Twitch Redesigned Mobile App Arriving This summer with New Features

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced a significant redesign of the Twitch mobile app at this year’s TwitchCon Europe event, in Rotterdam, Netherlands.

This redesign, slated for release this summer, aims to enhance user experience and streamline content discovery.

Let’s dive into the details:

Why is Twitch Focusing on Mobile?

It’s no secret that mobile devices are dominating the digital landscape, and Twitch is no exception. According to Jeremy Forrester, VP of product for community products (via Eurogamer) at Twitch:

1. 70% of new viewers start their Twitch journey on mobile
2. 50% of all users primarily use the mobile app
3. 40% of users exclusively access Twitch through the mobile app

These statistics highlight the critical importance of a robust mobile experience for Twitch’s growth and user retention.

What Are the New Features of the Redesigned App?

This is the first major update since 2019, and it’s aimed at making it easier for new viewers to find content and for existing viewers to keep up with their favorite streamers.

Discovery Feed: What’s New?

Initially introduced at last year’s TwitchCon Europe, the Discovery Feed is now the main landing page of the app.

This feature allows users to find new streamers based on personalized recommendations that align with their viewing habits and preferences.

Users can now view streams directly in the feed or scroll through easily accessible follower lists, clips, and more.

Unlike platforms like Instagram or TikTok, Twitch doesn’t want you to do endless scrolling but rather helping users find specific content and communities they want to engage with.

Twitch is actively working on further improvements, including mute functionality in the feed and enabling Picture-in-Picture on Android.

What other cool features are coming from Twitch?

Twitch isn’t stopping at just redesigning the app. They’re rolling out a whole suite of new features to enhance your streaming experience:

Creator Clubs:

Creator Clubs is a new program designed to help streamers find communities based on shared interests. Key features include:

• Exclusive access to dedicated Club Discord servers
• Resources and support channels
• Monthly workshops led by Twitch
• Access to Club events

Two global clubs, DJs and IRL, will launch initially, with applications opening at the end of July. More clubs are expected to be added by the end of the year.

Stories for Affiliates: Affiliate streamers will gain access to the Stories feature on mobile, allowing for short-form content creation.

Optimized Clips: To help streamers optimize their content for social media sharing, Twitch is introducing several enhancements to the Clips feature:

• Automatic generation of portrait versions alongside landscape versions
• Streamlined editing, titling, saving, and featuring process
• Easy download and export options for social media sharing
• Viewer ability to directly export Clips to third-party social sites (coming later this year)

Stream Together: The “drop-in” feature will facilitate easier collaboration between streamers, with customizable setup options and layout support.

DJ Programme: In partnership with major record labels, this program will allow DJs to stream popular music without fear of copyright strikes. It is set to launch soon:

• Enrollment in the program will open in August
• The DJ Category will go live later this summer
• Twitch will begin promoting DJ content on the platform

Power-ups: This feature lets viewers use Bits for enhanced features, and it’s already seeing a 25% increase in Bits usage. Future updates to this feature include:

• More ready-to-go Power-up options (e.g., seasonal Message Effects, text-to-speech capabilities),
• Customizable options for streamers,
• Potential integration with third-party developers

Enhanced Broadcasting: Launched in beta earlier this year, Enhanced Broadcasting will soon be available to all streamers using the upcoming versions of OBS Studio or XSplit Broadcaster. This feature offers:

• Improved control over video quality
• Client-side encoding and automatic configuration
• Support for vertical live video and advanced codecs like HEVC and AV1

Streamer Achievement Program

Twitch has introduced the Streamer Achievement Program to honor streamers who have reached significant viewership milestones. The program includes:

• Three tiers of Bleed Purple Statues: Purple, Marble, and Chrome
• Recognition for streamers achieving 5 million, 50 million, and 250 million hours watched
• Invitations to redeem statues will be sent to eligible creators later this summer

In addition to these positive developments, Twitch recently made headlines due to streamer Dr. Disrespect‘s admission of messaging a minor prior to his 2020 ban, bringing some negative attention to the platform.

For more information, visit the official Twitch blog. And remember to subscribe to Gaming Foodle for more news!