Apple Rejects Valve's Steam Link App Due to 'Business Conflicts'

[panjandrum]

You are right, Apple could do it, people would love it, but they won't.
Simply as those at the top are not interested in that direction.

Such a shame

I fully agree that Apple has little interest in gaming (much to their detriment), but the situation is more complicated than that; Apple would have to pour massive resources into achieving "gaming parity" with PCs due to software optimization alone. The same title running under Windows will perform much better than the Mac version on the identical piece of hardware. Sometimes the difference is marginally tolerable (Divinity Original Sin, which runs maybe 1.5x faster in Windows) and sometimes it's unbearable (Pillars of Eternity, which seems to run at least 4x times faster in Windows - which is a shocker since this game should be very light in terms of CPU/GPU resource requirements). If forced to pull a number out of my arse I would say to assume you will get around 1/2 the performance out of the Mac version of a game. That means, if Apple really wanted to take on gaming in a serious manner they would have to produce hardware with double the performance of Windows PCs just to achieve performance parity. Is this really Apple's fault? Well, no, there are a lot of places to point fingers (poor programmers producing poor ports, rushed ports, Microshaft killing Open GL with their Direct X initiative way back when it looked like cross-platform gaming would become a reality, etc.), but it is the unfortunate reality of the situation.

It seems to me Apple should be promoting, not preventing, game stream from Gaming PCs to iThings and Macs. ("Got a gaming PC in your home? Stream your games to any Apple TV, iPad, iPhone, or Mac in your home seamlessly and easily!")

 

[bmot]

Signed up just to say I´m done with Apple, I was looking forward to this, what a stupid decision, it would add so much value to the Apple TV, how idiotic can Apple be?

They are not idiotic, they are ****ing scared!
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Gotta protect all those garbage apps in the AppStore, especially their precious pay2win revenue, from being cannabalized by actual real games.

You couldn't be more on point about this!

 

[wigby]

The legality of the iOS App Store monopoly is in question and I think being looked at in Europe.

Europe thinks everything is a monopoly. Meanwhile, everything is because that is what all companies strive to be. So I guess European regulators ultimately want to regulate and fine every company. I propose a monopoly tax on all companies. That way they can all operate as monopolies but also have to pay extra for the privilege of doing so.

 

[cube]

Europe thinks everything is a monopoly. Meanwhile, everything is because that is what all companies strive to be. So I guess European regulators ultimately want to regulate and fine every company. I propose a monopoly tax on all companies. That way they can all operate as monopolies but also have to pay extra for the privilege of doing so.

The EU is not aggressive regulating competition unfortunately.

 

[BarbaricCo]

I personally don't find much of a usage of steam games on small screen, but been rejected more than a few times from AppStore I feel the Valve pain

Jokes aside its time for a big

Boooooooooooooooooo!

To Apple.
Let's start at WWDC!

 

[MandiMac]

https://9to5mac.com/2018/05/26/phil-schiller-valve-steam-link/

We‘re back in the game guys!

 

[WhiteHawk]

Oh right, cos there is no such thing as a web browser on an iPad which can freely look at porn. Oh and there aren't a proliferation of other VNC remote desktop type apps already approved and in common use on iOS.... right... yeah.
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I take it you have never used the near flawless Steam Link, which streams in the same exact way with excellent results?

Yes I have actually, I have one and a very good router, it's not near flawless even on a fully wired connection, that's WHY I said that. On Wifi it's utter crap as Steam Link is now if you use it in that fashion, just like every other service to do this kind of thing, Moonlight (Which will probably be kicked of the store soon for doing the same thing), even the best one Geforce Gamestream still doesn't work as good as it should, and yes I've tried that too as I have a nVidia Shield. Don't bother saying it's my network, these things just don't work that well.
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https://9to5mac.com/2018/05/26/phil-schiller-valve-steam-link/

We‘re back in the game guys!

Good to hear, I doubt I'll use it but I was hoping it wasn't a conflict of business issue and rather something else they could work out.

 

[AdonisSMU]

I don’t think so. It’s not like the Steam games are native. You still need a gaming machine. The app is more or less a fancy screen sharing app. There are many apps that allow you to remotely access a PC or Mac and use apps on those machines. If getting around the App Store was Apple’s reason, none of those apps would be available either. This is just weird anti-competitive behavior on Apple’s part. It’s also a clear reminder/example of the pitfalls of a controlled, non-competitive marketplace. Apple giveth. Apple taketh away. And there’s nothing you as a customer can do about it.

but doesn't it have a store button on the app itself? I saw a screen grab of the app. It has a big STORE button in the app.

 

[WhiteHawk]

but doesn't it have a store button on the app itself? I saw a screen grab of the app. It has a big STORE button in the app.

And so does the Steam app that’s been available for years on iOS where you can also purchase games where Apple doesn’t get any cut so this has nothing to do with Apple not liking the Steam store made available on an app available on the Apple App Store.

 

[ROGmaster]

I find myself not liking "new Apple" anymore.

I switched to Android a few months ago and I am floored on the daily how there is just SO much more choice. Yes, it is confusing at first to switch, but once you figure it out, you can set things up exactly the way you want to. Don't like the phone dialer app you're using? Download another one! Don't like the music controls, notification style, look of the phone, or what this button does? It's all customizable.

If you're the type who has no idea what's going on and just want to hit the download button and have it work without having to learn anything, maybe stay with iOS. I get that there are legit advantages on iOS for some users.

But if you're familiar with computers and can do some basic things like figure out how a new app works and avoid obvious malware, give Android a shot. It is so much fun to not feel limited by EVERYTHING on my damn phone. The only thing I miss about my iPhone 8+ is the camera, and there are Android phones out there with awesome cameras - I just didn't get one, LOL.

What Android phone do you have?
Maybe you can install Gcam on your phone. It generally improves image quality by a big margin. It did wonders on my Mi A1.

 

[Christian Dev]

This would have been a tremendous boost for iOS if Apple had let it through.

However, now that Apple has rejected the app, games are for losers. Who needs Valve when you can buy many amazing games through the App Store itself.

/s

You're gaming it wrong

 

[mixel]

And so does the Steam app that’s been available for years on iOS where you can also purchase games where Apple doesn’t get any cut so this has nothing to do with Apple not liking the Steam store made available on an app available on the Apple App Store.

I think it’s to do with content being bought for use on the device. There are loads of shopfront apps that Apple doesn’t get a cut in because the products dont get read/used/viewed on iOS. The same applies for the old Steam app.

The new one allows you to buy and play content on the device, albeit in a kludgy way, putting it in the same category as Kindle and ComiXology, where Apple would want a cut so the devs just stripped the inbuilt purchase ability out.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

In my own case, I quit buying iDevices with the headphone jack decision. That was my straw for that product line. I'd LOVE to buy new models but I do not want to play the dongle game (even if I'm given the dongle), do not want to accept lower quality audio even if we want to call it "the future" and I prefer to lug along one set of headphones that can connect to pretty much anything & everything I encounter instead of some mix of stuff to try to replicate that. Does my $500-$1500/yr purchase loss matter to a company banking tens of millions per quarter? Not a bit. But "courageous" decisions like that one and this one can prove to be THE one that moves more than any one individual to stop buying. When there's enough of that quitting that "records" become "shock," Apple will notice. Until then- from their perspective- Apple can do no wrong. Customers voting with their wallets say so.

So what did you do? Have you simply paused buying iOS products, or have you actually bought a competing product?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Paused. Riding the iDevices that I have until they die, then deciding if I want to buy increasingly-aging Apple stuff with it or shift away (neither option is appealing to me).