How to stream playstation 4 games to your pc or mac with remote play

Sony has unleashed a new update for the PlayStation 4 that enables you to use the Remote Play feature to stream PlayStation 4 games to your Mac or PC, making it easy to continue playing elsewhere when your TV is in use.

It’s the same technology that allows you to stream PS4 games to the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV or an Xperia smartphone or tablet – but now anyone with a compatible Windows PC or Mac can enjoy that same streaming goodness.

Unfortunately this does mean the streams are still limited by the lesser hardware, so at the moment you can only stream in 720p resolution and at 60 frames per second; hopefully this will improve in the future.

How to set up your PlayStation 4 to stream to a Mac or PC

First you’ll need to make sure that you have the 3.50 firmware installed on the PlayStation 4. Your console should inform you automatically that there’s a software update waiting for you, but if not go to Settings on your PlayStation 4, scroll down to System Software Update and select it.

Your PS4 will now search for the update. If it finds it, it will prompt you to download and install it. You might also see a message that says your system is up to date. If that happens, go back to the Settings screen and scroll down until you see System. Select that, then select System Information to see what software version you have – as long as it says 3.50 or higher, you’re good to go.

Make sure your Mac or PC is ready to stream PlayStation 4 games

Before streaming PlayStation 4 games you’ll also need to make sure you have a PC or Mac that meets the minimum requirements for remote play.

If you have a Windows PC you must have at least:

Windows 8.1 (32-bit or 64-bit) or Windows 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Intel Core i5-560M Processor, 2.67GHz or faster
100MB or more of available storage
2GB or more of RAM
1024 x 768 or higher display resolution
Sound card
USB port

Mac users will need the following:

OS X Yosemite or OS X El Capitan
Intel Core i5-520M Processor, 2.40 GHz or faster
40MB or more of available storage
2GB or more of RAM
USB port

Download and install the Remote Play app on Mac and PC

After making sure your Windows PC or Mac meets the minimum requirements (Windows 7 users are out of luck, but at least the upgrade to Windows 10 is still free), head to the Remote Play website, where you’ll find two buttons – one to download the software for Windows, the other for Mac.

Click the appropriate button and the software will download. Next, run the file and follow the on-screen instructions to install the Remote Play software.

Set up your PlayStation for Remote Play

You’ll now need to enable Remote Play on your PlayStation 4. If you’ve already done this to stream to another device you can skip this step. If not, go to Settings on your PS4 and select Remote Play Connection Settings, then toggle the checkbox next to Enable Remote Play.

You may also need to activate the system as your primary PS4. To do this, go back to Settings and select PlayStation Network/Account Management, then choose Activate as Your Primary PS4, then select Activate.

Configure Remote Play for your Mac or Windows PC

Now connect a PlayStation 4 DualShock controller to your PC or Mac via USB, then launch the PS4 Remote Play software you installed.

Click on Settings and click Sign In, then enter the PlayStation Network account details that you use on your PlayStation 4.

Under Resolution select the setting that’s best for you. For the best graphics choose High (720p), but note that you’ll need to make sure your home network or broadband internet is up to the job.

Under Frame Rate choose High for a smooth experience, but if you’re connecting via Wi-Fi, or have a slow internet connection if you’re using Remote Play when you’re away from home, stick to Standard. Finally, click OK to save your preferences.

How to connect your PlayStation 4 to your Mac or PC

Now click Start to begin streaming PlayStation 4 games to your Windows PC or Mac. The Remote Play software will search your home network – or over the internet – for your PlayStation 4. All being well, you’ll then be greeted with the home screen of your PlayStation 4 on your Windows or Mac desktop.

You can make this full-screen, and use the connected DualShock 4 to control the PlayStation 4 remotely.

How to wake your PS4 remotely

You can use Remote Play without having to physically turn on your PlayStation 4, which is handy if you’re using Remote Play on a PC or Mac in a different location to your PS4 – or if you’re just a little lazy.

To enable this feature your PlayStation 4 must go into Rest mode rather than fully powering off when not in use. Rest mode is a very low-powered state that puts the PS4 to sleep, but enables it to start up quickly when you want to use it.

From the PS4 home screen go to Settings > Power Saving Settings > Set Features Available in Rest Mode.

