Google Stadia Makes Its Long-Awaited iOS Debut: How To Get Streaming

Last month, Google said that it was testing an iOS implementation of Google Stadia. At one point in the past, we thought we'd never see Stadia come to iOS, as restrictive App Store rules made launching a game streaming service technically possible but realistically challenging. Thankfully, the iOS version of Stadia sidesteps the App Store entirely, launching as a Safari webapp instead.

Stadia's roll out on iOS is a rather unceremonious one, with Google only announcing the launch with a single tweet at the time of this writing. Still, the company tells 9to5Google that the roll out is now complete to all Stadia users, so those with an iPhone should be able to access their games through Safari – both free users and Premium users alike.

There is one major requirement in order to use Stadia on Safari, as you'll need to be running iOS 14.3 on your device. If you are, then all you need to do is open up Safari and navigate to stadia.google.com. From there, log into your Google account, add the shortcut to your home screen, and then you're all set.

It's been quite the odyssey getting game streaming services on iOS, but now it seems that the floodgates are opening. Amazon's Luna and NVIDIA's GeForce Now use the same Safari workaround that we're seeing Stadia user here, and it seems that soon Microsoft will be following the same route with its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate streaming. In fact, this is a workaround that Apple has even encouraged game streaming services to take advantage of, which means that using a Safari-based webapp to sidestep App Store requirements is something that even Apple itself approves of.

Stadia is closing out 2020 in a pretty big way. Not only is it now rolling out in iOS, but it's also one of the few platforms that runs Cyberpunk 2077 really well at the moment. In any case, this functionality should be live for everyone now, so if you're a Stadia user with an iPhone in your pocket, be sure to take it for a spin.