The Backbone One is a stunning and affordable controller that makes the iPhone feel like a Gaming Platform

As the high-profile disputes about what content you can play on your iPhone rage on between Apple, Epic Games, Google, and Microsoft, a company called Backbone is focusing instead on making sure you get the most out of the games that are currently available. Like Razer did with its Kishi controller for iOS, and as other companies have with snap-on controllers of their own, Backbone is introducing one for $100 that it calls the Backbone One. You can buy it from Backbone’s site.

With the controller fully extended, it can fit any iPhone running iOS 13 or later, starting with the iPhone 6S and including the new iPhone 12 lineup. It’s great for Apple Arcade games that support controllers. And, for popular games that don’t have controller support switched on from the start, Backbone curates visual tutorials that appear before it launches to walk you through the steps to turn it on in the game’s settings. Since the Backbone One launched, it now works with Genshin Impact, the xCloud iOS beta for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, and Google Stadia, too. Unlike most controller accessories made thus far, the Backbone One is a hybrid of tightly integrated hardware and software.

On its face, the Backbone One is just a controller — and a very good one, at that. But with software enhancements that take advantage of iOS in some clever ways, Backbone makes the iPhone feel like a bona fide gaming platform. When the hardware and software are all working together, with the ability to easily join up with friends and record clips, the One feels like a gaming experience that somehow beats Apple to the punch of fleshing out its own gaming ambitions. It is no longer just like a phone strapped into a few pieces of plastic but the start of something very special. And for $100, without monthly charges to use its software and party tools, it’s an appealing price if you do a lot of mobile gaming.

As well as it works on iOS, the Backbone One seems perhaps better suited to launch on Android, given that Fortnite isn’t available on Apple’s App Store. Though, since the One launched, Google Stadia and Microsoft’s xCloud game streaming services have come to iOS, giving you more content to play than before. But this iOS controller is already worth the cost of admission if you’re an Apple Arcade subscriber or just enjoy a few one-off games.

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