This year's iOS 26 update put the focus on a new interface for Apple's iPhone software as opposed to an infinite list of changes, but I do enjoy the majority of the enhancements that are there. Messages is a more capable texting tool, and there plenty to like about everything from Reminders to Photos as well. Even Apple Intelligence gets a boost, modest though it may be, with extended Visual Intelligence capabilities.
But one iOS 26 arrival feels like a missed opportunity, especially now that it's been three months since the full iOS 26 release. This year's software update added a brand new Games app to the iPhone that promised to breathe new life into mobile gaming. Thus far, for me at least, it's done nothing of the sort.
Meet iOS 26 Games
I previewed the Games app during the iOS 26 beta process this summer, but it's worth revisiting if you haven't given the app much thought since then. Games is designed to be the one-stop shop for all your gaming needs — you can access all the games on your phone through the app and even redownload ones you haven't played in a while. You can also see what your friends are up to, gaming-wise, and even challenge them to competitions.
Apple has an app tutorial you can read through the first time you launch Games, and it describes the Home tab as the place that "keeps you connected to the games you love." There's also tabs for your games library and your friends, both of which are pretty self-explanatory. Finally, Apple Arcade — Apple's $6.99/month game subscription service — gets its own tab, too.
That's very intentional because it seems like the primary purpose of the Games app is to push you toward subscribing to Apple Arcade. In addition to the dedicated Arcade tab, the Home tab lists top Apple Arcade games, and if you scroll down the page, you can see new arrivals and coming attractions for Arcade. If nothing launching the Games app means you'll never get to plead ignorance about Apple Arcade again.
Why Games doesn't deliver
During the iOS 26 beta process, it was hard to get a feel for how essential the Games app would be. Part of the focus seem to be alerting you to special events in the games you play — as I write this, the Asphalt Legends racing game is touting a holiday racing event — so that you remain engaged with your favorite titles. The app's Friends tab also provides a place where you can challenge your Game Center pals to beat your scores. Both of these features depend on apps supporting events and challenges, and that wasn't really a possibility when the Games app was still in beta.
And now that iOS 26 and the Games app are available for anyone with a supported iPhone to download, it still doesn't seem to be much a possibility, at least based on my experience.
The events are there for those times I wander into the Games Home tab and notice that they're taking place. But in the three months since iOS 26's arrival I have yet to received a challenge from any Game Center friend. This could be unique to my particular approach to gaming — I'm more of a casual gamer as opposed to a hardcore enthusiast, and it's extremely probable the pick 'em up/put 'em down nature of games I favor doesn't lend itself to the challenges Apple has in mind.
It's also possible my friends and I aren't playing the same games, a situation you'd think the Games app would try to remedy with its gaming recommendations. But on the iPhone's vertical screen, those suggested games aren't presented in the best format — titles can get cut off, leaving you to guess what games your friends actually like. You also don't get much in the way of descriptions unless you tap on the tile and do a bit of scrolling. And some of those titles may be Apple Arcade exclusives you can't even access without a monthly fee.
In other words, the Games app is all about discovery, so long as you're willing to take on the onus of discovering the games yourself.
Games outlook
The Games app would make me feel a lot better about gaming on my iPhone if I weren't so down on the state of mobile gaming to begin with. The holidays have afforded me a lot of down time to get reacquainted with some titles through the Games app, and what I've experienced — constant ads and sales pitches for micro-purchases with a few moments of unsatisfying gameplay squeezed in between — has been pretty off-putting.
Apple Arcade is meant to address much of that, with its promise of no adds or in-app purchases and a one-fee-covers-everything approach to pricing. But the recurring monthly cost makes me wonder if I'll find enough value in the subscription service.
Maybe I'll be persuaded to take the Apple Arcade plunge eventually, and that will make the Games app on my iPhone a more valuable resource. But right now, it feels like an app that's going to be relegated to folder on the far reaches of my home screen, rarely accessed on purpose.
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