Make sure that ‘Stay Connected to the Internet’ and ‘Enable Turning On of PS4 from Network’ are enabled.

Fixing problems with streaming PlayStation 4 games

If the Remote Play app on your PC or Mac doesn’t find your PlayStation 4 automatically, you may need to manually pair the two before you can stream PS4 games.

To do this make sure your PC/Mac and PS4 are on the same home network, then go to Settings > Remote Play Connection Settings, select Add Device and follow the on-screen instructions.

If you’re attempting to use Remote Play on a PC or Mac from a different location to your PS4 over the internet, and you can’t use Remote Play, or it’s unstable, then you should check two things. First, it’s recommended that you have a high-speed broadband connection with upload and download speeds of at least 5Mbps. Second, you should connect your PS4 to your router via an Ethernet cable, rather than wirelessly.

You can also make your gaming experience smoother by launching the PS4 Remote Play program on your PC or Mac, choosing Settings and lowering the resolution and frame rate.

Check out our collection of PS4 tips and tricks for getting the most out of your console

Senior Computing editor

Matt (Twitter) is TechRadar’s Senior Computing editor. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there’s no aspect of technology that Matt isn’t passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. If you’re encountering a problem or need some advice with your PC or Mac, drop him a line on Twitter.

With Remote Play, you can control your PlayStation® console remotely wherever you have a high-speed internet connection.

Getting started with Remote Play on PC or Mac

Using the PS Remote Play app, you can control your PlayStation®5 console or PlayStation®4 console from a PC or Mac connected to a high-speed network. Check your PC or Mac meets the requirements and then follow the steps below to set up Remote Play.

You’ll need a Windows or Mac computer, and a PS5™ console or PS4™ console to control. Here are the requirement details:

OS: Windows 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Processor: 7th Generation Intel® Core™ processors or later
Storage space: 100 MB or more
RAM: 2 GB or more
Display resolution: 1024 × 768 or higher
Sound card: Required
USB port: Required

OS: macOS High Sierra, macOS Mojave, macOS Catalina, macOS Big Sur
Storage space: 40 MB or more
RAM: 2 GB or more
USB port: Required

PS5™ console or PS4™ console

The latest system software
Always update your console to the latest version of the system software.
An account for PlayStation™Network
Use the same account that you use for your console. If you don’t have an account, you’ll need to create one first.
A high-speed internet connection
As a standard, we recommend a high-speed connection with upload and download speeds of at least 5 Mbps. For best performance, we recommend a high-speed connection with upload and download speeds of at least 15 Mbps.
A DualSense™ wireless controller for your PS5 console or DUALSHOCK®4 wireless controller for your PS4 console. You can connect via USB or pair your controller to a supported device using Bluetooth. Please visit the guides below for more information.
USB cable
Please note, when using a wired connection, your controller’s built-in speaker and mic are not supported.
A mic
To use voice chat, you’ll need a microphone, such as the built-in microphone on your Windows PC or Mac.

Install the Remote Play app on your PC or Mac

You can use the same app to connect to your PS5 console and PS4 console.

Download PS Remote Play.
Run the installation file, and then follow the on-screen instructions to install the app.

Set up your PS5 console for remote play

You’ll only need to do this the first time you use Remote Play:

From the home screen, select Settings > System > Remote Play, and then turn on Enable Remote Play.
To start Remote Play while your PS5 console is in rest mode, select Settings > System > Power Saving > Features Available in Rest Mode. Then select the checkboxes for Stay Connected to the Internet and Enable Turning on PS5 from Network.

You’ll only need to do this the first time you use Remote Play:

From the function screen, go to Settings > Remote Play Connection Settings, and then turn on Enable Remote Play.
From the function screen, go to Settings > Account Management > Activate as Your Primary PS4, and then select Activate. You can enable this setting on only one PS4 console for each account.
To start Remote Play while your PS4 console is in rest mode, select Settings > Power Save Settings > Set Features Available in Rest Mode. Then turn on Stay Connected to the Internet and Enable Turning on PS4 from Network.

Start Remote Play from your PC or Mac

You’ll take the following steps each time you connect to your PS5 console or PS4 console from your PC or Mac.

