In the run-up to the long-awaited Switch 2 launch on June 5, Nintendo quietly rolled out a major overhaul of its companion mobile app—formerly known as Nintendo Switch Online—renaming it simply the Nintendo Switch App and arming it with new features designed to bridge the gap between console and smartphone. The centerpiece of this update is long-overdue cloud support for screenshots and video captures on the Switch 2. No longer will you need to dust off your camera roll just to snag that perfect victory pose or landscape shot; the Switch 2 can now send up to 100 of your most recent captures directly to the app, where they’ll hang out in the cloud for up to 30 days before the oldest clips begin to cycle out. Best of all, you don’t need an expensive Switch Online subscription—just a free Nintendo Account—to access the feature and download your highlights into your phone’s gallery for permanent safekeeping.

That’s a night-and-day improvement over the original Switch workflow, which forced users to scan a QR code onscreen and juggle temporary Wi-Fi connections just to transfer a handful of snapshots. Back then, if you wanted to post your latest boss defeat on social media, you had to pause the game, generate a QR code in the Album menu, switch your phone’s Wi-Fi to the console’s hotspot, scan the code, download the image, and finally re-join the real world—no small feat if you were mid-match. With the Switch 2’s cloud upload, you can either manually select individual screenshots and videos to send, or flip on automatic uploads and let the system handle the rest, pushing new captures to your app as soon as you finish a session.

Beyond streamlined media sharing, the updated app adds a handful of quality-of-life touches that speak to how Nintendo envisions the Switch 2’s social and community features. GameChat invitations now pop up as mobile notifications, so you’ll never miss a squad-up call in Splatoon 3 or an Animal Crossing hangout just because you stepped away from your dock for a snack. And for the die-hard Zelda fans, Nintendo’s “Zelda Notes” feature—first teased in April—will launch alongside the console, bringing a suite of in-game helpers to your phone. Think spoken directions to far-flung Shrines, medal-style achievements for milestones like distance traveled or enemies defeated, and a trove of voice-recorded memories narrated by Princess Zelda herself. Though the feature is exclusive to the Switch 2 editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, it underscores Nintendo’s push to fuse smartphone convenience with core gameplay experiences.

If you’re already juggling emails, calendars, and to-do lists on your phone, Nintendo Today—the company’s separate news and events app—got a power boost at the same time. With version 1.1, you can now link Nintendo Today’s in-app calendar to your device’s native calendar, letting you see upcoming game release dates, Nintendo Direct broadcasts, and special in-game events alongside your dentist appointment or conference call. The update also introduces favorites (so you can filter your newsfeed to only the content you care about) and image zooming, which finally lets you inspect those high-res screenshots or artwork previews without squinting.

Taken together, these updates paint a picture of Nintendo gearing up not just for a new console launch, but for a more seamless, connected ecosystem where your mobile device becomes an extension of your gaming world. From backing up your best gaming moments in the cloud to keeping you looped into community chat invites and in-game guidance, the revamped Nintendo Switch App and Nintendo Today aim to make life around the Switch two-pronged: immersive on the TV screen, and accessible in the palm of your hand. And if there’s one lesson from this soft launch it’s that sometimes the smallest quality-of-life improvements—like ditching QR codes and clunky Wi-Fi sharing—can make all the difference when you’re chasing that perfect screenshot or racing to drop into a GameChat lobby.