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Having been restricted from launching their apps on Apple’s store and being cited for breaking the rules of the platform, Stadia and GeForce NOW are both circumventing the tech giant by launching their services on iOS devices via web applications instead!
In their recent talk with Business Insider, Apple says that the reason Stadia and GeForce NOW have not been allowed on their store is because unlike Netflix, which houses content from many developers just like these cloud gaming apps do, they are interactive, unlike movies or music. Instead, Apple requires developers to submit their games individually and therefore companies like Google and Nvidia are out of luck if they want to take the straightforward path. Luckily for all of us, the web is open and accessible, so in the end, Apple’s strict and antiquated approach lost out. While I think there are plenty of experiences that still need to be served as packaged apps (i.e. mobile games that run locally), It would be wrong to say it’s the best way forward for most experiences nowadays.
As a part of its 1 year anniversary, Stadia announced this morning that they would come to Apple devices by way of a web app that begins testing via the Safari browser in beta in just a few weeks. You can download the official Stadia app on an iPhone or iPad, but it’s basically just a tool for browsing the store, messaging friends, and more. You can’t actually play any of your games due to Apple’s policies mentioned above!
In other news, GeForce NOW announced today that they would make it possible for gamers to use their web application via the Chrome browser on Windows, Mac, Linux, and compatible Android devices as early as Q1 of 2021 without the need for a workaround like the Chrome extension we recently discussed – Stadia Enhanced. Functionality in the app will be close to the full desktop application, but will not have full feature parity.
iPhone and iPad users (iOS 14 and up) can start streaming GeForce NOW through the Safari browser today. The web app is in beta and may not work perfectly, but it’s both a taste of what Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux users will be able to experience next year and a testament to the fact that web apps win in the end! It’s truly an exciting time to be a gamer and I think that as cloud game streaming matures, even just into this next year, we’re going to witness some truly amazing experiences – mainly the unification of gamers across all platforms!
Click to play GeForce NOW on any compatible platform
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