Turn on your console or put it into rest mode.
Connect your controller to your PC or Mac.
Launch PS Remote Play app on your PC or Mac, and then select Sign In to PSN.
Sign in with the same account that you use for your console.
When you select Settings, you can configure video quality settings for Remote Play such as resolution and frame rate.
Select PS5 or PS4.
The app searches for the PS5 console or PS4 console that you’ve signed in to using your account, and then connects to the console automatically. After the app connects, the screen of your console displays on your PC or Mac and you can start using Remote Play. If multiple consoles are found, select the console that you’d like to use.

From the second time onwards, you’ll be able to select the console that you connected to previously.

If your console cannot connect to your computer automatically, you will be asked to manually register the console on your PC or Mac.

Manually register a console for Remote Play on PC or Mac

PS5 console
From the home screen of your PS5 console, select Settings > System > Remote Play > Link Device, and a number displays.
PS4 console
From the function screen on your PS4 console, select Settings > Remote Play Connection Settings > Add Device, and a number displays.

Launch the Remote Play app on your PC or Mac. Enter the number displayed on the screen of your console to add the device to Remote Play.

In 2016 the PS4 is already a multimedia powerhouse, but in the latest firmware update, Sony introduced new features that make your PS4 even better. With the new firmware 3.5 update, you can do everything from creating Facebook-like events for multiplayer sessions to letting you appear offline – and even stream PS4 games to your PC or Mac. That means if your main TV is busy with Netflix, you’ll be able to stream whatever you’re playing from your PS4 straight to your Mac or PC screen. In practice, it seems to work: I tried it with Star Wars: Battlefront recently and found it was pretty good.

How to stream PS4 games to your Mac or PC

1. Before you even touch your Mac or PC, you’ll need to make sure your PS4 has the 3.5 firmware already installed. Fortunately, that’s pretty easy as it should be an automatic update. If it hasn’t happened yet – or if you’ve disabled automatic updates, navigate to Settings | System Software Update and your PS4 will sort things out for you.

2. Once that’s done, you’ll need to make sure the other end of your streaming hardware is up to scratch. Remote Play currently gives you a maximum resolution of 720p and 60fps, but you’ll need to make sure your PC or Mac can cope with it. Sony says the minimum specs for your PC is as follows:

Windows 8.1 (32-bit or 64-bit) or Windows 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)

Intel Core i5-560M Processor, 2.67GHz or faster

100MB or more of available storage

2GB or more of RAM

Display resolution of 1,024 x 768 or higher

And if you’re a Mac user, your device will need to be as good as the below – or better.:

OS X Yosemite or OS X El Capitan

Intel Core i5-520M Processor, 2.4GHz or faster

40MB or more of available storage

2GB or more of RAM

USB port

3. If you’re reading this, then your hardware probably made the grade. Next, you’ll need to install the Remote Play software directly onto your streaming device, and you can download that from Sony’s website. Installation is pretty straightforward so we won’t go into it here, but if you do get stuck, just take a look at Sony’s instructions on the same page.

4. Time to go back to your PS4. First you’ll need to ensure the PlayStation 4 you’re using is your primary device. To sort that, go to Settings | PlayStation Network/Account Management | Activate As Your Primary PS4 | Activate.

5. After that you’ll need to ensure Remote Play is enabled on your PS4. Go to Settings | Remote Play Connection Settings, and check Enable Remote Play is ticked.

6. Once that’s sorted, run the Remote Play app on your Mac or PC. First, you’ll need to sign in with your existing PSN details, and then you’ll need to choose the resolution settings that work for your internet speeds and hardware. We’d recommend going for the highest settings available first, and then bringing them down later if things get too laggy.

7. Once you’re happy with your settings, click Start and your Mac or PC will begin to look for your PS4 over the home network.

8. Once your Mac or PC has found your PS4, you’re ready to go. You can control your PS4 by plugging a controller into your streaming device, and if things are too laggy we’d recommend bringing down the settings until they get smoother. Star Wars: Battlefront at 720p proved a bit too much for my three-year-old MacBook Pro, but after kicking the settings down a peg, things were fine.

Image Credit: appleapple

It’s the same technology that allows you to stream PS4 games to the PlayStation Vita, PlayStation TV or an Xperia smartphone or tablet but now anyone with a compatible Windows PC or Mac can enjoy that same streaming goodness.

