Amazon Luna Game Streaming Now On Android For A Few Phones
They say hindsight is 20/20 and sometimes being late to the game does have such an advantage. One of the latest to jump into the nascent game streaming fad is Amazon it definitely benefited from experiences and problems of the likes of Google Stadia, NVIDIA GeForce NOW, and Microsoft xCloud. By banking on web technologies, Amazon's Luna game streaming service has been able to target platforms that others couldn't but it is ironically landing on Android only now and in an oddly limited manner.
Although Amazon Luna definitely felt like yet another game streaming service, it quickly set itself apart by launching on iOS and its own Fire TV, platforms that don't support the current roster of such services. Almost ironically, Android was left out of the list, the one platform that all those services actually supported. Now it's finally removing that limitation but only slightly.
Amazon now reveals that accessing Luna from an Android phone simply involves going to the landing page on Chrome for Android and install it as a web app, since it's pretty much what it is on all other platforms. Once that app is launched and you sign in, you'll be able to play PC games like you would on other supported devices. It even supports Amazon's Luna Controller though you can also opt for a PS4 or Xbox One gamepad.
Hey @TheCodeB00K, as Raghu from Team Luna explains below, you won't have to wait very long for Android support (or, like, at all). Play Luna with early access now: https://t.co/IU81kXZouU pic.twitter.com/aVDCbQcP64
— Amazon Luna (@amazonluna) December 15, 2020
The oddity is that support is limited to a select number of phone models from Samsung, Google, and OnePlus. These models are pretty much these brands' latest 2019 to 2020 flagships but there are some inconsistencies. The Pixel 4, for example, isn't on the list even if the Pixel 4 XL is there and that it is definitely more powerful than either the Pixel 4a or even the Pixel 5.
• Pixel Devices (4XL, 4a, 4a 5G, 5)
• Samsung Devices (S10, S10+, Note 10, Note 10+, S20 5G, S20+ 5G, S20 Ultra 5G, Note 20)
• OnePlus Devices (7, 7 Pro, 7 Pro 5G, 8, 8 Pro, Nord, 7T, 7T Pro, 7T Pro 5G)
Despite supporting a wider variety of devices, Amazon Luna is still currently available only in the US, limiting its geographical reach. There is no news yet when it plans to expand its testing to other markets but that does give it time to expand its selection a bit.