Apples new App Store guidelines carve out loopholes for xCloud, Stadia, and other apps that Apple had blocked

Apple has issued new rules for its App Store in an attempt to address many of the issues that have come up over Apple’s governance of its digital storefront for iPhone devices, with updates for game streaming services, new rules for online classes, and fewer restrictions for in-app purchases on free email apps, which was the focus of Apple’s previous controversy with Hey.

Leading the changes is an explicit ruling on game streaming services like Google Stadia or Microsoft’s xCloud, which Apple tells CNBC are newly allowed — but the new rules show that each and every game must also be downloadable “directly from the App Store,” and every game update must be submitted to Apple individually before a company could stream it to users. That...

Continue reading…