Microsoft starts testing the xCloud game streaming service on the browser for iOS and iPadOS

Microsoft started testing its game streaming service, xCloud, on the web using a browser for iOS and iPadOS, and on the PC via Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, The Verge reports.

Microsoft’s xCloud service allows subscribers to play games by streaming from the cloud, instead of having to download the entire game locally on the device. Apple and Microsoft had a brief moment of contention in August last year, as the App Store’s policy restricts services such as xCloud from being available on the platform. Apple updated its policy to allow xCloud on the platform, but it would require Microsoft to send each game available on the service individually to the ‌App Store‌, and each would have to be examined according to the platform guidelines.

Microsoft criticized the rules as a “bad customer experience” and, as a result, said it would bring xCloud to iOS and iPadOS users via the Safari browser. Screenshot (s) provided for The Verge show only an xCloud experience through the browser on the desktop, but the experience on iOS and iPadOS will likely be the same. Users will be able to select a game and play it directly in their browser, although the exact resolution at which the game will be streamed is still unknown. Typically, services like these automatically adapt the resolution to suit your specific network capacity.

At launch, xCloud will only support browsers integrated with Chromium, such as Edge and Chrome on the PC, but The VergeSenior Editor Tom Warren said he expects support for Safari to be added after internal testing. With testing in progress, there is no set deadline for public launch, but The Verge guess that a launch is “getting too close”.