Yesterday at WWDC 2022, Apple talked about how iOS 16 will improve the gaming experience with updated Metal 3 graphics, Game Center enhancements, and more. Now, it looks like iOS 16 will also offer support for more third-party game controllers, especially Nintendo’s Joy-Con and Pro controllers, 9to5Mac reported.
Developer Riley Testut discovered that he could play with Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con and Pro drivers on iPhones and iPads with the latest beta version of iOS 16. The update also supports 8Bitdo, BADA MOGA XP5-X Plus and Logitech F710 Gamepad, according to the internal code detected by 9to5Mac.
iOS 16 lets you pair Joy-Cons as a driver or separately, and you can customize the controls to your Bluetooth settings. You can even switch dynamically between using both Joy-Cons as a single controller or two separate controllers by holding down the screen capture and home buttons. “Apple seriously killed it with this implementation,” Testut said. (In a reply to his tweet, another user noted that Apple appears to have started support for Switch Pro drivers last year with macOS 12.)
It looks like Apple will be able to add support for more drivers without having to send a new version of iOS, using something called “mobile assets”. This is similar to another new feature that allows Apple to automatically release security updates between versions of iOS.