Facebook slams Apple's App Store policies, launches Facebook Gaming on iOS without the app's mini games feature to pass the App Store's strict approval policies
Watch and Connect — iPhone Screenshots — Facebook Gaming welcomes you to a new world of gaming. FP Trending / Firstpost Tech : Facebook Gaming launches official app on iOS without instant gaming feature John Gruber / Daring Fireball : Decoding Apple's Statement to Business Insider Regarding Xbox Game Pass Seth Schiesel / New York Times : Facebook Gaming Finally Clears Apple Hurdle, Arriving in App Store Imran Hussain / Wccftech : Apple Explains Why Microsoft's xCloud Is Not on The App Store Tim Hardwick / MacRumors : Facebook Criticizes Apple's App Store Policies, Launches Gaming App on iOS Without Games Richard Waters / Financial Times : Apple's rivals are picking the wrong battles Thomas Bardwell / CCN.com : Blame Apple for Microsoft's Abrupt Xbox Game Pass No-Show Dean Takahashi / VentureBeat : Facebook Gaming app debuts amid fight with Apple over instant games Andrew Hutchinson / Social Media Today : Facebook Releases Limited Version of New Gaming App on iOS Due to App Store Regulations Ron Amadeo / Ars Technica : Apple won't let Stadia or xCloud into iOS, citing App Store guidelines Oliver Haslam / Redmond Pie : Facebook Finally Launches Its Gaming App On iOS But Not Without A Swipe At Apple Rebekah Valentine / GamesIndustry.biz : Facebook finally launches Facebook Gaming on iOS — without Instant Games Chris Nuttall / Financial Times : Trump's farewell message on WeChat Mohammad Tabari / Laptop Mag : Microsoft slams Apple for barring xCloud from the iOS App Store Mike Wuerthele / AppleInsider : Apple's block of Xcloud & Stadia game streaming apps is at best consumer-hostile Abhay Venkatesh / Neowin : Facebook Gaming out for iOS - but without any games, company calls out Apple for policies Dan Moren / Six Colors : Apple, Microsoft spar over cloud gaming against antitrust backdrop ↦ Josiah Motley / KnowTechie : Apple's lame App Store policies are why xCloud and Stadia are not available on iOS Chris Smith / Trusted Reviews : Facebook is the latest to sulk about Apple's App Store gaming policy Daniel Viegas / Game Rant : Microsoft Reveals Why Game Pass Ultimate Isn't Coming to iOS Todd Spangler / Variety : Facebook Blasts Apple After Facebook Gaming iOS App Approved — but Without Any Games Eric Abent / SlashGear : Facebook blasts Apple for iOS Gaming app ‘inferior experience’ Mikhail Madnani / TouchArcade : Facebook's ‘Facebook Gaming’ App Has Finally Launched on iOS without Games due to App Store Policies Stan Schroeder / Mashable : Facebook not happy Apple is forcing Gaming to launch on iOS without games Luke Jones / WinBuzzer : Microsoft Blames Apple App Store Practices following Project xCloud Demise on iOS Lewis White / MSPoweruser : Facebook Gaming comes to iOS without games to condemn Apple policies Stephen Warwick / iMore : Facebook Gaming finally coming to iOS, but there's a huge catch... Rajesh Pandey / iPhone Hacks : Facebook Gaming for iOS Launches Without Games Due to Apple's App Store Policies Tristan Rayner / Android Authority : The biggest headphone launch of 2020, and more tech news you need to know today Matt Brown / Windows Central : Facebook Gaming strips back iOS app, condemns App Store policies Laurent Giret / OnMSFT.com : Facebook joins Microsoft in criticizing Apple's tight control over the iOS App Store Elaine Burke / Silicon Republic : Why Microsoft's xCloud game streaming won't be available on Apple devices Ben Lovejoy / 9to5Mac : Facebook iOS gaming app launches with no games; condemns Apple policy Steve Vegvari / iPhone in Canada Blog : Facebook Speak Out About Apple's App Store Policies After Launching Facebook Gaming App Without Games Georgina Torbet / Digital Trends : Facebook speaks out against Apple App Store policies following gaming app issue Msmash / Slashdot : Facebook Criticizes Apple's App Store Policies, Launches Gaming App on iOS Without Games Tweets: Tom Warren / @tomwarren : BREAKING: Facebook slams Apple's App Store policies. Facebook is speaking out against Apple today, and launching its Facebook Gaming app on iOS after months of rejections by Apple. Details here: https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... @dhh : It's particularly ironic because Apple already did review all those awful micro-transaction slot machine games that the App Store is packed full of! It's not like the walled garden is full of roses. It's full of weeds and thorns. Apple has already failed to be curator-in-chief. @facebookgaming : 3/ Citing App Store guideline 4.7, Apple rejected the app claiming the primary purpose of the Facebook Gaming app is to play games. It's not. ~95% of app activity on Android is from watching livestreams. We shared this stat with