Apple Arcade already had a lot of games under its banner, but now the subscription service has just been injected with the largest boost to its catalog since launch.
Apple Arcade expands with more than 30 new games, now includes ‘timeless classics’
Games
Byline, Happy Things, Beep Test Watch, and other apps to check out this weekend
In this week's episode of our Apps of the Week roundup, we have a fun, collaborative writing app, a new take on a mindfulness app, and finally a minimal-but-useful fitness app. And as always, we've selected two great new games for you to check out.
Rocket League Sideswipe is bringing car soccer to iPhone and iPad
Rocket League is one of the most popular games on PC and consoles, blending automobiles and soccer (football!) in an innovative way. The title is exciting and lends itself to a lot of fun experiences, while offering plenty of competitive play, too. And now it's finally coming to phones and tablets.
The official Steam Link app for macOS is now available for download
Valve's released a macOS version of its Steam Link app to let people stream their Steam libraries from their gaming PCs to Mac computers and other devices running the software.
macOS Big Sur 11.3 brings iOS game controller emulation for Apple silicon Macs
macOS Big Sur 11.3 allows gamers who run iPhone and iPad titles on their Apple silicon Macs to use a keyboard or a keyboard and mouse combination as an iOS game controller.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS:
Use Mac controls in touch-based iOS games. Map controller actions to keyboard keys. Map these to mouse buttons, too. No controller required at all! Emulating iOS game controllers on M1 MacsMacRumors has more on how that works:
When running an iPhone or iPad app, opening up the preferences brings up a Touch Alternatives and Game Control interface that can be used to make touch-based iPhone and iPad apps run better with Mac controls.
With Controller Emulation toggled on, common game controller buttons are mapped to keyboard keys and mouse buttons. X, for example, is mapped to Q, the direction stick is mapped to WASD, and Y is mapped to E. L1 and L2 can be accessed by pressing Tab and Shift, respectively, and the Space Bar is the A button.
This new feature in macOS Big Sur 11.3 should make playing touch-optimized iPhone and iPad games on Apple silicon Macs much easier than before without having to use a game controller at all. If an iOS/iPadOS game doesn't support game controllers, this feature won't work.
→ How to use Sony and Microsoft game controllers with Apple devices
macOS Big Sur 11.3 lets you resize iPhone and iPad windows and provides the aforementioned Touch Alternatives feature for mapping taps, swipes, drags and tilts in iOS titles to keyboard keys (Controller Emulation and Touch Alternatives cannot be used simultaneously).
The update also adds support for the latest PlayStation 5 and Xbox One X controllers.
A new Pikmin augmented reality game from Nintendo and Niantic is in the works
Nintendo and developer Niantic have partnered to co-develop a new augmented reality (AR) game for mobile devices, dubbed Pikmin, following the tremendous success the companies enjoyed with Pokémon Go, the first AR game for iOS that launched five years ago.
Vinyls, FlyScreen, Flat Habits, and other apps to check out this weekend
In this week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup we have a beautiful music app, a powerful screenshot manager and a no frills habit tracker. And as always, we've selected two great games for you to check out.
Fretboard Learning, What’s My Hood, Card Curator, and other apps to check out
In this edition of our Apps of the Week roundup we have a guitar learning aide, a simplified 'where am I' app, and an app that helps you track and maximize your credit card rewards. And as always, we've selected two great new games for you to check out.
Grifin, Enliven, Laserhouse, and other apps to check out this weekend
In this week's episode of our Apps of the Week roundup, we have an app that encourages investing, an engaging breathing companion, and a fun photo editor. And as always, we've selected two great games for you to check out.
macOS Big Sur 11.3 brings customizable keyboard and mouse layouts for gaming
macOS Big Sur 11.3 includes all-new gaming layouts with a dedicated interface for mapping buttons on the paired controller to custom keyboard and mouse combinations.
Recur, 3 Things, Auth., and other apps to check out this weekend
In this week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup we have a subscription tracker, a todo list app with a twist, and a cross-platform two factor authentication app. And as always, we've selected two great games for you to check out.
Judge rules Valve has to tell Apple how much it made on over 400 games
Back in November, Apple subpoenaed Valve Software in an effort to gain ground against Epic Games. Apple was seeking data related to Steam sales, plus more, and it turns out it will be getting some of that data after all.