Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, Twitch is now a big deal, to the extent that people can now make a living out of streaming games, so it’s no surprise that even the Nintendo Switch has got a Twitch app.
Twitch is available now through the Nintendo eShop as a free download; simply navigate to the eShop app on your Switch, search for Twitch and the option to download it will be served up to you.
Once downloaded and installed, the app itself is dead easy to use, with a simple selection of tabs; one for the homepage, one for browsing channels, one for sign in and one for searching.
In many ways, all you need is the home tab as it serves up a full selection of live channels it thinks you’ll like, as well as categories that it reckons may be of interest to you. There are also collated streams recommended for fans of games like Apex Legends and Dead by Daylight.
Twitch is a neat addition for the Switch as it means when you’ve finished a gaming session and fancy giving you thumbs and fingers a rest but not ready to leave the gaming world for good; you can simply watch others playing.
That’s also the kicker, as watching is all you’ll be doing. The Twitch app doesn't let you stream your games from the Switch or Nintendo Switch Lite. Nor will you be able to see the Twitch chat like you can in a smartphone app. So this version of Switch is very much for people who want to sit back and really watch someone’s gaming action without feeling the compulsion to comment.
Some might feel it would be better to simply use Twitch on a smartphone. But the Switch's display is still pretty solid for watching content, albeit at 720p resolution. And with the new Nintendo Switch OLED you get a brighter, more contrast-rich display, so if you have that Switch model, then it could be great for Twitch watching.
