Apple gives iOS support for Xbox One and PlayStation controllers

Apple will add support for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 controllers not only to the Apple TV set-top box but also to iOS. As soon as iOS 13 is officially out, the controllers can be used immediately on iPhones and iPads.

Tim Cook announced the arrival of support for the two game controllers as part of its presentation at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference. Sony let you know that support for iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS will come in the fall. Larry Hryb, who as Major Nelson is Microsoft’s mouthpiece for all Xbox affairs, confirms that this also applies to Xbox controllers, although he keeps it to ‘later this year’.

It specifically concerns the Xbox One controller with bluetooth that has been available since the arrival of the Xbox One S. Sony’s controller is about support for DualShock 4, the controller for the PlayStation 4. It is still unknown whether all parts of the controllers are supported, such as the connection for headphones.

Support for both game controllers will be partly related to the arrival of Apple Arcade, a subscription service for mobile games. This service will be released in the fall and makes it possible to play more than a hundred games, which are not available on any other platform, on iPhone, iPad, Mac and the Apple TV.

Support for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 controllers, for example, means that Apple TV owners no longer need to use third-party Bluetooth controllers or the included touch-sensitive controller. When the Apple TV came out, developers were required to provide their games with support for this touch-sensitive remote, although Apple dropped that requirement in 2016.

The limited support for controllers and the fact that no proprietary Apple game controller is included with the Apple TV has often been the subject of criticism. It is assumed that, for example, the discontinuation of support for Minecraft on the Apple TV is due to the restrictions on using controllers.