[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/international\/facebook-gaming-now-on-ios-after-seceding-to-disagreements-with-apple\/#NewsArticle","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/international\/facebook-gaming-now-on-ios-after-seceding-to-disagreements-with-apple\/","headline":"Facebook Gaming Now on iOS After Seceding to Disagreements with Apple","name":"Facebook Gaming Now on iOS After Seceding to Disagreements with Apple","description":"Six months of unwavering resolve by Facebook have come to a halt, with the company making unwanted changes to have its Facebook Gaming application permitted on Apple\u2019s App Store. Facebook Gaming is a new standalone app that removes all of Facebook\u2019s functionality, placing its focus instead on gamers who are live-streaming their gameplay. Now available […]","datePublished":"2020-08-09","dateModified":"2020-11-27","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/hijanah-hernandez\/#Person","name":"Hijanah Hernandez","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/author\/hijanah-hernandez\/","identifier":68,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6649f7f6828615c253f8ddf2aa05876adb09a77732e58ff64776d71289d3745?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f6649f7f6828615c253f8ddf2aa05876adb09a77732e58ff64776d71289d3745?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TheHomeGround Asia","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/photo_2021-07-22-222533.jpeg","width":640,"height":640}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1596899714830_esports_facebookgaming_1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/1596899714830_esports_facebookgaming_1.jpg","height":838,"width":1600},"url":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/international\/facebook-gaming-now-on-ios-after-seceding-to-disagreements-with-apple\/","about":["Esports","International"],"wordCount":572,"keywords":["Apple","Facebook Gaming","iOS"],"articleBody":"Six months of unwavering resolve by Facebook have come to a halt, with the company making unwanted changes to have its Facebook Gaming application permitted on Apple\u2019s App Store.Facebook Gaming is a new standalone app that removes all of Facebook\u2019s functionality, placing its focus instead on gamers who are live-streaming their gameplay. Now available for download, the application asks users to log in with their Facebook account.As opposed to a regular Facebook feed, users will log in to see a list of selected games, followed games, and followed streamers. The application is much like other live streaming platforms populated by gamers, such as Twitch.For gaming content creators, Facebook Gaming serves as an opportunity to watch gaming content as they usually would from their phones but with the added integration of the world\u2019s most populous social media platform.However, the rectification doesn\u2019t come without compromises for Facebook. Facebook had initially wanted to feature mini-games within the application. Apple then rejected its requests to be on the app store, citing the App Store guideline 4.7 as sufficient reason for rejection.Guideline 4.7 of Apple\u2019s application submission rules states, \u201cHTML5 games distributed in apps may not provide access to real money gaming, lotteries, or charitable donations, and may not support digital commerce.\u201dIn the context of Facebook Gaming, Apple\u2019s rules prohibited companies whose applications\u2019 \u201cmain purpose\u201d was to distribute games. Facebook shared usage data from Facebook Gaming on Android to assert that Apple\u2019s stance was unfair, revealing that 95% of user activity was spent watching streams.In June at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), Apple had also shared an appeal process, which Facebook had tried to use, only to get rejected yet again.A Facebook spokesperson said, \u201cWe even appealed the guideline under the new app review process announced at WWDC\u2026 We did not receive a response.\u201dFacebook also claimed that Apple had taken advantage of its hold over the iOS app store, consequently giving Apple users a Facebook Gaming experience that was inferior to what Android app users could enjoy.Facebook Gaming on both the iOS App Store and the Android Play Store allows users to create and watch live gameplay streams and interact with gaming communities, Facebook Gaming on Android also allows users to engage with playable mini-games from Facebook\u2019s Instant Games platform.Facebook GamingFacebook\u2019s Chief Operating Officer, Sheryl Sandberg expressed in a statement that the move was unfortunate. \u201cWe had to remove gameplay functionality entirely in order to get Apple’s approval on the stand-alone Facebook Gaming app,\u201d she said.However, she said that the company would continue to build platforms for its gaming community, \u201cwhether Apple allows it in a stand-alone app or not\u201d.The is not the first time that Facebook has had to compromise on its gaming content to be available on the iOS app store.Facebook Gaming chief Vivek Sharma explained in a statement to The Verge that \u201ceven on the main Facebook app and Messenger, we\u2019ve been forced to bury Instant Games for years on iOS\u201d.With iPhone users accounting for close to 45% of mobile phone users in the United States according to Statista, Apple\u2019s regulations undoubtedly hinder the progress of global gaming communities.\u201cThis is shared pain across the games industry, which ultimately hurts players and devs and severely hamstrings innovation on mobile for other types of formats, like cloud gaming,\u201d said Sharma."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"International","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/international\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Facebook Gaming Now on iOS After Seceding to Disagreements with Apple","item":"https:\/\/thehomeground.asia\/international\/facebook-gaming-now-on-ios-after-seceding-to-disagreements-with-apple\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]