Similar to Microsoft’s Xbox to PC streaming, Sony’s PlayStation 4 can stream games to some of Sony’s Xperia smartphones and tablets. However, with a little adjustment, you can stream your PlayStation 4 games to almost any Android device.
Step one: install the modified remote playback app
Sony offers a PS4 remote play app in Google Play, but it is only officially compatible with certain Xperia devices.
Despite this, it can work on a wider variety of Android devices. Sony just wants to use it to push its own Xperia phones and tablets. XDA Developer Forum user crooked89 changed the Remote Play app so that it can work on a wider variety of devices. It also won’t check if your device is rooted or refuses to work if your connection speed is not slow enough like the original app.
For this to work, you must first open the Android Settings app and tap on the “Security” category. Activate the “Unknown sources” setting. This will allow you to install the modified Remote Play app from outside of Google Play. You may want to turn off this setting after you install the app successfully.
Then you can go to the XDA Developer Forum page, find the download link for the latest version and download it to your Android device. Open the APK file on your Android device and agree to install it.
Step two: connect your PlayStation 4 controller
RELATED: How to use a physical game controller with an iPhone, iPad, or Android device
You can play PS4 games using the touchscreen controls, but that probably won’t be ideal for most games, which are obviously designed to be played with a physical controller. You will probably want to connect a PS4 controller to your Android device to play games.
It’s actually quite easy. You can pair the controller with your wireless phone using standard Bluetooth pairing. Simply hold down the “Share” and “PlayStation” buttons on the controller until the light bar begins to flash to put it into pairing mode.
Next, visit Android’s Bluetooth settings screen and select the controller.
You can also physically connect it to your Android device directly if you have the correct cable. If you have a USB OTG cable adapter, you can also use the standard USB cable that came with your console to plug it directly into your Android device.
Whether it’s connected via a wireless or wired connection, it should work. To confirm that the controller is working after connecting it, go to the home screen and move the gamepads. They should allow you to select icons on your home screen and navigate the interface. Android.
On some Android devices, the button mappings can be a bit muddled. If the buttons on the controller do not work as expected when you start playing, you can install the SixAxis Controller Application from Google Play and use it to change button mappings. However, this requires a rooted phone. It’s the only part of this process that requires rooting, however, and it’s not necessary on all devices. On our Nexus 7 tablet, the controller seemed to work fine when paired via Bluetooth with no controller configuration settings, additional apps, or rooting required.
Step three: configure remote playback
You can now launch the Sony Remote Play app and go through the setup process. Press “Next” to continue and skip the controller setup screen. If you’ve ever connected the controller via bluetooth or USB, it should work anyway.
You will need to sign in with your PlayStation Network (PSN) account. Assuming your Android device is on the same Wi-Fi network as your PS4, it will find your PS4 and connect. If it can’t connect automatically, you’ll be asked to visit the Remote Play Connection Settings screen on your PS4. This screen will give you a PIN code and you can enter that PIN code on your Android device to pair your PS4 and Android device for remote play.
You can then use the controller or the touchscreen to launch PS4 games. Your PS4 will run them and stream them to your Android smartphone or tablet.
You should be able to play remotely after the first setup, even if you are on another Wi-Fi or cellular network, streaming games from your home PS4 to your device wherever you are. Of course, it won’t work so easily if it has to transfer data over the internet. It will also work better if you have a fast Wi-Fi connection.
Sony has long offered remote streaming. Sony’s PlayStation Vita handheld console, PlayStation TV set-top box, and Xperia smartphones and tablets can stream games from a PlayStation 4. This trick simply extends that support to almost all Android devices.
Sony announced it will officially bring this feature to Windows and Mac, and it will appear in PS4 system update version 3.50. There is also a unofficial windows client. However, Sony has not announced that it will officially offer this feature on Android devices other than Xperia or Apple iPhones and iPads. This unofficial support may be needed for a while if you want to stream games to Android devices other than Xperia. Of course, even Microsoft doesn’t offer support for streaming Xbox games to smartphones, not even Windows phones. So at least that’s something.
Image Credit: Vernon Chan on Flickr, Danny Willyrex on Wikipedia
