apps released within a month from Valve has been surprising in a good way. Valve announced that the main app will be improved with better Steam Guard (Their authenticator) support through QR code options and one touch login options. Steam Chat on the other hand will get voice chat in the future. If you want to check it out, download it here on the App Store and here on Google Play.

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