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PlayStation 4 app ready to download for Android and iPhone

Sony's new app for iOS and Android is out now and lets you send voice messages to your PSN friends, watch them play live and buy new games.

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Sony's popped out an updated PlayStation app for both Android and Apple's iOS, with just a few days before its new PS4 console goes on sale in the US. We've got a couple more weeks to wait here in the UK, but you can download the app now and see how you'll be able to do all sorts of cool new stuff with your next-gen games device.

The app lets you send voice and text messages to your PlayStation Network friends, and see what they're up to, including watching gameplay clips they've saved with the PS4's new share button. It can act as a keyboard for messaging too, which is a lot more convenient than moving a cursor round the screen with the controller.

Naturally Sony wants you to spend more money via the app, so it lets you order games and add-ons the minute they're available and have them download directly to your console, ready and waiting for when you get home. PSN lets you prioritise the bit of the game you're most interested in too, whether it's single or multiplayer, and it'll install that first.

If games have second-screen features built in, they'll be available via the app too. That might be maps, character inventories or whatever else game-makers dream up, but Sony has released a programming interface to let developers use the feature for nothing, rather than developing an entire new app.

The PS4 goes on sale in the UK on 29 November, a week later than its sworn enemy the Xbox One. It'll set you back £349 and all pre-order stock has been snapped up, so if you've suddenly decided it's the fellow for you, you'd best get down to a midnight launch event to ensure you get one.

Meanwhile, here's Sony's Shuhei Yoshida taking everything out of the box in a fetching pair of Alan Partridge-style driving gloves, and a pair of heinous dudebros showing off the app's features in this video:

Have you downloaded the app? What do you think? Are there any features you'd like to see? Make your requests down in the comments, or over on our Facebook page.