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  Activities will give channel members games to play together, among other things. [credit: Discord ]

Discord announced a plethora of updates to its online communication software and service today, including new ways to interact with third-party apps on the platform and a cheaper Nitro subscription tier.

The VoIP and text chat service is adding a new "App Directory" where server moderators can browse apps and integrate them into their servers, all within the Discord app. Third-party apps were supported already, but you had to go find them on the web and install them. This new approach is more akin to an on-platform app store.

Longtime Discord users may typically refer to apps as bots; these are special features you can activate with a "/" command, such as polls, moderation, meme generation, and more. Basically, Discord made it easier to find and install these bots. The App Directory was announced today and launches on October 18.