Stadia 3.12 prepares new referral bonuses, exclusive avatar, Google TV details

Kyle Bradshaw | Apr 17 2021 - 12:15 am PT

Chromecast with Google TV leaning against a Stadia Controller

The latest update to the Stadia app for Android, version 3.12, includes references to new referral bonuses, an exclusive avatar, and continued work on Google TV support.

About APK Insight: In this “APK Insight” post, we’ve decompiled the latest version of an application that Google uploaded to the Play Store. When we decompile these files (called APKs, in the case of Android apps), we’re able to see various lines of code within that hint at possible future features. Keep in mind that Google may or may not ever ship these features, and our interpretation of what they are may be imperfect. We’ll try to enable those that are closer to being finished, however, to show you how they’ll look in the case that they do ship. With that in mind, read on.

Referral bonuses

Last year, Stadia began its referral program, allowing you to invite players to try the service and get a two-month trial of Stadia Pro instead of the usual one-month trial. The main benefit of referring someone today is that you get a free month of Stadia Pro credited to your account when your friend pays for their first month.

With Stadia 3.12, Google is preparing to expand their referral program to a three-tiered system. As before, each friend you invite (who pays for Stadia Pro) is worth a free month of Pro, but now there are two additional rewards, presumably unlocked by referring a specific number of friends.

One reward is a coupon for 50% off of a Stadia Controller from the Google Store. The other new reward is an exclusive avatar for your Stadia account.

Refer friends and get rewards

Ongoing rewards

Check your email for a 50% discount on a Stadia Controller

See your exclusive avatar

Congrats! You unlocked all three rewards

hasUnlockedControllerDiscount
hasUnlockedExclusiveAvatar
hasUnlockedFreeProMonth

The newly added avatar, the first addition to the list since Stadia’s launch in 2019, features a Stadia Controller with an adorable winking face and a crown.

Google TV progress

One of the long-promised features coming soon to Stadia is that the game streaming service would be supported on Android TV devices, and more specifically the first-party Chromecast with Google TV. While the app has been steadily gaining support for Android TV for months, Stadia version 3.12 includes specific references to using Stadia from “Google TV.”

For instance, Stadia’s support for the Google Assistant will be different on Google TV than it is when playing on a Chromecast Ultra. On Google TV devices, the Stadia Controller’s Assistant button won’t trigger the Assistant. Instead, you’ll need to use your usual TV or Chromecast remote.

Your Stadia Controller won’t open the Google Assistant when you’re playing on a Google TV

For Google TVs, use the remote to access the Google Assistant

We also find a few spots where Google is preparing for TVs with two separate volume levels, with headsets offering a different volume than your speakers. Relatedly, it seems in some cases you’ll need to simply use your TV remote to adjust your game’s volume.

Main volume
Main volume (headset)

Use your remote to control the volume

In another bit of text, we see that — just like how Stadia on Android phones is only “optimized” for select phones — Stadia’s experience on Android TV and Google TV will be optimized for specific devices.

The Stadia app is not optimized for this TV. You may have game performance issues while playing.

Party chat progress

Since launch, Stadia for Android has lacked one of the core features of the service — and gaming in general — as voice chat has been remarkably unavailable. As has been spotted in past teardowns, Google is working on party chat for Android, with the latest progress being code for things like being promoted to leader, party invite links, and the text seen when inviting a player to a party.

get:promotedToPartyLeader

onSharePartyInviteLinkButtonTapped
onPartyInviteButtonPressed
PartyRejoinDetailsPage

Join my party on Stadia

In a similar vein, Stadia is also preparing support for in-game voice chat, where you can talk to other players in “public” settings like a Destiny 2 lobby.

Game chat is now available

Disabling game chat auto join because the game session ended.
Disabling game chat auto join because the user switched to a different voice channel.
Auto joining game chat because the user had previously used game chat during this game session.

Batch delete captures

Another tidbit we discovered in Stadia 3.12 is a much-requested quality of life change. Today, Stadia has a hard limit on video captures, but it’s currently only possible to delete one capture at a time. If you start to reach your account’s limit, there’s no way to easily clean out your cloud storage.

It seems that Google has begun working on a way to batch delete your saved captures, though the feature still seems to be early in development.