Sony’s PlayStation app for mobile has always been something of a disaster, with a poor user interface and painfully slow performance. That’s still true today — but now you don’t have to use it when all you want to do is message friends on the PlayStation Network.

In an effort to be a better messaging service, PlayStation Messages has gone solo. With the new PlayStation Messages app for Android and iOS, you can keep in touch with the rest of your clan without having to use the main PlayStation app at all.

Sony’s move echoes that made by Facebook in April 2014 when the social network split instant messages into a dedicated Facebook Messenger app — but we think this one’s going to go down a lot better with users.

If you’re already using the PlayStation app on your Android or iOS device, PlayStation Messages will log you in with one tap when you first open it. You will then be presented with four tabs that allow you to navigate between messages, favorites, friends, and the settings menu.

PlayStation Messages supports one-to-one chats as well as group messages, and allows you to send voice messages and stickers as well as texts. The app will also tell you which of your friends is online, and which game they’re currently playing.

You have no choice but to use PlayStation Messages if you want to message friends from your mobile, because messaging functionality is being removed from the main PlayStation app. But that’s a good thing; the new app is clean and simple and a whole lot snappier.

You can download PlayStation Messages for Android and iOS now using the links below.

• App StorePlayStation Messages
• Google Play StorePlayStation Messages