Mobile processors have greatly advanced over the years. However, they still fall short of their counterpart computer processors. Due to their shortcomings, the gaming experience on smartphones is still significantly behind that of computers.
PC gaming is widely loved by numerous people, drawing over 1.75 billion gamers. PC gaming is significantly better than mobile gaming due to a variety of features. The most distinct advantage of PC gaming over mobile gaming is the better screen real estate, controller features, and power efficiency.
Over the years, as more people have been drawn towards PC gaming, more people now find it hard to enjoy conventional mobile gaming. The preference for PC gaming over mobile gaming has led tech companies to work on methods of streaming PC games on phones, either android or iOS.
However, streaming games on your android or iOS device can be complicated for some people. In this article, we explain easy ways for you to stream PC games on your android or iOS device.
Controller
Before delving into how to set up your streaming applications, you have to get a controller first. PC games often have controls that will be difficult to emulate and execute on your device’s touch screen.
When looking for a controller to purchase, look for the best suggestions on android news or iOS news platforms.
The android news platform reviews various mobile controllers in the market. When reviewing, they highlight the pros and cons of different controllers. This helps ensure you have an easy time choosing a controller that will work well with your smartphone. The platform also comes in handy when deciding which mobile to buy for your game streaming needs.
You should consider the type of games that you are to play because some controllers are developed and adapted to certain game types. Some controllers work best for racing games, others work best in first-person shooter games, etc. If you are looking to stream different game types, you should go for a general controller that can be optimized for any game type.
1. Steam Link
Steam is among the most used PC game stores globally. The store features an intuitive UI and numerous AAA games. Unknown to many, Steam also supports game streaming on mobile devices. Steam uses the Steam link mobile application for streaming games on your Steam library on your mobile phone.
Once you download the application, ensure that your mobile phone and your PC are connected to the same network. When you launch the application for the first time, it scans the network for existing PCs that are running Steam.
Select your computer and input the 4-digit pairing pin that will appear on your phone into the prompt on the PC. Once the pairing is done, tap start playing to begin the game streaming experience.
You can explore the settings page on Steam to make any tweaks to the streaming configurations. You can switch through the various video streaming qualities depending on whether the quality of your internet connection will handle the increased bandwidth.
For playing, choose any game on your Steam library and start gaming. The Steam link application also supports multiplayer gaming via remote play.
2. Moonlight
The Moonlight game streaming app is available for both android and iOS devices. The application takes advantage of the GameStream feature developed by Nvidia. Due to this, it only works with PCs that use an Nvidia graphics card. For best performance, you should first ensure that your Nvidia graphics drivers and Nvidia GeForce Experience.
The first step when you are looking to stream games using Moonlight is to enable game streaming on your GeForce experience software. Launch the GeForce Experience app on your PC and navigate to the settings option. When on settings, select the shield tab and enable GameStream on the page that will appear. This will get your PC ready to stream games to your mobile device.
Once you download the application, the setup process is somewhat similar to that of the Stream link application. When you launch the application, it will show a list of compatible PCs on the network that support GameStream. Select your preferred computer and input the 4-digit pairing pin on the prompt that will appear on your computer.
Once you have input the pin, click connect. The application should display the list of games on your PC that are available for streaming. Choose any game and start gaming. Moonlight is well known for its support for third-party controllers; therefore, your gaming experience will be top-tier with your controller of choice.
3. AMD Link
With Nvidia supporting game streaming on mobile devices, AMD could not be left behind. AMD Link application is meant for PC gamers who use their Radeon graphics cards. For the AMD link, you use the Radeon settings panel to pair your android or iOS device to the PC.
Once you have downloaded the application, open the settings panel on your PC’s Radeon panel and generate a pairing QR code. AMD link supports graphics and resolution settings that max out at 1080p at 60fps. The graphics and resolution settings to choose from depends on your network connection’s bandwidth.
An advantage of the AMD link over the Steam link is that it supports games from various sources, unlike steam which supports games found in one’s steam library only.
4. Splashtop
Splashtop has been used as a remote access application for a couple of years. However, the application developers have included game streaming as a feature encompassed in their application. Before choosing to use Splashtop, you have to ensure that your AMD GPU is part of the ones supported by the platform.
To use Splashtop, one has to download and install the Splashtop business app on the PC one wants to stream from. You are also required to download the application on your mobile device. The drawback of using Splashtop is that the process of setting it up is a bit complicated. However, the platform offers intuitive touch controls for those who have not yet purchased controllers.
When streaming PC games to your mobile, you should be aware of the fact that your PC specifications play a huge part in ensuring the process is smooth.
Conclusion
With game streaming on mobile becoming more popular, we are yet to see more game streaming applications that offer more features. However, for a game streaming novice, the Stream link application is the easiest to set up and use.
