Apple's new policy update should make it easier to play Xbox Game Pass on your iPhone

Apple has updated its policy when it comes to hosting apps that offer things like cloud game streaming, meaning playing Xbox Game Pass on your iPhone might get easier.

Right now, if you want to play Game Pass on your iPhone, you have to do so through a browser, which isn't exactly inconvenient, but isn't the most intuitive thing in the world either. There is actually a Game Pass app available on the App Store, but all it does is let you browse what games are available through the service, and remote install them to your Xbox or PC. The reason that you have to play Game Pass cloud games in your browser is because Apple's previous policy didn't allow apps with catalogues of games to let you play them all within the app unless said games were available through the App Store individually.

Now, though, in a policy update from Apple, that isn't the case anymore. "Today, Apple is introducing new options for how apps globally can deliver in-app experiences to users, including streaming games and mini-programs," Apple explained in the developer update. "Developers can now submit a single app with the capability to stream all of the games offered in their catalogue." What that means for Game Pass, as well as other cloud streaming services like Nvidia's GeForce Now, is that there can be dedicated apps that offer cloud streaming directly within it. Again, it's not like streaming Game Pass in your phone's browser is the worst thing in the world, but it does just add a step of convenience that wasn't there before.

Or at least it might, as such an update is yet to come to Game Pass, though there doesn't seem to be a reason as to why Xbox wouldn't introduce it. Xbox first introduced cloud gaming to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in 2020, though it's still technically in beta for Windows and mobile users. It's honestly a pretty convenient way to quickly jump into a game, though you obviously need a reliable internet connection, and it doesn't always work well for visually intense games.

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