Over the years, Nintendo has released some mobile games. However, they’ve also released some mobile apps that are supposed to be companions to their consoles and games, Nintendo news, and the like. There’s four apps I want to talk about because I’ve downloaded them all… but do I use them?

Nintendo Switch App (and Parental Controls)

Alright, so I lied. There are five apps and I only have four of them because I have no need for the fifth. That’s the Parental Controls app for the Nintendo Switch. This app released in 2017 along with the Nintendo Switch App (which we’ll get to in a minute), along with the Nintendo Switch console.

I like the idea of having the parental controls within an app. Not every parent knows how to work a gaming console, but every parent knows how to work their phone (for the most part). Not to mention, the parents can check on the controls while their kid is gaming within needing to interrupt whatever they’re doing on the game they’re currently playing.

I obviously haven’t used this app because I have no need for it. However, it’s useful in the sense that through the app you can limit on play time, and view how long your child has played on the console and which games they’re playing. Restrictions can be customized and parents can also toggle the GameChat on or off.

This is one of Nintendo’s better ideas. One, for the same reasons I mentioned before about not interrupting their child’s gaming session and being able to keep track of their gaming easily through their phone, but also because with the Nintendo Switch came gaming profiles.

I assume if you have kids, you might let them play certain games on your Nintendo profile. Depending on their age and how often they play, why would you set them up with their own Nintendo account? But if they’re a little older, and still young enough to be supervised, you can give them their own profile and set the parental controls for that specific profile. That way, when you play on your own profile, you won’t accidentally lock yourself out if you have a one-hour play limit set for the day. (Of course, you can change it and update it in the app, but still you wouldn’t have to worry about that.)

Alright, I had more to say about that app than I thought I would… Anyway, let’s talk about the Nintendo Switch app.

This mobile app also released in 2017 alongside the Nintendo Switch console. I had downloaded when it released because I thought it was cool. However, I never used it. I downloaded it and promptly forgot about its existence.

When I was a kid and physical video game guides were still a thing, I collected as many as I could. Unfortunately, they’re not as big anymore and companies don’t even make the manuals that used to come in the physical game box anymore. When the Nintendo Switch app was announced, it was showcased that you could use game-specific services. I thought this included digital game guides, but it doesn’t.

These services, as Nintendo calls it, are extra perks and bonuses for certain games. For example, in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, you can see the game’s map, share items with other players, have access to a photo studio, daily in-game bonuses, and a few others.

The only games you can use these services for are Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Splatoon 2, Splatoon 3, Super Smash Brothers Ultimate, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons. I have never used the app for any of my games.

In the app, you also have access to see your friends list and what games they’re playing. So, basically the same thing as your friends list on the console itself.

Finally, the only other feature the Nintendo Switch app has is the photo album. This is why I have recently started using the app that has been on my phone for years. With the Nintendo Switch 2, if you want to save your screenshots from the console, tossing the photos onto Twitter (X) or Facebook is no longer an option. It has to be through the Nintendo Switch app.

Honestly, that’s fine with me because I always hating having to use social media to get my photos off my console and into Canva for my game reviews on Pure Nintendo and for Double Jump. But honestly, I think it was just Nintendo’s way of forcing people to download the app. Thankfully, it’s free.

Nintendo Music

I use the Nintendo Music app quite often, though I have a love-hate relationship with it.

I love it because I can finally listen to original soundtracks of my favorite Nintendo games on the go–whether I’m cleaning, driving, or writing at a cafe, I can bop to Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda, and so much more.

That said, I also listen to Spotify quite a lot. The majority of the music I listen to are video game soundtracks. So, on Spotify, I listen to a lot of artists that create video game song covers, such as Smooth McGroove, Dj Cutman, Qumu, and ZREO: Second Quest, just to name a few.

I would love to create a major playlist of The Legend of Zelda, for example, with the OST of the games including covers from artists like ZREO: Second Quest. But I can’t. I can only listen to the OST on the Nintendo Music app and ZREO: Second Quest on Spotify. If I’m in the mood to listen to Zelda, I have to make a choice between the original songs or covers. I can’t have both at once.

In addition, there are some OSTs on Spotify that I know won’t make it onto the Nintendo Music app. For example, Stardew Valley is on Spotify, but it most likely won’t make its way to the Nintendo Music app even though that game is on the Nintendo Switch. That means, I can’t create a cozy playlist of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing songs. I can’t make a farming playlist for when I work on my non-existent garden.

Another thing that bugs me about the Nintendo Music app: they only add about one OST roughly once per week. The app released on October 31, 2024, so it’s been about a year and they have a little over one hundred games on there. Out of the thousands of video games Nintendo has, the app originally released with, if I recall, roughly twenty OSTs.

There doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason to which games they choose to add and when, either. I think it’d be cool if Nintendo ran a poll each week, or even once a month, to gain insight from the people who use the app frequently and see which games they want to see added soon.

I do enjoy the app quite a bit, though. Nintendo just doesn’t add the OSTs and call it a day. They have curated playlists based on the holidays, the weather, certain characters, and more. Plus, you can listen to extended versions of some of the songs. You can make your own playlists, too, of course, but I haven’t explored that much, even after a year. Why? Because many of the soundtracks from my favorite games aren’t on the app yet. When Nintendo Music has an even bigger selection, then I know I’ll use it more and have fun with creating playlists.

Nintendo Today!

If you need Nintendo news on the go, then the Nintendo Today! app is a good one to have. From gaming news to updates about extras Nintendo does, such as their museum in Japan, you can stay up to date with the company and their games.

There is also a calendar that lists events, such as official tournaments, game release dates, and more. You can also customize the app based on certain games. So mine, of course, is Animal Crossing themed. I have the calendar as a widget on my phone, too, so each day a new Animal Crossing character greets me with a list of events that are happening that day.

That’s about it. The app just offers updates and news conveniently in your pocket. I often forget to check the app, truth be told. However, I do enjoy checking out the “game releases on this day” to see which games came out today, however many years ago. It’s a fun throwback… but also a surefire way to make me feel old.

Nintendo Store

This app is still a baby. At the time this post goes live, the Nintendo Store app isn’t even one month old yet. I had no idea this app existed until a friend posted in Discord a screenshot of their most played games overall. Naturally, I had to see what mine was. (It’s Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing as my top two… no surprise there!)

The Nintendo Store app is just what you’d expect. It’s the Nintendo eShop but on mobile. On this app you have access to past Nintendo Directs, the eShop, games on your wishlist, which games are currently on sale, etc. You can buy games and other Nintendo merch through the app.

Personally, I think the Nintendo Store and Nintendo Today! apps could be combined into one. I think the Nintendo Today! could be a useful section in the Nintendo Store. For example, it can show the lists of older games that were released on this day x-years ago and link to those games’ respective eShop pages. Many of the older games are on the Nintendo Switch Online apps, anyway. So, it’d be another way to entice people to buy other games.

How Many Nintendo Mobile Apps Do You Have?

Aside from mobile games by Nintendo, I have four out of their five apps, and really only use one of them. I don’t use the Nintendo Music app as often as I thought, but I know I’ll use it more when more of my favorite OSTs release.

I doubt I’ll ever use the Nintendo Store app to make purchases, but I do love checking out my gaming stats.

I often forget I have the Nintendo Today! app but I do enjoy looking back at past games that released on this day, and I do check out the calendar once in a while.

Finally, if the Nintendo Switch 2 didn’t require the Nintendo Switch app to move screenshots over from your console to your phone, I probably would have deleted that app after writing this blog post.

Whether I use the apps or not, all of them are free, so I certainly can’t complain about that.