How to set up your PlayStation 4 to stream to a Mac or PC:

Image Credit: TechRadar

Your PS4 will now search for the update. If it finds it, it will prompt you to download and install it. You might also see a message that says your system is up to date. If that happens, go back to the Settings screen and scroll down until you see System. Select that, then select System Information to see what software version you have, as long as it says 3.50 or higher, you’re good to go.

Make sure your Mac or PC is ready to stream PlayStation 4 games
Before streaming PlayStation 4 games you’ll also need to make sure you have a PC or Mac that meets the minimum requirements for remote play.

If you have a Windows PC you must have at least:

Windows 8.1 (32-bit or 64-bit) or Windows 10 (32-bit or 64-bit)
Intel Core i5-560M Processor, 2.67GHz or faster
100MB or more of available storage
2GB or more of RAM
1024 x 768 or higher display resolution
Sound card
USB port

Mac users will need the following:

OS X Yosemite or OS X El Capitan
Intel Core i5-520M Processor, 2.40 GHz or faster
40MB or more of available storage
2GB or more of RAM
USB port

Download and install the Remote Play app on Mac and PC
After making sure your Windows PC or Mac meets the minimum requirements (Windows 7 users are out of luck, but at least the upgrade to Windows 10 is still free), head to the Remote Play website, where you’ll find two buttons, one to download the software for Windows, the other for Mac.

Click the appropriate button and the software will download. Next, run the file and follow the on-screen instructions to install the Remote Play software.

Set up your PlayStation for Remote Play
You’ll now need to enable Remote Play on your PlayStation 4. If you’ve already done this to stream to another device you can skip this step. If not, go to Settings on your PS4 and select Remote Play Connection Settings, then toggle the checkbox next to Enable Remote Play.

Configure Remote Play for your Mac or Windows PC
Now connect a PlayStation 4 DualShock controller to your PC or Mac via USB, then launch the PS4 Remote Play software you installed.

Click on Settings and click Sign In, then enter the PlayStation Network account details that you use on your PlayStation 4.

Image Credit: TechRadar

Under Resolution select the setting that’s best for you. For the best graphics choose High (720p), but note that you’ll need to make sure your home network or broadband internet is up to the job.

How to connect your PlayStation 4 to your Mac or PC
Now click Start to begin streaming PlayStation 4 games to your Windows PC or Mac. The Remote Play software will search your home network – or over the internet – for your PlayStation 4. All being well, you’ll then be greeted with the home screen of your PlayStation 4 on your Windows or Mac desktop.

You can make this full-screen, and use the connected DualShock 4 to control the PlayStation 4 remotely.[related-posts]

How to wake your PS4 remotely
You can use Remote Play without having to physically turn on your PlayStation 4, which is handy if you’re using Remote Play on a PC or Mac in a different location to your PS4 – or if you’re just a little lazy.

From the PS4 home screen go to Settings > Power Saving Settings > Set Features Available in Rest Mode.

Make sure that ‘Stay Connected to the Internet’ and ‘Enable Turning On of PS4 from Network’ are enabled.

Thanks to the PS5 Remote Play feature, you can stream games from the console to your PC, phone, or PS4 and play from anywhere.

There’s nothing quite like playing your PlayStation 5 on a big HDR TV from the couch. But you can’t always be hogging the living room. If you want to play some casual Rocket League in bed, or get your Fortnite fix away from home, Sony has a solution. PS Remote Play allows you to stream games from your console to another device for free.

In case you’re confused, this is different from the PS Now service that allows you to stream hundreds of games from Sony’s servers to your device for a monthly fee. Remote Play allows you to stream the games you already own on PS5 to another compatible device, like a computer, phone, or PS4. There’s nothing to pay for, since you already own the devices, games, and internet connection.

However, you will need to do a bit of setup first. Here’s how to get started with Remote Play so you can still game when you’re away from the console.

Prepare Your PS5 for Streaming

First, you’ll need to enable the feature on your PS5. Head to the Settings menu and to go System > Remote Play and flip the Enable Remote Play switch on. You’ll also want to head to Settings > System > Power Saving > Features Available in Rest Mode and turn on “Stay Connected to The Internet” and “Enable Turning on PS5 From Network.” That way, if your PS5 is in Rest Mode, you can wake it up remotely for streaming.

