Since Apple is playing a bit politically in the App Store, Stadia is now available on iOS, but not in the traditional format of one “app” which we are all fairly used to.
Since Apple is Apple, this means that the dedicated Stadia app on iPad and iPhone unfortunately cannot ‘officially’ play your favorite titles, such as the impressive Cyberpunk 2077. One stop-gap option that was first pulled and then restored was the fantastic Stadium browser.
This has effectively changed the user agent’s data so that you can connect to Stadia and while it’s a solid workaround, it’s not officially linked to Google and Stadia in any way. Google’s solution for Stadia gamers and potential Stadia gamers on iOS that favors Apple’s strict App Store policies is a PWA or “Progressive Web App”.
We spent about a week of hands-on time prior to the Stadia PWA’s official launch to determine how it fares against its Android counterpart:
Video – Stages for iOS hands-on
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How do I get Stadia on my iPhone or iPad?
Unlike Android, to play Stadia properly on iOS – be it an iPhone or iPad – you don’t actually download anything. The process is a bit different, but not complicated in any way. There are some minor caveats about playing on iOS that probably won’t be an issue, but are notable for the changes made with iOS 14.
Stadia for iOS is thus not playable at all with the application obtained from Apple’s App Store. Instead, you have to use the Safari web browser on iOS to access the game platform and start playing. In fact, this relegates the dedicated app back to a library management tool that it has been since its launch over a year ago.
Despite the fact that you can now set your default browser on iOS for the first time with the recent iOS 14 updates, you have to use Safari to access Stadia. One thing to note is that if you have already set Chrome or any other mobile browser as your default, during this initial installation process we recommend that you set Safari as your default until the PWA is installed.
Launch Safari and go to stadia.google.com, from here you will be asked to log into your account if you haven’t already done so. You can keep doing this if you want, but a smarter move is to add the Stadia home shortcut to your home screen.
Basically this is all you need to know about Progressive Web Apps, they look and feel like a native app but just launch a website. To avoid confusion, the Stadia PWA has the exact same color scheme as on desktop or Chrome OS. The native app – which cannot game – stays against a white background, while the PWA has a white Stadia logo with a red background.
To create a shortcut to the Stadia home screen, hit the Share button in Safari, scroll down and choose Add to Home Screen. This will create an app icon that you can press and launch the Stadia web app in full screen on your iOS devices:
Add the Stadia web app to your iOS home screen
- Open Safari
- Go to stadia.google.com
- Log in to your Stadia account
- Add shortcut to home screen
How does Stadia look, play and perform on iOS?
In a nutshell: very good. While the launch method has more in common with your desktop PC or laptop than those of us who use Android, Stadia for iOS works exactly as you’d expect. I am in love with the ability to play games on the iPad Pro.
The screen does have some black borders in landscape on iPhone and iPad, but the same can be said for Android. Games run smoothly on a solid connection, and even on mobile data, I saw minimal latency issues, but I did have an issue with Cyberpunk 2077’s UI being quite difficult to read on a smaller screen.
Opening the Store tab or your game library tab felt a bit slower, as these sections refresh every time you open them. On Android, those sections can likely be pre-loaded in the background so they can load even faster.
Unlike Android, as this runs in a mobile browser, you can play at up to 4K resolution on your mobile device. I’m not sure if this is an issue that will be resolved but you can change the resolution from the settings as it can cause a data limit if you have one. At launch, only the Google Assistant is missing – which is also not yet available in the browser.
One thing I will notice is how much faster I found the pairing process for my Stadia Premiere controller rather than trying to pair wirelessly with my Pixel 5. The process is seemingly faster on iOS than Android – or at least it is in my experience. I often have to press the pairing code a few times before I can sync my gamepad. Often times I just plug in to save time, but that is not possible on iOS because connected gamepads are not recognized.
When playing on a cellular data connection, the recent iPhone 12 series has of course an advantage thanks to its 5G connectivity. However, with a 4G connection, I saw no direct differences in my locale with the iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 Pro on the same carrier – Three UK.
What about third party controllers?
The official Stadia controller works on iOS without any issues, as you don’t technically pair the gamepad with your smartphone. You actually link it directly to your cloud session. This process is easy as long as you’ve set up your existing Stadia controller and are connected to the same network as your iPhone or iPad.
The biggest bonus is the ability to use a Bluetooth controller connected to your iPhone or iPad without major hassle. This can be tricky and problematic when using Stadium. Because this one “real” implementation, Bluetooth controllers like the PS4 and Xbox One gamepad will work fine when synced with your device. Another noteworthy point is that Stadia recognizes the controller layout and displays the correct controller-specific prompts on the screen without any problems.
I personally can’t see any issues or latency that can be distinguished from an official Stadia controller, but that depend on your local network conditions and stability. As long as you can pair a Bluetooth controller with your iOS device, you should have no trouble using it effectively as a native gamepad with Stadia.
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