iPhone Gaming Is Difficult. Here’s What the iPhone 17 Must Make It Simpler

I’ve been making an attempt to make use of my iPhone as a conveyable gaming machine for years, however I usually hit the identical roadblocks when making an attempt to have it change my Nintendo Switch after I journey. And it is not for lack of Apple and different corporations placing within the effort, as there are tons of video games accessible for the iPhone, between titles that run instantly from the system to more-intensive video games that I can stream over a robust web connection.

Gaming on the iPhone is extra convoluted than it ought to be, and it is frankly simpler to do on Android. For instance, the openness of Android’s working system makes it simple for me to put in alternate shops just like the Epic Games Store. There’s additionally an extended historical past of corporations creating Android telephones which are optimized for gaming, providing high-refresh shows and responsive screens which are simpler to make use of for fast-paced video games.

But Apple seems to be refining its gaming expertise with iOS 26, partly with a brand new Games app that serves as a devoted hub much like what I see on gaming telephones from RedMagic and Asus.

However, it’ll take greater than including a flowery gaming menu to make the iPhone really feel extra like a Steam Deck or a Switch. Here are a number of of the problems I expertise when making an attempt to recreation on the go along with the iPhone, and what I believe Apple may do with the iPhone 17 and iOS 26 to supply a extra compelling different to extra conventional platforms.

The iPhone 17 wants a superb controller

There are so many choices for connecting gaming controllers to an iPhone, however none match precisely proper. I’ve bought clips that allow me tether my iPhone with an Xbox controller, that are comparatively low-cost and straightforward to search out between $10 and $30. These are nice for letting me use my console controller with the iPhone, and I can select to both use a Bluetooth connection or hardwire my controller to the iPhone. Yet they are not nice to be used whereas on a practice or for lengthy intervals, as a result of they begin feeling heavy, as they help all the iPhone’s weight. Not to say my concern {that a} bumpy second on the practice would possibly shake the telephone out of the clip, probably resulting in an unwelcome fumble for my telephone.

If you need a extra comfy gaming expertise, controllers just like the Backbone One allow you to slot your iPhone in prefer it’s a Nintendo Switch. These are essentially the most best as a result of you’ve a strong grip in your system, have console-like controls, and — within the case of the Backbone — you are hardwired into the controller to scale back latency. But at $100, the Backbone One particularly is kind of costly (I used to be thrilled when a colleague had a assessment unit I may borrow). The iPhone itself is an costly system, and I do not wish to must spend an additional $100 on a controller simply to make it higher for gaming.

Apple has dodged the matter of getting a superb gaming controller by lending its endorsement to quite a lot of merchandise. Sometimes you may even see the Apple TV paired up with Sony’s DualShock controller at an Apple Store for Apple Arcade demos. While I do recognize the iPhone’s common compatibility with totally different gaming controllers, it would assist if Apple have been to formally accomplice with not less than one controller for what the corporate would think about an “ideal” expertise for gaming on the iPhone. Perhaps it may very well be a controller grip that makes use of MagSafe as an attachment, or perhaps a controller created in partnership with a third-party like 8BitDo. The aim would not be to interchange the liberty of utilizing any controller you need however to maybe deliver a coherent expertise to what could be essentially the most best solution to even get began with enjoying video games in your iPhone.

Apple Arcade’s subscription is sweet however not versatile

When the Apple Arcade subscription service launched in 2019, it promised a library of high-quality video games that may principally be exclusives and run regionally on the iPhone. Six years later, Apple Arcade remains to be right here however has develop into a spot the place some video games develop into trapped. For occasion, Sega launched Sonic Dream Team in 2023 on Apple Arcade to largely positive reviews. Two years later, Sonic Dream Team remains to be solely accessible on Apple Arcade and there is not even an possibility to only purchase the sport a la carte.

While streaming exclusives are widespread on video providers like Netflix and Amazon Prime, for gaming it is not best for me to solely be capable to entry a title whereas I’ve an lively subscription. I prefer to play via plenty of video games briefly doses. While Sonic Dream Team is not a protracted recreation, it is one which I might in all probability play over a span of months in between Fortnite matches or enjoying Sonic Mania.

Because Apple Arcade focuses solely on cell platforms, a few of these titles do get launched on consoles and the PC. For occasion, Sayonara Wild Hearts launched on Apple Arcade and on all three main consoles. It’s a recreation that I nonetheless take pleasure in — particularly the narration by Queen Latifah and its beautiful artwork type — and it is one which I merely bought on Nintendo Switch to make it simpler to entry than on sustaining an Apple Arcade subscription.

Let streaming apps run natively on the iPhone 17

Apple has an advanced relationship with recreation streaming providers. For occasion, when Microsoft needed to deliver Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (then known as Xcloud) in 2020 to the iPhone, Apple apparently blocked the try and required Microsoft to individually listing every recreation on the service as a separate app within the App Store. Microsoft responded by creating an internet app that circumvents the necessity to get Apple’s approval, which remains to be in use at this time for streaming titles from the Xbox Game Pass library. It’s the same scenario for Amazon’s Luna cloud gaming service and the defunct Stadia service from Google.

I’ve been utilizing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on the iPhone via this net app for years and, whereas it largely works, there’s positively some kinks to this workaround. I usually must log again into the net app if it has been a number of days since I’ve final used it, and despite the fact that the app is designed properly, I am unable to assist however assume that the net app introduces some extra latency to the expertise. While this isn’t one thing I can check, I can say that cloud gaming remains to be highly-dependent on a robust web connection, and even with a 5G web sign it is usually difficult to make use of a cloud gaming service for a protracted time frame.

I’d prefer to see Apple dial down a few of these necessities as a result of it simply serves as a barrier for me from accessing video games that I play via a subscription I pay for. A cloud gaming service like Xbox Game Pass would doubtless be capable to take higher benefit of the iPhone by operating as a neighborhood app, and hopefully present higher efficiency as a result of utilizing such a service is bandwidth-intensive. By limiting these providers additional to only a net app, it is blocking them.

Apple does permit some recreation streaming in restricted circumstances on apps you may obtain from the App Store. You can stream a recreation that is in your console utilizing Microsoft’s Xbox app or Sony’s PS Remote Play app, which is then reliant on the energy of your private home web connection to stream to your telephone. You may use Nvidia’s GeForce Now to stream some video games you personal from shops like Steam. 

Now is a superb time for Apple to make the iPhone a gaming system

With the price of expertise fluctuating proper now partly due to tariffs, it is a notably opportune time for Apple to make the iPhone a extra pleasant place to recreation. We’re already seeing costs rise throughout all Xbox consoles and older Nintendo Switch handhelds. If Apple may place the iPhone as a straightforward solution to play console-quality titles while not having to purchase extra {hardware}, an argument may very well be made that your telephone may very well be sufficient for transportable gaming.

We’ll doubtless discover out extra about Apple’s plans for gaming every time the corporate pronounces the iPhone 17, which is presumed to happen this fall. You may try early impressions of the Games app in iOS 26, which my colleague Zachary McAuliffe has been testing.