You also need to make sure your network connection is strong. If you’re just streaming games from one room of your house to another, internet speed doesn’t matter—just the strength of your home network. (Internet is required to connect to your PlayStation Network account, but it won’t use data for streaming if you’re on the same network as your PS5).

A decently fast internet connection is required, however, if you’re streaming from a PS5 at home to your phone or tablet somewhere else, like a friend’s house. Sony recommends that both upload speed at home and download speed at your streaming destination be at least 15Mbps, though speeds as low as 5Mbps should work.

Regardless, the game may stutter, lag, or lose connection if you’re far away from the router. For best results, I recommend plugging your PS5 into the router with an Ethernet cable. You should also do the same with the PC or PS4 to which you’re streaming the games. Unfortunately, you’ll be stuck on Wi-Fi if you’re streaming to a phone because Remote Play cannot stream over mobile data.

During the setup process, you can test your internet to see how good of a connection you have. You can always drop streaming quality to 720p, 540p, or lower if necessary. If Wi-Fi in your house is lacking, check out this guide to try and improve it.

How to Stream PS5 Games to Your PC or Mac

If you want to play your PS5 games on a desktop or laptop, you can stream them using the PS Remote Play app. Download the app for Windows or Mac, install it, then log into your PSN account. It will then search for all PlayStation consoles available for streaming.

At this point, you can connect a PS4 or PS5 controller to your PC to start playing. The DualShock 4 and DualSense controllers both work, even for PS5 games, but other controllers (like Xbox) won’t work. However, the caveat with the Windows version of Remote Play is that supported controllers can only be connected over USB. Only the macOS version works for both wired and Bluetooth connections.

By default, the quality won’t be stellar on a big computer monitor, so you may want to click the Settings cog from the app’s main window and change the video quality resolution to 720p or 1080p—provided your network can handle it without stuttering. If you have a monitor that supports HDR, you can even enable that here—check out our guide for more info on getting HDR working in Windows.

How to Stream PS5 Games to Your Phone or Tablet

To stream PS5 games to your phone or tablet, download the PS Remote Play app for Android or iOS, open it, and log in to your PSN account. You will be prompted to connect a PS4 controller through your phone’s Bluetooth settings; yes, you can play PS5 games with the PS4’s DualShock controller.

You can also play with touch controls if you don’t have a gamepad handy, and on iOS, I found that Made for iPhone (MFi) controllers like the Gamevice worked without fuss. The PS5’s DualSense controller is not currently supported on mobile platforms, though.

Once connected, you’ll see your PS5’s menu on your phone, and you can pick a game to start playing. If you experience any lag or hitching, you want to head back to the Remote Play app’s main menu and tap the Settings cog in the corner. From there, you can choose the video quality for Remote Play, from lowly 360p all the way up to 1080p. You can even enable HDR, if you have a phone capable of high dynamic range.

How to Stream PS5 Games to Your PS4

If you still have an old PS4 handy, it should have downloaded the PS5 Remote Play app through an automatic update. This app allows you to stream your PS5 games to your PS4, so you can play on another TV in the house (or at someone else’s house entirely). Open the app and it’ll automatically search for your PS5 and connect.

In my testing, it automatically adjusted the resolution based on the network speed, so you shouldn’t have to do anything else—it’ll just work instantly.

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Want to play Playstation 4 games on your computer? Now you can thanks to PS4 Remote Play, available for Mac OS X (and Windows PC). The Remote Play app basically allows you to control the Playstation remotely from a computer, streaming a PS4 game from the Playstation 4 itself to the Mac or PC over a wi-fi or ethernet connection, allowing you to play whatever game is in the PS4, except on the computer.

Requirements are pretty straight forward for PS4 Network Play to work; you’ll need a PS4 console updated to the latest version of Playstation system software, a relatively new Mac or Windows PC with decent hardware, a broadband internet connection that is legitimately fast, with good local networking performance as well, a PS4 controller with USB cable, and a Sony account (like you use on the Playstation). Once you meet those requirements, the rest is easy:

Playing Playstation 4 Games on Mac or PC with PS4 Remote Play

Be sure the Playstation 4 and computer are on the same local network and using the same router* and install the app on the computer
Enable Remote Play on the PS4 by going to Settings, then to ‘Remote Play Connection Settings’, and choosing to turn on “Enable Remote Play”
Connect the PS4 controller to the computer with a USB cable, then launch the PS4 Remote Play app and login with the Sony ID, the app will search for and connect to the Playstation and the PS4 or game screen will load in a moment

* After PS4 Remote Play has been setup, you can connect to the Playstation 4 remotely through WAN as well, assuming both the home and remote internet connections are sufficiently fast. Yes that means you can play a PS4 game at home, remotely from your Mac at work or school, assuming the bandwidth is sufficient.

