Google Stadia has broken through Apple’s closed-down and locked app ecosystem. The cloud-hosted remote gaming or cloud game streaming platform works in Apple iOS, and right at the time Cyberpunk 2077 is making waves.
Starting today, gamers can play any Google Stadia game on an iPhone or iPad. The cloud-based remotely-hosted game streaming service is accessible through Google Chrome, Apple Safari, or essentially any iOS-compatible web browser.
Apple iOS has Progressive Web App functionality that allows Google Stadia and other similar services?
Cloud-gaming has been a game-changer. It can offer true cross-platform gameplay. However, iOS devices such as Apple iPhone and iPad weren’t part of the gaming revolution, until today.
Apple’s own restrictions on apps in the App Store essentially block any service that acts as a multi-service aggregator. Apple’s policy states that all games must be listed individually in the App Store. This means each remotely-hosted game needs to have its own individual offering on the Apple App Store.
Stadia is now available on iOS devices! Yes, you read that right. Starting today, you can sign into https://t.co/AoYhdVnzGu on your Safari iOS browser and begin playing your favorite games. Try it for yourself today! pic.twitter.com/iQhoAu8NtX
— Stadia (@GoogleStadia) December 16, 2020
Just last week, Microsoft indicated it was circumventing this Apple Inc. policy. The company owns and operates the Microsoft Xbox Cloud Gaming service, also known as xCloud. Microsoft indicated it would attempt to offer a web-based game streaming service for iPhone and iPad users.
Incidentally, Google Stadia has taken the exact same approach and beat Microsoft. The search giant has a Progressive Web App (PWA) for Stadia. This means Apple iPhone users have access to multiple game titles through a single website.
How to add Google Stadia PWA to Apple iPhone or iPad home screen?
Google Stadia subscribers can visit the official website for the remote game hosting and streaming service by using any iOS-compatible web browser. However, there’s a simple trick to mimic the behavior of an app in iOS. This makes launching the service as easy as tapping an “app” icon.
Gamers with a Google Stadia subscription should open Stadia in Safari (https://stadia.google.com), tap the Share shortcut, and then select ‘Add to Home Screen.’ This places a shortcut for the website on the Apple iPhone or iPad home screen.
Tapping on the newly created Stadia shortcut on the home screen takes users directly to the website of the service. Needless to add, gamers will have an ‘app’ that functions almost identically to the native Google Stadia Android application.
Are there any limitations to the Google Stadia platform operational inside the iOS ecosystem?
Google has clearly and successfully circumvented Apple Inc.’s restrictive and controlling policies. The latter has yet to budge on its stand. Hence, companies such as Microsoft, NVIDIA, and quite possibly other game streaming services, are looking at PWA or web-based solutions.
Although Google has managed to bypass Apple’s App Store policies, there are a few limitations. As the PWA is not a native app, Apple iOS User Interface (UI) elements often play spoilsport.
The Apple-centric UI elements such as the iOS status bar, which includes the time, connectivity, and remaining charge on your device, as well as the browser URL field often continue to remain visible. In other words, gamers cannot go true full-screen.
Google needs to somehow manage to make its Stadia PWA go true full-screen. This will also benefit Microsoft’s xCloud and NVIDIA GeForce Now as PWA are supposed to be device and OS independent.