The Switch Online Mobile App Just Received Another Incredibly Minor Update

Incredibly Minor you say? My interests have been peaked.

I was open to the idea of this app when it was first released... somewhat. I assumed it would get updates regularly that added new features and support for many games. But it is little more than a joke at this point. Why did they even bother with it if they had no intention of doing anything with it?

Here is what it should do:

Visible friend's list
Eshop support
Direct messaging
News feed
Game specific services
Either built in or embeded video trailers and other video content for current and upcoming games.

And all features should be limit-able via parental controls.

This is what I thought the app would evolve into but it does none of that. It's just an embarrassingly shoddy voice chat that maybe 5% of Switch owners use. I would be shocked if it were more than that.

I love my Switch, and I am a huge Nintendo fan. Miitomo was better than this.

Wow an app that makes talking to your friends on your phone way harder than it has been for the last decade.

Let's have a look at the app....... wow 2 whole games have features, no Mario Maker 2 though, so no looking through stages to download. I can't find a way to communicate directly with my friends either ON A COMMUNICATION APP ON MY PHONE!!! What's this? Voice chat...... select it on the app, open a game on Switch with voice chat (presumably I just guess which those are), select voice chat in the game (oh the irony) and then magically hope your friends are playing the same game, have the app, have it open and have selected the same options, simple! Oh and don't think you can carry on talk to each other should you change game. Genius

Anyone giving this more than a 1 star rating needs their head seeing to and those who gave it a 5? How low are your standards?

@Heavyarms55 to summarise mine and your posts, the app should do something, anything, please for the love of god have a purpose 😂

@Heavyarms55 Mobile phones have become so powerful today. What Nintendo gave us is something that could have worked on the old Nokia Symbian phones.

Got a new phone recently... didn’t bother to re-download this. It is pretty much pointless, sadly.

Wait, this app is still desperately trying to be a thing?

Cya
Raziel-chan

Direct messaging is crucial. I can’t invite anybody from the Wii U and 3DS era to any new games, or ask how they’re doing. They all just sit on my friends list playing different games.

Where's the Super Mario Maker 2 support? I thought the NSO App would have added features similar to Super Mario Maker Bookmark, and maybe allow makers to see their in-game notifications from their phone. It would've given me more use for the NSO App than Smash Bros. Ultimate's content sharing, since I rarely play custom stages in that game.

Meanwhile still no SNES or N64 games for Switch online service.

Gonna say it. This app is useless. Nothing more.

Not so minor that Nintendolife can't clutter their homepage up with a story about it.

The Nintendo App has been really useful for me keeping track of Splatfest dates/times & friends teams etc... all of which could have been done on a Splatoon specific app.

Even that use is diminished now Splatfests aren't a thing anymore.

@Heavyarms55 good features you mentioned. I really only want direct chat (of course the friend list would be necessary for that to be useful so the both of them). I've had my Switch since last December after Smash came out. I was using a Windows Phone then. When I found out I couldn't invite friends to a game in Smash or chat with them on the Switch, I figured all that had been moved to the online app which isn't available on Windows Phone. I recently got an Android phone and thought I had done something wrong when I launched the Online app and it had next to nothing in it. It makes no sense how Nintendo can think this is acceptable. At this point I would even be happy with using preset commonly used phrases like the ones in Smash Ultimate online to invite people to play games on the Switch or the app

@Alztru If I didn't know otherwise, I would see the app and assume it was incomplete. It's missing features that just seem obvious.

If this app disappeared tomorrow, I wouldn't notice. To be honest, articles like this just remind me it's there lol. Having said that, it does have potential in other areas besides the social element (which should have more emphasis on the console.)
Parental controls are a respectable feature for safeguarding. Definitely something they shouldn't abandon. Event notification is a nice touch too.

What is the point of adding people you've played against in Smash to your friends list? There is no way to invite them to a game. Not in Smash, Not on your Switch...not even on the Online app. Absolutely no way! How can anyone think that is a good system?

Splatnet gear is the only reason I use it. I plan for that to ever be the reason I use it.

I use the app most days to find out the splatoon schedule.

But it could obviously be so much more than what it is now.

@Alztru I'm also a former Windows Phone user and I can safely say that the Nintendo Switch Online app was definitely not the reason I switched. Unfortunately, the app is useless. I've only used it for voice chat once and that was only because my friend in the UK didn't have a Discord at the time. Since then, it's been sitting on my phone, taking up space, and hasn't been opened once.

What a load of tosh.

"... this update reportedly fixes some bugs and adds in voice chat support for Android 9 devices."
Does this mean that people with Android 9.x on their devices couldn't use the voice chat feature before this update?

Wasn't Nintendo supposed to add some sort of service for Mario Maker 2 in this app? I could have sworn we were supposed to get something that allowed us to search on our phones different courses through Course World and then download them to our consoles remotely (especially helpful if you're at work, come across a cool course on YouTube and want to play it for yourself...something I've done several times). I seriously could have sworn this was a thing that was discussed prior to the game's release but I've seen nothing about it since.

The Switch Online App is so forgettable. It has so many flaws. What is the point of voice chat, when I can dial my friends on my phone. It’s the same thing. Also it would be nice to see more games supported with the app besides Splatnet. Like Mario Maker 2, Smash Ultimate, and others. Plus, achievements would be nice to see but that would have to be in a future update for the Switch. And since the PlayStation app has PSN support where you can download games and they can be sent to the PS4 when the game is done downloading. Nintendo should add Eshop support so you can download games. Also, it would be really nice to re-subscribe to you’re Switch Online with the app. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Switch Online App disappeared off the App Store/Google Play. It needs a lot of improvements besides minor fixes and bugs fixed.

I use this for Smash World and Smash World only. Kind of pointless. :

@nintendork64 I didn't leave Windows Phone because of the stupid Online app either lol. Been using the phone for 4 years and it was falling apart on me slowly. And services were shutting down or warning they were about to so I reluctantly switched. Still carry around my WP though, but just to listen to music...and MyTube!

@Alztru OMG myTube is the best. Still my go-to way of watching YouTube videos on my Windows PC and tablet. I take out my Windows Phone now and then and I made my Android phone look like Windows using the Square Home Launcher. Good times on WP.

I really just wish they'd add Super Mario Maker 2 to the app, so, I could look up levels on my phone or through an Android emulator on my PC.

I’ve never used something so unintuitive and unnecessary in my life. Used once and deleted.