Nintendo makes voice chat less of a disaster on Switch

Nintendo has rolled out an update for the Switch Online app that might finally make it usable. See, unlike what Sony and Microsoft did for the PlayStation and the Xbox, Nintendo has chosen to put its new console's chat functions in a separate app for Android and iOS. Unfortunately, it was clearly not ready upon launch and suffered from a bunch of serious issues, including not being able to use another app on your phone -- not even to check important texts and calls -- if you don't want to get kicked off a voice chat. Your screen also has to be on the whole time you're chatting with friends, which could drain your phone's battery. This update solves both problems.

In the gaming titan's update notes on iTunes and Google Play, it said version 1.1.0 of the Switch Online app gives you the power to continue voice chats while using other applications. You can also continue planning matches with other players even if your phone's screen goes to sleep, unless you activated the Power Saving mode on Android 6.0 and later. If you don't want to switch off Power Saving completely to be able to enjoy the new feature, you simply have to deactivate battery optimization for Switch Online in settings. While the only other entry in version 1.1.0's update list is bug fixes, the other two are likely big enough to make the app relatively enjoyable to use.