Google is working on store filter and voice chat for Stadia on Android

According to a teardown by 9to5Google, game streaming service Google Stadia on Android will soon have a filter function for the games store. Only the browser version of Stadia now has the ability to search and filter. There are also references to voice chat.

The website reports this based on version 3.18 of the app. The filter function in the store only shows game names that match it. It is currently referred to as ‘experimental’ and ‘support for a more advanced search is being worked on’. The browser version of Stadia got a search function at the end of April; before it came, players simply had to scroll through the list of then 172 games. They had to wait a year and a half for that feature.

The voice chat feature seems to take the form of a separate service on the device. Through a notification, players are kept informed whether they are in a chat room and whether their microphone is on. This solution also allows players to navigate away from the Stadia app and continue to use voice chat.

9to5Google further reports that progress has been made again in the area of ​​the previously discovered ‘Bridge Mode’ for controllers. This makes it possible to connect a non-Stadia controller to a smartphone and subsequently operate Stadia games on a Chromecast Ultra. Currently, using a third-party controller still requires possession of a Stadia controller; it’s called Tandem Mode.

Google also plans to release Stadia on Chromecast with Google TV in the first half of this year; the first half of this year will last until the end of this month. 9to5Google has therefore found references to the platform in the app, which in any case indicates that it is still being worked on.