Google Stadia beta for iOS arrives in just 'weeks' via a Safari web client

[Cal Jeffrey]

Breaching the wall: It appears companies have caught on to a way to thumb their noses at Apple's heavy restrictions on game streaming platforms. Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and now Google are resorting to web applications to get their cloud-gaming services on iPhones. The real question is will Apple allow this breach of its walled garden or come up with an excuse to squash it?

On Thursday, Google announced Stadia is coming to iOS via a web client that will work with Safari Mobile. The search giant said a public beta is scheduled to begin rolling out in the weeks ahead. More information should be forthcoming as the testing draws near.

Stadia has already been available on Android phones for some time through a native application. While there is a Stadia app for iOS, it is mostly useless since you can only manage your Stadia account from it. It will not stream games to play.

As you might have heard, the first phase of iOS support is coming to Stadia! Stay tuned for more to come. https://t.co/RECHwxl5Iz pic.twitter.com/Yj8bFaAG3R

— Stadia (@GoogleStadia) November 19, 2020

Apple's stance on cloud-gamming apps is somewhat contradictory in nature. While the company publicly says these types of applications are allowed, its internal policies demand games be submitted individually for approval. Not only would this be prohibitively time-consuming, but it also defeats the purpose of streaming games from the cloud.

Giving credit where credit is due, Reddit users were the first to come up with a workaround for playing Stadia games on iPhones. Their customized "Stadium" browser was available in the App Store starting in September. Unfortunately, Apple pulled the app in October once it had gained significant media exposure. Its official reasoning was that the Stadium browser used iOS APIs in a way Apple "had not intended."

However, the idea caught on since Apple does not have any rules limiting cloud gaming from running on Safari. So Microsoft and Amazon announced they had begun working on a web clients for xCloud and Luna (respectively) that would use the iPhone's Safari browser to stream games. Shortly after that, rumors surfaced that Nvidia might be doing the same with GeForce Now, but would not confirm the reports.

So far, Apple has not commented or indicated that it would push back against such efforts. However, that could very well change once something is actually up and running in Apple's walled garden.

Image credit: dennizn

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87678-google-stadia-ios-beta-arrives-weeks-safari-web.html

 

[Phylop]

Stadia freakin' blows.

 

[Shadowboxer]

This article seems quite critical of Apples “restrictive policies” on its App Store. However if Apple wanted to release a game on the Xbox marketplace they would have no choice but to pay Microsoft more than Apple themselves charge. Amazon also charge for users to sell on their platform and have killed off most of their competitors at this point so I really don’t have any sympathy for these big corporate tech companies for having to develop a browser app to save marketplace fees. At least they can develop browser apps. There’s no such work around for people who want to sell on their platforms and avoid paying.

 

[durtim]

This article seems quite critical of Apples “restrictive policies” on its App Store. However if Apple wanted to release a game on the Xbox marketplace they would have no choice but to pay Microsoft more than Apple themselves charge. Amazon also charge for users to sell on their platform and have killed off most of their competitors at this point so I really don’t have any sympathy for these big corporate tech companies for having to develop a browser app to save marketplace fees. At least they can develop browser apps. There’s no such work around for people who want to sell on their platforms and avoid paying.

You are so far off the mark, the issue is Apple saying that EVERY game on a cloud service must be individually available on the app store, how does that make sense???

 

[Shadowboxer]

You are so far off the mark, the issue is Apple saying that EVERY game on a cloud service must be individually available on the app store, how does that make sense???

lol cute, yeah you don’t understand the point I made. Also, Apple didn’t say that every game should be made individually available at all. I think you ought to go back and relearn all your knowledge pal .

 

[OortCloud]

Stadia users surge back up from 3 to 5 on this news.