It’s been a busy year for Nvidia already, following the release of the RTX 40-series Super GPUs and the open beta of RTX Remix. It’s following these launches with another that wasn’t announced ahead of time, the Nvidia app is a brand new piece of software designed to be an all-in-one solution and replacement for both GeForce Experience and its existing driver Control Panel. And in a positive turn up for the books, you no longer need to sign in with an email, like you used to with GeForce Experience.
Nvidia might be best known for producing some of the best graphics cards on the market, but based on recent reports, only one-sixth of its revenue came from gaming GPUs last year. Despite this, it’s still a titan of the graphics card world and a change as significant and out of the blue as this is quite the surprise.
The new Nvidia App is available to download right now via its website, but won’t immediately replace the Control Panel app, which will remain active for a little while longer as more features are ported into the new software.
Incorporated into the new app are five main section: Home, Drivers, Graphics, Redeem, and Settings. Within these you’ll get access to functions such as driver updates (with the choice of whether to get the latest Game Ready driver or use the Studio Driver), per-app and global graphics settings, coupon redemption, and other system settings.
Also included are GeForce Experience core features such as the Nvidia overlay that brings easy access to recording, screenshotting, and otherwise tweaking your gaming experience.
There are some downgrades, though. Nvidia has taken the decision drop support for: Broadcast to Twitch and YouTube, Share Images and Video to Facebook and YouTube, and Photo Mode 360 & Stereo captures. However, Nvidia points out cutting these features helps the Nvidia app “install in half the time, deliver a 50% more responsive UI, and occupy 17% less disk space than GeForce Experience.”
We’ve had an initial play with the app and so far it has impressed us with its speed of – and trouble-free – install, generally fast interface, and clean layout. All told, it seems like a big improvement over the ancient-looking Control Panel and sign-in-requiring GeForce Experience. A little extra effort on the name would’ve been nice, though. Nvidia app. So imaginative.
We saw AMD do a similar big change with its graphics driver several years ago, when it introduced AMD Radeon Software, and largely that has proved to be a welcome change to AMD’s own previously rather clunky driver software.
If it’s less a GPU driver update you need as an actual GPU upgrade, you can check out our best graphics card guide for out current top picks, including Nvidia’s own RTX 4070 Super and RTX 4080 Super. Both cards are an excellent choice right now.