Apple, but no luck. Shn / @notaj3di : Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg: “Unfortunately, we had to remove gameplay functionality entirely in order to get Apple's approval on the standalone Facebook Gaming app - meaning iOS users have an inferior experience to those using Android” https://twitter.com/... @fdotny : fully functional app available on android but not iOS expect more of this https://twitter.com/... Max Weinbach / @maxwinebach : Apple is fucking stupid for not allowing cloud gaming and they fucking know it John Gruber / @gruber : @pierce @willie If you use your Applespeak-to-English decoder ring, that statement isn't about reviewing streaming content — it's Apple's convoluted way of saying iOS games must be native iOS apps. Seekr / @seekrgg : This is a step in the right direction. The fact that it's stand-alone is huge. What I think needs to happen now is have @FacebookGaming move away from having an account be tied to a personal Facebook account; the experience should be private/exclusive. Still happy to see this https://twitter.com/... Alex Hern / @alexhern : Videogames are the only crossover between all five of the world's largest companies, and Apple has set itself up as the direct opponent to at least two, and almost certainly three - since I can't see Stadia getting full iOS support - of its four major competitors Lucas Matney / @lucasmtny : This is such a stupid hill for Apple to die on, and there's absolutely no chance this isn't reversed. The question is of course how long. Every gaming company is moving in this direction and it's a feature some people could actually move to Android over https://gizmodo.com/... @taingysauce : HOLY SHIT 😱 Guys the @FacebookGaming app is finally out on IOS. It looks great.🔥 Also, there are going to be issues, not everything is perfect but holy shit so far it's clean! Check it out! https://apps.apple.com/... https://twitter.com/... Josh Constine -SignalFire / @joshconstine : @MikeIsaac @TechmemeChatter Getting Project Spartan vibes from this Facebook-Apple spat. Few remember that Facebook tried to launch an HTML5 browser-based game store/platform/arcade in 2011 because Apple wouldn't allow it as a native app, and HTML5 still sucked so it was scrapped https://techcrunch.com/... Ben Sandofsky / @sandofsky : Ten years ago, Apple launched their “Ping” social network, which had a feature that let you find friends on Facebook. Facebook cut off Apple's social graph access, as they do to any company they think could grow into a threat. So this gave me a laugh... https://www.theverge.com/... Michael Gartenberg / @gartenberg : Does Apple review every app I run on my Mac that is then sent to my iPad. May do not even come from the App Store. How long before Apple realizes they are on the wrong side of this? I give it two weeks at most. https://twitter.com/... Alex Hern / @alexhern : Apple has given Facebook - F A C E B O O K - the chance to be the good guy here https://twitter.com/... Ryan Browne / @ryan_browne_ : Microsoft and Facebook are hitting out at Apple for restrictive App Store policies they say prevent them from launching gaming services on iPhones and other Apple devices: https://www.cnbc.com/... @dhh : You know that Apple's monopoly abuses are out of control when they can make Facebook appear as a sympathetic victim. https://twitter.com/... David Pierce / @pierce : By this logic Apple also shouldn't allow Twitch (can't review all the streams!) or Netflix (all the movies!) or YouTube (all the songs!) or Twitter or Facebook or like half the stuff on the App Store. This is such bad-faith logic https://twitter.com/... Alex Hern / @alexhern : Microsoft, yesterday: “Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services... and it consistently treats gaming apps differently, applying more lenient rules to non-gaming apps” https://www.theverge.com/... Rat King / @mikeisaac : in non-china news, Facebook snipes at Apple for its arduous and arbitrary rules governing the App Store; Sheryl Sandberg comments on a dispute regarding Facebook's gaming app, which Apple continuously rejected for breaking its rules. https://www.nytimes.com/... https://twitter.com/... Alex Hern / @alexhern : Facebook, today: “Unfortunately, we had to remove gameplay functionality entirely in order to get Apple's approval on the standalone Facebook Gaming app — meaning iOS users have an inferior experience to those using Android.” https://www.theverge.com/... @facebookgaming : 8/...But there's one more thing...For anyone on an Android device, you can enjoy the full Facebook Gaming experience @ https://www.facebook.com/... Privacy Matters / @privacymatters : If it's the same as the Facebook Gaming app on Android .. maybe Apple has some genuine questions about how Facebook is obtaining consent for ad-related trackers