Microsoft has launched party chat on their Xbox apps, which are available on Android and iOS, so now you can have a chat with your couch-potato friends while slaving away at work.

The company started testing Xbox party chat in the Xbox mobile apps in December, and have now decided to officially launch the feature. It gives players (and not-at-the-moment players) the ability to voice chat with friends on Xbox Live, similar to the Discord mobile app.

It’s definitely a useful feature if you don’t happen to be near your console or PC, or even if your headset isn’t working correctly on those devices (time for a new one, perhaps?). Microsoft often bring beta features to its main Xbox apps within a few months – so they’re keeping up with their great track record.

The feature provides live voice and text messaging by using the onboard microphone on your smartphone and the phone’s onscreen keyboard, respectively. We are not quite certain what chat audio quality is like – but it would probably depend on the device you are using.

This feature definitely gives Microsoft a slight edge over Sony – you can message fellow PlayStation party-members through the official mobile app, but live voice chat isn’t an option unless you turn to a third-party service.

While this probably won’t make or break your choice of console, it’s something to consider if you frequently play online with your designated LAN-crew. But overall, it is a nice option for Xbox gamers who want to keep up with their Xbox Live friends when they leave the comfort of their home. By ‘home’ we mean ‘couch and console’.

Party Chat is also available on the Xbox app for Windows 10, but it has yet to make its way to Windows 10 Mobile.

Source: The Verge