PS4 Remote Play should load the game without issue and you’re ready to play it in windowed mode or full screen mode on the computer.

Adjusting PS4 Remote Play Performance & Resolution

The PS4 Remote Play app allows you to adjust resolution and frame rate as needed through the Preferences, which also may impact performance depending on the computer and networking conditions. If the performance is suboptimal, reducing the resolution can benefit, whereas a fast network should be able to handle 720p gaming at a high frame rate without issue. For best results, be sure the network connections in use are strong with little interference, as a weak signal on wi-fi can cause performance issues.

If you have any problems with configuration or issues with the general setup, the previously linked Playstation.com article has a few troubleshooting tips, but generally speaking as long as the PS4 has been updated to the latest system version, the feature has been enabled, and the associated internet connections are solid, it should work just fine with minimal effort.

This is a particularly great option for Mac gamers to have access to a much larger gaming library, and if you already use a PS4 controller on the Mac you may as well go a step further and setup PS4 Remote Play to play the games in Mac OS X as well. Perhaps a similar app will be made available for Playstation 3 and Xbox One?

You’ve spent days, months building the perfect gaming den. Kick-ass PC: check. Perfect desk: in place. Supreme gaming chair: acquired. Fridge full o’ grog: brimming. There’s no better environment for gaming glory. Apart from the sofa. Or at work. Or in bed.

While we all love our battlestations, the ability to play PC games elsewhere—inside or outside the home—can be truly liberating. Today we’ll look at some of the best ways to stream your games remotely and look ahead to upcoming services which could allow you to play your favorite titles on any device. Macs, smartphones, TVs, that aging, dusty Dell in the office? They’re all invited.

Network considerations

Of course, if you want to stream the action from that powerful gaming rig in the den to devices around the home—or further afield—your network needs to be up to scratch. All the heavy processing can be performed on your gaming PC, but high-speed, low-latency connections are essential for smooth, remote gameplay.

Mentioned in this article

Actiontec Bonded MoCA 2.0 Ethernet to Coax Adapter, 2 Pack (ECB6200K02)

Let’s be clear: Despite the many weird and wonderful ways to fire data around your home, there is no substitute for wired Gigabit Ethernet. But if you can’t bear the disruption of lifting carpets or drilling holes to wire up the place, decent alternatives are available. My tip? If your home is wired for cable TV, be sure to check out MoCA 2.0 adapters, such as the Actiontec ECB6200 Bonded MoCA 2.0 Network Adapter ($148 on Amazon), which enables data to flow through standard coaxial cables.

I use these adapters extensively throughout my home, with average speeds of 750Mbps—not far off Gigabit Ethernet and more than you’ll need for a game stream.

Michael Brown

The quality of your PC game-streaming experience relies heavily on your home network speed.

Wi-Fi or Powerline adapters can also do the job, but performance will vary from home to home. If you opt for a wireless configuration, be sure to select the faster (but shorter range) 5GHz networking band on your router over the slower, longer-range 2.4GHz option. If your remote PC is a desktop and its wireless adapter isn’t performing well, then consider upgrading to a modern, high-end model such as the ASUS PCE-AC88 4×4 AC3100 adapter ($109 on Amazon), which can be installed in a spare PCIe slot on your motherboard. A slightly slower, but more convenient option is the D-Link DWA-192 3×3 AC1900 adapter ($70 on Amazon), which connects via USB.

For true remote gaming, let’s not forget mobile 4G LTE connections, which can do a fantastic job with remote streaming. But, be sure your service plan includes generous allowances, as game streaming will quickly chew through data.

Once you have your network in place and performing well, you can check out the game streaming services themselves.

