Although Apple cracked open the door for game streaming services to run on iPhone and iPad earlier this month, you can’t use Stadia, xCloud or GeForce Now on those devices yet. Well, at least not officially.
Members of the Stadia subreddit have been testing workarounds for Google’s game streaming service on iPhone for quite some time. Many of those have required people to install IPA files, but Zachary Knox (aka u/zmknox) has created what’s probably the easiest-to-use method yet.
They released a free browser app called Stadium, which you can download directly from the App Store. Once you enter a few settings and authenticate the browser with your Google account, the app brings up the Stadia landing page whenever you open it. Knox wrote that the app doesn’t have ads or tracking code.
Another user named /u/GrayBayPlay laid the groundwork to use an external controller in a full-screen iOS browser app. As such, you can play Stadia games on your iPhone with an Xbox One controller or Sony’s DualShock 4.
Based on some limited testing, Stadium works well enough. I played a multiplayer mission in Marvel’s Avengers and it ran smoothly with no noticeable controller lag. Downloading the app from the App Store means you sidestep some of the fiddlier aspects of other Stadia workarounds.
There’s a chance that Apple could pull Stadium from the App Store. However, the app isn’t explicitly designed to use Stadia — the App Store listing doesn’t mention the service at all.
It’s not clear if or when Stadia and xCloud will arrive on iOS devices in any official capacity. Microsoft said that Apple’s unwieldy game streaming rules would give xCloud players a “bad experience” on iPhone. However, the company recently started beta testing its remote play function on iOS. That feature allows people to play games from their Xbox One (and soon, Xbox Series X/S) remotely on their iPhone.
Amazon seems to have found a way around Apple’s rules, though. Its upcoming streaming service Luna will run on iOS as a progressive web app.
Meanwhile, Apple’s Safari browser added support for the Stadia controller last week in beta, but only for the macOS version of the browser.
Author: Kris Holt, @krisholt
1h ago
Source: Engadget
