Twitch Overhauls App, Adds Native Mobile Streaming And ‘Dark Mode’

Twitch announced today a facelift for its mobile app — on both iOS and Android — as well as a suite of new features aimed to improve discovery and functionality. The changes, which were requested by community members, according to Twitch, are beginning to roll out today and will be widely available by July.

For instance, the update will enable users to begin broadcasting directly from their smartphones, and will also tout a ‘Dark Mode’ inverted color scheme for a varied viewing experience. Other updates include new navigation bars; a new section for ‘Pulse’, the platform’s content recommendation feed; swipe surfing that will enable users to seamlessly move between streams and playlists; a dedicated section where streams are ranked according to region and language; and a revamped notification center that’s comparable to the desktop version.

“Twitch has a vibrant community on mobile, with more than 83 million installs of our app,” said Tom Robertson, senior director of product management. “Not only will our creators reach a new audience through the app itself, the launch of mobile streaming gives them the opportunity to offer new content to their fans. We can’t wait to see what they create.”

Last December, Twitch announced a new ‘IRL‘ content category for non-gaming-related videos, and said at the time that it would subsequently launch native streaming from within the Twitch app.