Page 22 - iPhone Life Magazine - Spring 2020

USER INTERFACE up to six family members if you set up Family Sharing on your
devices. It plays well with Screen Time and parental controls
as well, so you can set healthy limits for yourself or young-
Defi nitely the worst thing about Apple Arcade is the inter- sters. All of the games I’ve tried on Apple Arcade are family
face. It’s organized just like the rest of the App Store, which friendly, so it’s a service that kids and adults will enjoy equally.
feels like an inappropriate format for the service. There are
featured games highlighted in the foreground, but it’s unintu-
itive to fi nd a full list of the games offered. The Netfl ix-style PROS:
interface features specifi c titles and genres prominently with-
in the interface, but unless a game is featured, you won’t be • Offers a way to fi nance quality games without ads or
able to fi nd it easily. If you’re seeking a certain title, it’s not microtransactions
immediately clear how to fi nd it unless you happen across it
• High standard of curation
in the main menu. Also, I’ve noticed that the layout changes
every few days, and not necessarily for the better. There isn’t
• No risk of wasting money on games you don’t like
a search bar, and, as of now, there isn’t an easy and depend-
able way to view a complete list of titles. This is reviewers’ • Functionality across Apple devices
main critique of Apple Arcade, so hopefully Apple is listening
• Offl ine support
and cleans up the interface.
CONS:
“APPLE ARCADE IS

A BREATH OF FRESH • Confusing, unintuitive interface for searching and select-
ing games

AIR FOR THE • No AAA titles

• Uncertain how much Apple will prioritize releases in the
MEDIUM OF MOBILE future

GAMING. IT FINAL VERDICT

ELEGANTLY Since signing up for Apple Arcade, I’ve been consistently

CIRCUMVENTS THE surprised by how much enjoyment I’ve gotten out of the
service. As someone who’s been disenchanted by the
microtransactions and predatory practices plaguing mobile
ISSUES AFFLICTING gaming recently, I hadn’t downloaded a game in years. Apple

Arcade is a breath of fresh air for the medium of mobile gam-
THE GAMING MARKET ing. It elegantly circumvents the issues affl icting the gaming

market and puts the focus back on fun. I have only good
AND PUTS THE FOCUS things to say about Apple Arcade, and highly recommend
supporting this innovative service. Ѷ
BACK ON FUN.”

With the advent of Apple Arcade, you can now pair a
variety of Bluetooth controllers to your iOS devices, includ-
ing PS4 and Xbox One controllers. The majority of games on
the platform offer controller support, which is pretty amazing
when you consider the backend design work and forethought In addition to being an ad specialist & video editor for iPhone Life, Nicholas Naioti is
needed to make games playable with both a touchscreen and a musician and audio/video editor. Nicholas has toured the country extensively and
currently resides in a cabin in the Iowa woods.
a controller. Additionally, your Apple Arcade subscription will
work on almost all iOS devices, including your iPhone, iPad,
Apple TV, and Mac computers. When paired with a controller,
this effectively turns all iOS devices into mobile gaming
devices.
Another cool feature that I didn’t immediately notice is that
your progress is saved in the background and can be picked
back up on any of your other iOS devices. You can switch from
your iPhone to your iPad to your Apple TV and jump right back
in where you left off. Also, your subscription is accessible to

20 iPhone Life Spring 2020