Apple’s new gaming app, Apple Games, is now available on Mac and iOS 26 compatible devices. The dedicated hub brings some long-requested features to Apple Arcade users and allows Mac users to launch every installed game from one app.
Revealed at Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) back in June, Apple Games is meant to act as a one-stop hub for every game players have downloaded across their Apple devices. Following a public beta test, the app is now live alongside Apple’s iOS 26 update. It is available on compatible iPhones, iPads, and Macs.
Apple Games more or less combines the Games and Arcade tabs in the App Store, but folds in several new features too. The Home tab will show you a carousel of activities in your current games, a Continue Playing bar, and other handy widgets like Apple Arcade recommendations and games other friends are playing. The Library tab won’t just show you what games you currently have installed on your device, but every single game you’ve downloaded in the Apple ecosystem, including ones that have since been delisted. (Looking at you, Flappy Bird.)
For Apple Arcade users, the big feature is that you finally have a way to see every game on the service listed in a scrollable list – a feature that the service, which launched in 2019, has never had until now. Searching for games in the App Store is more convenient too, as only games, no apps, will surface in search results.
The app brings new social tools too via a Friends tab. Players can now create custom challenges in supported games that are integrated into Game Center. You could, say, create a high score challenge in Fruit Ninja, setting which friends can compete, how long the challenge is active, and how many tries each player gets.
The Mac version of the app comes with an extra trick. It will automatically show you all games installed on your computer, whether they’re from the App Store, Steam, GOG, or anywhere else. All of those games can be booted up from Apple Games directly, making it an all-in-one launcher.
While many of these features seem so obvious that it’s surprising they weren’t available on iOS devices already, Apple Games shows that Apple isn’t done expanding its slow, but steady push into gaming. The heavy Apple Arcade integration indicates that the subscription service is still here to stay even as Apple continues to court major publishers like Capcom and Ubisoft to port their games to Mac.
You can check out Apple Games today on iPhone, iPad, and Mac and watch in horror as you discover what the first game you ever downloaded on an iOS device was.