Steam In-Home Streaming

The easiest place to start is Steam In-Home Streaming. That’s right, the ubiquitous gaming platform includes a feature that allows you to stream your library to remote Windows, Macs, Linux, and Steam OS devices. With a decent connection, you’ll experience gameplay as if you were sitting at your gaming PC, though both computers need to be on the same network for Steam In-Home Streaming to work.

Configuration is easy. Install Steam on your gaming PC and the remote device on which you wish to play. Log into the Steam app on both computers and they’ll automatically connect. Your gaming PC, as the host, will need to be powered on and awake throughout the session, so be sure to configure its power settings accordingly.

Terry Walsh/IDG

Once connected, look for the Stream button where the Play button normally would be to launch your game.

Head to your Steam library on the remote PC and click through your game selection. You’ll see that the Play button has been replaced by a Stream button. Click it to launch and stream the game to the remote computer. The game will also be displayed on the host PC’s screen, so don’t plan on using your primary PC for something else while you stream games to another PC.

If your stream is struggling, hit F6 (or Start + Y on your controller) to check out your current streaming stats, as shown at the bottom of the image below. It’ll give you the lowdown on capture resolution, streaming latency, ping time, bitrates and bandwidth—all useful metrics for diagnosing issues.

Terry Walsh/IDG

Witcher 3 on an iMac? No problem with Steam In-Home Streaming.

For a quick bump in streaming quality, reduce the game’s graphics settings. Lowering frame rates and resolution reduces the amount of data that needs to be captured and streamed, which should mitigate latency. A good-quality, modern AC wireless network should be able to handle a AAA title with ease, but as I mentioned earlier, you can’t beat a cable.

If you want to dig even deeper, PCWorld’s comprehensive guide to Steam In-Home Streaming can walk you through the technology’s nitty-gritty details.

Steam Link

Brad Chacos

With Steam Link, you can enjoy your PC games on the big screen TV.

By now, you may have figured out that with Steam In-Home Streaming, your remote PC is really acting as a kind of remote desktop client. All the action is happening on your main rig, with the remote device playing streamed video and relaying your commands back to the mothership. So, you need some kind of remote device, but does it need to be a hefty PC or expensive Mac?

Updated on April 8, 2016: When Sony rolled out the PS4 3.50 update earlier this week, most of the attention was on the PC support for Remote Play. Sony publicly discussed a number of other small additions for 3.50, but it seems that it also slipped in a few stealth improvements that have been uncovered by the PS4 Reddit community.

In a post by Reddit user “IceBreak,” four new features are listed that Sony didn’t deem worthy of mention. Once you update to 3.50, screenshot notifications can be turned off, the interface of the Live from PlayStation app will be improved, the number of members allowed in a party can be set manually, and it’s finally possible to use rest mode with drives larger than 2TB.

We’ve yet to find a 4TB drive that will fit properly in a stock PS4. If you want to go bigger than 2TB, the easiest way forward is with the Nyko Data Bank expansion. Just remember that if something goes wrong, you’re probably on your own. Sony’s site claims that “Proper operation is not guaranteed for all [hard drive] models,” so proceed with caution.

Original post follows below:

Sony released firmware version 3.50 (codenamed “Musashi”) for the PlayStation 4. Social features like scheduled events and log-in notifications have made their way to Sony’s console, but today’s biggest news is the support for Remote Play on both Macs and PCs. At long last, Sony has finally decoupled this excellent feature from the wildly unpopular PlayStation TV and Vita hardware.

Okay, so how do you take advantage of Remote Play? First, you’ll need to make sure everything is up to date. If you’re not immediately prompted to update your PS4 upon boot-up, head over to Settings > System Software Update, and download the latest firmware. On your computer, head to this page, and download the Remote Play client. Plug in your DualShock 4 over USB, launch the app, and then log into your PSN account. The app will search the internet to find your console, but you can also pair your device manually by going to Settings > Remote Play Connection Settings > Add Device on your PS4.

Keep in mind, the default client settings aren’t necessarily optimal. Before you actually connect with your PS4, you might want to head over to the preferences panel first. For the best visual experience, set the resolution to “High (720p),” and change the frame rate to “High” as well. If you’re running on a wired connection, that should work perfectly fine. If you’re relying on a Wi-Fi connection, you’re better off leaving the frame rate on “Standard.” Give it a try at 720p, and see if your connection can handle it. If you run into problems, you can try dropping the resolution to 540p or 360p, but both of those settings are hard to look at on a PC monitor or HDTV.

