MobileDiscord PTB for Windows brings Discord to the Microsoft Store

By Sean Endicott
published

One of the best ways to chat with your friends has made its way to the Microsoft Store, thanks to a third-party developer.

Discord is an excellent way to chat with friends through text or voice. MobileDiscord PTB (public test build) brings Discord to a mobile-friendly shell that also scales well on PCs.

The app is available for free on Windows 10, Windows Mixed Reality, and Windows 10 Mobile.

MobileDiscord PTB loads the public test build of the app, so there are some hiccups and issues. The developer is open to feedback and jumping on any issues but since the app loads a test build I won't give it a ranking at the end of this hands on, like I would for a full review.

See in Microsoft Store (opens in new tab)

Easy chatting

If you've never used Discord before, it's a web-based chat service that allows you to instantly chat by typing or using your voice. The platform is focused on gaming but you can obviously use it to discuss anything you'd like. There are Discord servers dedicated to different topics ranging from PUBG to your favorite sports team. If you want to get started, a good place to start is the Morning Mixer server.

MobileDiscord PTB may be only an unofficial port of Discord to the Microsoft Store, but it gets the most important part of porting an app correct — it works. You can jump into chat rooms to discuss games and more with friends, and you can turn your microphone on and off to have party chat.

The familiar Discord "ping" sounds whenever you get a notification, and any of the chatting features that you're used to on the official Discord app work on MobileDiscord PTB.

Clearly a port

MobileDiscord PTB is a port of Discord. That means it isn't natively built as a Universal Windows Platform (UWP) app and doesn't have design elements or features specific to the Microsoft Store.

Discord is by no means ugly, but if you're looking for an app akin to Groove Music's design, this isn't it. It has a relatively reactive design that hides elements as you resize the window but not to the same extent as many UWP apps. However, these limitations don't mean the app doesn't have merit.

Porting Discord into MobileDiscord PTB accomplishes two main tasks. First, it helps anyone that is still using Windows 10 Mobile. Second, it brings Discord to the Microsoft Store, meaning people locked to the store can still use Discord without having to use it through a web browser. I haven't tested the app on a Windows 10 S device so I can't testify to it working, but if you're on a PC that's restricted to only the Microsoft Store for any other reason, you have another option for using Discord.

Additionally, you get the general benefits of using the Microsoft Store, including one-click downloads and being able to easily uninstall the app.

Overall thoughts on MobileDiscord PTB for Windows

MobileDiscord PTB is most useful for people on Windows 10 Mobile where Discord doesn't have an official app, but the PC version looks great and scales fairly well.

Chatting with friends is easy whether you use a keyboard or your voice. The developer also seems anxious to fix issues and add more features, which is a positive sign for MobileDiscord PTB's future.

Pros

  • Brings Discord to the Microsoft Store
  • Still supports Windows 10 Mobile
  • Supports text and voice chatting through Discord

Cons

  • Doesn't fully scale down

See in Microsoft Store (opens in new tab)

Sean Endicott
Sean Endicott
News Writer and apps editor

Sean Endicott brings nearly a decade of experience covering Microsoft and Windows news to Windows Central. He joined our team in 2017 as an app reviewer and now heads up our day-to-day news coverage. If you have a news tip or an app to review, hit him up at sean.endicott@futurenet.com (opens in new tab).

10 Comments
  • "MobileDiscord PTB is a port of Discord."
    Which kind of port is this? It can't be Centennial, since it works on Mobile too.
  • It's a Hosted Web App, a.k.a. Project Westminster. Here's the source code if you're interested: https://github.com/timothy003/mobilediscord
  • @Timothy Liang.
    Sweet, thanks for the link and for bringing Discord to Windows Mobile users!
  • I have been using the Discord UWP app on my Lumia. Obviously, it's not official, either, but it works. Well, it only supports listening to audio channels, not bi-directional comms. So, if this PTB does support that, this may be a worthy replacement.
  • I've always just used Clamour which has worked fine for mobile Discord, and I hear it's in the works for Xbox One. I'll probably just stick there.
  • On an x86 or x64 PC there really is no reason to use this as they already have a Discord client available.
  • As mentioned in the article, this app lets you use Discord on PCs locked to the Microsoft Store. Currently, Discord doesn't support Microsoft Edge, which is the only browser on Windows 10 S. Another feature the official client doesn't have is the ability to shrink the window smaller than half your screen. Discord's minimum size is 940x500, while MobileDiscord lets you go all the way down to 360x500 thanks to responsive design. You can have a split screen with just the chat on the side. There's also a compact overlay mode that can be toggled by pressing Alt+Enter. This is like the official in-game overlay but with full text chat functionality. It's a highly requested feature with nearly 3,600 votes on the feedback forum. I recommend using the official client if you can, but MobileDiscord is still useful for many people.
  • yeah but the client for Windows is very clunky and slow compared to UWP apps like Skype
  • UWP....... Kinda hard to sell with little to no mobile presence.
  • Thanks for this. I'm going to need Discord in the near future and would love to use store version since it won't show my Surface down.
    Keep it up!