https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Jon Maddox / @maddox : 1. Content - These games are reviewed by official ratings boards that have been doing it far longer than Apple has been. 2. Security - These aren't games...they're videos. https://twitter.com/... Julien / @jhthedev : Did Apple check any mini app or game in Wechat? https://twitter.com/... @mrbadbit : Good for you Microsoft! This was the final straw for Apple. After my contract runs out this year I'll be switching to the Pixel 5. I've had enough of how Apple treats their developers and it's customers. https://twitter.com/... Lars Klint / @larsklint : Apple being a jerk towards developers. What a surprise 🙄 https://twitter.com/... Jon Cartwright / @joncomms : Not that I have any stake in Facebook but things just keep piling up against Apple's policies https://twitter.com/... John Gruber / @gruber : @NSExceptional @kiggle But when it comes to games in particular, it's clearly not horseshit. Apple runs iOS like a console. Xbox is a console. Xbox doesn't allow a service like xCloud from other providers. So why should Apple unless they agree to financial terms? Tim Sweeney / @timsweeneyepic : Apple has outlawed the metaverse. The principle they state, taken literally, would rule out all cross-platform ecosystems and games with user created modes: not just XCloud, Stadia, and GeForce NOW, but also Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox. https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : Microsoft is now commenting further on xCloud iOS ban. “Apple stands alone as the only general purpose platform to deny consumers from cloud gaming and game subscription services like Xbox Game Pass.” https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/... Tom Warren / @tomwarren : “Apple runs iOS like a console” is a ridiculous defense of a $2 trillion corporation. An iPhone or iPad is not a dedicated game console (100m units), it's a general purpose device (1.5 billion units) that's open to all apps. The equivalent is more of a PC, not a game console 🙄 https://twitter.com/... Parris / @vicious696 : after reading this, I seriously need to consider getting an Android phone Apple making ridiculous demands for apps is holding back innovation on their platform I want to use Project xCloud and it seems I'll need to nab a Samsung device to do it https://www.windowscentral.com/ ... @willsmith : I'm not really a fan of cloud gaming services, but Apple is messing up by denying them access to the store. Does Apple validate every piece of content on Netflix or HBO Max? It's the exact same thing: https://www.theverge.com/... Artem Russakovskii / @artemr : What an idiotic justification for not allowing cloud gaming by @Apple. I hope they lose market share for this as people start buying devices that let them use cloud services they pay for. https://twitter.com/... Ron Amadeo / @ronamadeo : Android gaming phones, YOUR TIME HAS COME! lol no not really. https://twitter.com/... @thomasfuchs : Unpopular opinion: streaming gaming doesn't work anyway. https://twitter.com/... Dan Moren / @dmoren : Apple refusing to approve xCloud because they can't review all the games on it is 🙄 of the highest order. Do they review every video on Netflix or every book on Amazon? Just a reminder that much as it tries to insist otherwise, Apple has never really “gotten” gaming. Andrew Martonik / @andrewmartonik : Alt hed: “Apple confirms gaming services that compete with Apple Arcade and don't provide ongoing revenue from IAPs will not work on iOS” https://twitter.com/... @rileytestut : This was the *same* reason Apple gave me for why Delta wasn't allowed. I appealed @ WWDC, they said they'd allow a version with an allowlist of Apple-approved games. Happy to do literally anything to get Delta in the App Store, I then devoted all my free time to finishing it... https://twitter.com/... Catalin Cimpanu / @campuscodi : Remember when Microsoft VP Brad Smith criticized Apple over its App Store in June? Even calling it a monopoly? Well... this happened today https://twitter.com/... Benjamin Mayo / @bzamayo : I went back to check the dates to be sure. December 21st 2017 is when App Store rules specifically outlawed game services like xCloud etc. Apple Arcade was announced in March 2019, but surely must have been in the works internally right around late 2017. https://twitter.com/... Tony Polanco / @romudeth : And it has nothing to do with Apple having its own gaming service, eh? 🤔 https://twitter.com/... Jake Kastrenakes / @jake_k : this is a truly ridiculous argument by apple. is it going to start reviewing every movie on netflix? https://www.theverge.com/... Mishaal Rahman / @mishaalrahman : Apple is actively holding back cloud gaming. I don't see any argument that makes them look good in this. https://www.theverge.com/...