Xbox One remote play on your smartphone? Sorry, not anytime soon

Xbox One remote play on your phone? Sorry, not anytime soon

Streaming next-gen consoles to mobile devices is awesome – you can roam around your home playing Fallout 4 – but for some reason Microsoft hasn't given us that functionality on smartphones.

Xbox One owners can already stream to Windows 10 tablets and PCs using the Xbox app, but unlike Sony's PS4 Remote Play, there's no phone support.

Sony's app is only compatible with a handful of high-end Xperia handsets such as the Z5 and Z5 Premium, but it's odd Microsoft hasn't introduced similar capabilities with the launch of the flagship Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL.

Techradar quizzed a Microsoft spokesperson during a recent London event on the lack of support for Windows 10 smartphones, and when it expects to rectify this. The short answer: there's nothing currently on the horizon.

Sad face

The spokesperson told us "there are number of considerations to take into account for [smartphone] compatibility, although technically it should be possible".

You'll clearly get a very different experience on a small smartphone screen compared to a TV, laptop, monitor or even a tablet, and Microsoft shouldn't jump into mobile remote play just because Sony has.

There will be a handful of fans out there, though, who'd love to see the Xbox app extended to phones.

Plus, as smartphone screens continue to grow in size and resolution – the aforementioned Z5 Premium sports a 4K display – and the power inside them increases, getting full Xbox One access on our most treasured mobile device starts to make a lot of sense.

Let's hope Microsoft is working on it as we speak.

John McCann
Global Managing Editor

John joined TechRadar over a decade ago as Staff Writer for Phones, and over the years has built up a vast knowledge of the tech industry. He's interviewed CEOs from some of the world's biggest tech firms, visited their HQs and has appeared on live TV and radio, including Sky News, BBC News, BBC World News, Al Jazeera, LBC and BBC Radio 4. Originally specializing in phones, tablets and wearables, John is now TechRadar's resident automotive expert, reviewing the latest and greatest EVs and PHEVs on the market. John also looks after the day-to-day running of the site.