Valve's Steam Link game-streaming app launches on iOS

[The AchieVer]

Valve's Steam Link game-streaming app launches on iOS

Debut comes a year after Apple rejected the app for "business conflicts."

 

Steam is now available on iOS devices.

Screenshot by Lori Grunin/CNET

Valve's Steam Link app, which lets you play games on any supported device by streaming them off a computer, made its debut Wednesday at Apple's App Store, a year after Apple rejected the app.

 

The game maker launched the app in May 2018, offering gamers the ability to sling their game library to an Android phone, tablet or TV or an iPhone, iPad or Apple TV, as long as they had a Steam host system connected to the same network as their device. Apple initially approved the app but changed its mind a few weeks later due to "business conflicts with app guidelines," Valve said at the time.

 

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller reportedly said in emails that the Valve app violated a number of the company's guidelines and that the two companies were working to bring the app to the iOS platform.

 

A year later, the Steam Link app is officially available for download to iPhone, iPad and Apple TV.

 

The app requires devices to run iOS 11.0 or later and that they be connected to a host computer running Steam via a 5GHz network or wired Ethernet. The app features support for the Steam Controller and MFI controllers.

 

 

 

Source

 

 

[Karlston]

Steam Link comes to iOS without Steam Store functionality [Updated]

One year later, Apple's version is missing features available on Android.

[Update (12:07 pm): Ars testing has discovered an important difference between the new iOS Steam Link app and the Android version that has been available for over a year. When streaming to an iOS device, Steam launches in a specialized version of Big Picture mode where a user's Game Library is the only available selection. On Android, by contrast, a generalized remote desktop connection offers the usual access to Steam's Community, Chat, and, crucially, the Store interface (see examples in the gallery below).

 

Apple has long required that apps selling digital content give Apple a 30 percent cut for anything sold directly through the app. That decision led many app makers to direct users to make purchases and subscriptions outside their iOS apps. But Apple has cracked down on direct links to outside store purchases within its apps.

 

(Thanks to Golem.de for the tip)]

 

Original Story

 

Valve's mobile Steam Link app, which lets users stream PC games to other screens inside and outside the home, is now available on Apple's iOS and tvOS App Stores.

 

The news comes almost a year after Apple revoked its approval for the Steam Link app to run on Apple hardware, citing what Valve said were "business conflicts with app guidelines that had allegedly not been realized by the original review team." Apple and Valve have not responded to a request for comment on what exactly changed in the intervening time period.

 

 

As we said in our review last year, the Steam Link app works acceptably well if you have the 5Ghz wireless router that's close to the target device. Even then, you may notice some screen-tearing and stuttering on high-res games that require the most video bandwidth.

 

The Steam Link app is a replacement for Valve's dedicated Steam Link hardware, which was quietly discontinued late last year after its late 2015 debut. Game streaming through Steam is also available on Android devices and any computer running the Steam client.

 

Source: Steam Link comes to iOS without Steam Store functionality [Updated] (Ars Technica)

 

(To view the article's image gallery, please visit the above link)