Apple kills Stadium app, the only way to play Stadia on iOS

Apple is killing the fan-made Stadia iOS app, Stadium. 

The third-party application was a simple and clean way of getting Google’s video game streaming service running on iOS devices such as iPhones and iPads.

News of Apple cracking down on Stadium came from developer Zachary Knox who revealed in the application’s Discord group that the application will be removed very soon, urging fans to download it before Apple’s crackdown.

“I have some bad news,” Knox told fans. (Via The Verge) “But before I get to that: if you want to use the App Store release of Stadium, download it now.”

Knox’s Stadium iOS app relied on a circumvention of Apple’s policies. While the company is restricting services like Xbox Game Streaming and Google Stadia from launching in app form, these services can work through web browsers. This is how Amazon Luna and Xbox Game Streaming will work on iOS in the future.

Knox told fans that he doesn’t “resent Apple for this decision”. The developer’s app extended Apple’s WebKit “with native APIs to connect with Bluetooth”, allowing players to connect their controllers to the service.

“They didn’t want their native frameworks and WebKit interacting how I had them working,” Knox wrote.

Those who download Stadium now won’t see any problems with the app. While the app will no longer be updated and can’t be reinstalled upon deletion, it’ll still be able to help iOS players use Google Stadia until Google finds their own workaround.

At the time of writing, you can still get the app on iOS right here. Pick it up before it’s gone for good.