Xbox Cloud Gaming 'Absolutely Will End Up on iOS,' Says Microsoft Gaming Boss

[darkslide29]

Their reaction to iPhone was „hehehe nobody will buy a phone with no keyboard, because the only people worth selling to are businessmen”. So, they missed the chance, same as Nokia and Blackberry. Been two stes behind ever since, no wonder they have to „innovate” now to put their stuff on someone elses platform.

Off topic, but I just wanted to say that I love that quotes in your country are ,,like this'' instead of how I do it "like this". I really wish your way was standard here! It reminds me of Spanish, where asking a question begins with an upside down question mark ¿ and ends with a normal question mark ?

 

[7149041]

Off topic, but I just wanted to say that I love that quotes in your country are ,,like this'' instead of how I do it "like this". I really wish your way was standard here! It reminds me of Spanish, where asking a question begins with an upside down question mark ¿ and ends with a normal question mark ?

Actually it was accidental, my keyboard was set to Polish and the quotes got auto converted. I usually type in English or Spanish and the quotes in both are like this “”.

 

[shornby]

A PWA (progressive web app) that can be added to the home screen and behaves and looks indistinguishable from a native app is the way to go ATM due to Apple's restrictions. With the added benefit that once its done, it will run on anything with a compatible web browser (even maybe SmartTV's).

But can it support Bluetooth controllers?

 

[apparatchik]

But can it support Bluetooth controllers?

Seems like the answer is yes, iOS started supporting DualShock/Xbox controllers -in addition to MFi ones- a few versions back and now mobile Safari supports the HTML5 API that accepts the input from the controllers...

I would bet Microsoft already went through all of this before making the announcement, I would go as far as to say that there has been B2B talk between Microsoft and Apple regarding this. As in Microsoft getting assurance from Apple they wont remove this web controller support in the next iOS version, to name one.

I really wish I did this in iOS13 before upgrading to iOS14, but the site gamepad-tester.com supports the HTML5 GamePad API. On my iPad Pro, it had no problem detecting my DS4. It even had the analog triggers so Gamepads should work on mobile safari. The only thing that might not work would be rumble. Site mentions that only Chrome implements support for that.

As to the codec, H264 should be enough for streaming (its all steamlink used for example) for 720p/1080p... HEVC would be good for better performance and 4K though.... though MS gamepass is limited to 720p currently anyway. Hopefully MS can get this up and running quickly.

 

[wouwout]

Integrate xcloud in Microsoft's Edge browser and people will end up using that browser as well.

 

[Solomani]

Apple could do with a few Phil Spencers in their org chart.

Phil Schiller is gone. Now we need a new Phil.

 

[DownUnderDan]

This is a massive win for apple. Microsoft is about to prove to the world that the apple App Store is not the sole method for get apps on a iPhone and Apple wont have to the quality of content on the cloud app as it wasn't download via their store so not their problem

Careful, you might get dizzy with that much spinning.

 

[davidjytang]

Watch Apple deprecate WKWebView and push a new WebView class amputated enough so that xCloud doesn't run.

 

[Rivvvers]

The Xbox team have already circumvented half the problem by baking local streaming directly into the Xbox companion app, it’s currently in the TestFlight app. And this doesn’t violate apples t&cs for the AppStore in the same way the steam link app doesn’t