Sony’s PlayStation Now has already been around for a bit, and Nvidia’ GeForce Now service is currently in beta. These are exciting times indeed for gamers: several firms are working on streaming services, including Electronic Arts and Amazon. Sadly, this doesn’t yet work with iOS devices, because Apple has blocked the Steam Link app on its mobile platform, citing ‘business conflicts.’ Hopefully, the two companies will eventually resolve this issue and make the app available to Steam fans with iPads and iPhones. Regardless, I’m excited about this, because it means that I can enjoy my collection of PC games while on vacation, or when I’m working remotely and don’t want to lug my gaming laptop around. Your mileage with this will probably vary depending on your connection speed and where you’re playing.

That tragic ending to my racing career tells me my mobile data connection is most likely to blame – but it’s also possible that the game stream could be better optimized for delivery across a mobile connection, and it could benefit from being beamed via servers closer to my geographic location. The game stream on my Android phone dropped in quality at one point, presumably because my mobile data connection was spotty Sadly, at one point, the video hung completely, while I heard the game continue as if nothing had happened. Things started off smoothly enough, but as the race progressed, the quality of the stream dropped. I tested Steam Link briefly by running Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed on my Android phone with a 4G connection in India (read: generally fast, but can be spotty at times).

With this, Valve has now joined the ranks of tech firms racing to make game streaming go mainstream. That’s an upgrade from nearly a year ago, when Steam Link supported streaming between your gadgets, but required them to be on the same Wi-Fi or wired network. Valve has just launched a major update to its Steam Link service: you can now stream and play your collection of games on a desktop or Android device wherever you are. To get started, download the app from here. Update (May 16, 2019): Valve’s Steam Link service now works with iOS too, which means you can stream and play games on your iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV.

Steam download link