We’ve spent dozens of hours using Remote Play on the Vita and PlayStation TV, and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed those experiences. It’s exciting that more people can use this feature, but it’s frustrating to see some of the limitations of this release. For example, the client only supports the DualShock 4 when it’s plugged in. Considering that the controller simply uses Bluetooth to connect wirelessly, it’s mind-boggling that Sony requires you to be tethered. Presumably, that kink will be worked out as time goes on.

Our time spent testing Remote Play on a Mac over an Ethernet connection resulted in virtually zero hiccups, and input lag has been miniscule. However, the graphical fidelity is a problem when you’re sitting three or four feet in front of the screen. The relatively low bitrate and the 720p resolution cap makes everything look softer than it should. We haven’t had trouble reading any text as of yet, but it’s definitely more distracting than expected.

Over in the Xbox camp, local game streaming is available, but it’s much more limited in scope. You can stream gameplay to a PC or tablet, but it must be running Windows 10. The PS4 Remote Play app works on Windows 8.1, Windows 10, OS X 10.10, and OS X 10.11. With any luck, this move from Sony will spur Redmond to broaden its support going forward. And as we’ve said before, iOS and Android support would be the next logical step.

Now there is no problem play your favorite PS4 games from your PC or laptop so you can leave the television free for others.

Now we know we aren’t telling you something really new as you can remote play on some devices by Sony and stream your PS4 game to your Android.

How to Play PS4 Games on a PC or Mac

The PlayStation 4 works via the internet and not just on your local network.

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Let’s get started…

Check to see that you have the latest firmware running which has to be 3.50 or newer. You can check this by going to the settings screen on your PS4, then to System Software Update. If you need any updates you can start downloading them

You’ll need to be running firmware 3.50 or newer on your PlayStation 4 to do this. To ensure you have the latest firmware updates, go to the Settings screen on your PS4 and select “System Software Update.” Your PS4 will check for any available updates and allow you to download them.

For optimized streaming you will need a minimum internet connection of 12Mbps. You can run an internet speed test to confirm this.

Your computer requirements are Windows 8.1 or Windows 10. You need an Intel Core i5-560M 2.67GHz processor and 2GB of RAM to give you hassle free performance.

For Mac the requirements are OS X Yosemite or OS X El Capitan. An Intel Core i5-520M 2.40 GHz processor and 2GB of RAM.

The process:

Enable the remote play on your PS4

Go to main settings, select PlayStation Network/Account Management.

Select…Activate a your Primary PS4

Use Activate option

Go back to main setting screen…

Select Power Save Settings

Select Set Features Available in Rest Mode

Enable Stay Connected to Internet

Enable Turning on of PS4 from Network

Now go to your computer…

For Windows Download Remote Play applications

For Mac download from Sony website

Launch the PS4 remote play application

At this time you will be told to connect a PlayStation 4 DualShock 4 controller using a USB cable. The problem is Sony only supports USB connected controller. You can use the USB cable that you use for charging your DualShock 4 controller.

Click start and sign in with your PS network account.

Open screen settings log in with the name you use on your PS4.

It make take a few moments to connect so don’t get impatient.

You can now use the PS4 control that is connected with the Remote Play App.

Launch the game and it will stream to your computer.

To set it to full screen mode just put the mouse over the window and you will see a button in the lower right corner that will let you do this.

Tweak the Settings

To enhance your playing enjoyment you can do a few tweaks.

Tweek the graphics:

Click settings on main screen

Choose either high, standard or low graphics. Lower it if necessary because of video or audio skips. You can try different graphic settings to get the best results.

Connection and Streaming Solutions

You may find that the Remote App doesn’t connect to you PS4 so you can do this manually.

Click register manually when the app is trying to connect

Get the code you need by going to settings then remote play connection on your PS4, select Add Device. It will give you a code to enter in on your app.

Misc Problems

If the connection is rough go to settings and select a lower resolution or frame rate.

Your router may be old and won’t perform well with Wi-Fi. If so upgrade or connect the PS4 to the computer with a wired Ethernet cable.