Why Stadia and xCloud as Web Apps Could Work

But just what is a web app?

Is it just a website?

Will it be fast enough for games?

Person playing a mobile game on a smartphone while riding the train.

RyanKing999 / Getty Images

Googles Stadia and Microsofts xCloud let you play games by “remote control.”

The games actually run on powerful servers in the cloud, and stream the video footage.

But Apple has blocked game-streaming services like these from the App Store.

Two people outside playing a game on a smartphone with controllers.

itsskin / Getty Images

So, Microsoft and Google are making them into web apps instead.

What Is A Web App?

Now, when you tap on the newly added Home Screen icon, the web app will launch.

It gets its own spaceit doesnt open in a Safari taband it can store some data locally.

Web apps are limited compared to native apps, but they do have surprisingly deep access to the gadget.

In short, says Firtman, they can “look and act like any other app.”

Games have specific needs when it comes to playing remotely.

One issue is latency, or the delay introduced by playing over the internet.

Web apps introduce extra complications.

This can speed things up, because you dont have to stream high-definition video.

With a web app, however, all that video has to be sent back from the servers.

In the end, the results will come down to smart engineering.

Figuring out how to get around the limits of web apps is easy in comparison.