UPD: Gamestream and Chunghwa Telecom launch cloud gaming app on iOS approved by Apple

An approved cloud gaming app debuted on the App Store in Taiwan. It was developed by Chunghwa Telecom using technology from the French company Gamestream.

Gamestream announced the news on its official website. According to the press release, Taiwanese company Chunghwa Telecom launched the Hami 5G iOS on the App Store with 65 console titles available via cloud gaming technology.

Considering that Apple doesn’t allow any cloud gaming services on its platform, it’s interesting how the developers were able to release the app. It’s said that Chunghwa Telecom recently submitted the Hamai 5G iOS app for approval and managed to successfully add it to the App Store.

“This perhaps indicates greater receptiveness to cloud gaming on the part of Apple. Chunghwa Telecom’s successful deployment of the Hami 5G iOS cloud gaming app enables 5G iOS customers to experience console-quality titles across any iOS device including iPhone, iPad and Apple TV,” Gamestream CEO Ivan Lebeau commented.

Gamestream is a French company offering cloud gaming solutions powered by 5G-ready technology. It also claims to have pioneered the Progressive Web Application (PWA) technology, with its services currently deployed in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.

PWAs have remained the only solution for developers to bring cloud gaming apps to iOS since the App Store’s guidelines prohibit such services as they don’t allow Apple to review each game on their catalogs.

That’s why Microsoft, Amazon, Nvidia, and other companies used this technology to launch their cloud gaming apps on iOS. However, the case with Gamestream and Chunghwa Telecom seems different.

It’s still unclear why Apple approved the Hami 5G, while banning other cloud gaming apps from its store. The reason could possibly be in the small catalog that would be easy to review. And if that’s the case, it may become a precedent on the market of mobile cloud gaming.

UPD: We reached to Gamestream CEO, Ivan Lebeau, for comment who said that the app was submitted via the standard App Store approvals process.

“The Hami 5G iOS app was submitted for approval in accordance with standard local App Store guidelines by our telco partner, Chunghwa Telecom, under its own brand. Gamestream provides the cloud gaming technology and video game catalogue,” Lebeau said.