Portal User Reviews

Top reviews

Amazing

Very impressed with the overall quality of the app. Navigation is simple, setup is quick, and gameplay remains smooth during extended sessions.

Got it

Gaming from another room has become much easier with this app. There is no need to keep switching screens or moving the console setup. The app feels smooth, responsive, and well designed for iOS users who want a premium remote play experience.

Cool

This app feels premium from the first setup. The design is modern, the controls are easy to understand, and the connection process feels straightforward. I especially like that it does not look like an old web app wrapped into iOS. Portal feels like a proper native gaming app.

Vip

Video clarity remains sharp enough for fast-paced games, and input response feels consistent during extended play sessions. Overall experience feels well optimized for mobile gaming.

The app

Device switching works without interrupting gameplay, and session continuity is maintained well. Interface responsiveness remains strong even during longer use.

5 star

Controller support feels natural and responsive during gameplay.

OK

Latency stays low enough that gameplay feels close to native most of the time. That alone makes a big difference.

Very good

Works better than a few other remote play apps tried before. Less tweaking needed overall.

best app

Game response feels close enough to playing locally, especially on good WiFi. Didn’t expect that level honestly.

The best

Frequent updates continue to improve an already impressive app. New features arrive regularly without sacrificing stability.

Nice

Having multiple gaming services in one place makes a huge difference. The interface feels modern and easy to navigate, and gameplay has been responsive during every session. Everything has worked exactly as expected here in Seattle.

Excellent

Having Xbox and PlayStation support together is a huge advantage. Everything is organized well and easy to access.

Perfect setting options, but bandwidth issues loom large

Fantastic execution of app development, creation of setting options, console settings, resolution settings, frame rate settings, all that stuff… great work team! But none of that matters if Internet bandwidth can’t handle it. Even though I have a gig Internet speed and I’m only 10 feet away from my router. I still occasionally have skipped frames and Audio dropouts and I’m even matching the games output resolution and frame rate settings in the Portal app (120 FPS +1440 QHD). The second issue is that the controller must be Bluetooth connected to the Apple Vision Pro, which is an issue because, now, there’s a latency between the game video and audio and your controller functions. This is highly unacceptable in the gaming community and in the a/v community in general. I really want this app to work from a personal perspective. I game a lot. Hopefully the team finds out some way to work around these problems.
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Response from developer

Hi, thank you for your feedback. In the realm of game streaming, the connection stability matters the most. Please make sure your console is connected via Ethernet, and there isn’t any other device that is consuming large amounts of bandwidth. Also, rebooting the WiFi router helps a lot when you see constant packets loss. There is a dedicated FAQ section discussing related topics in the settings for you to find out if you’re interested.

Who needs a TV?

I use Portal on both my MacBook Air and my Vision Pro. My PS5 has been in my office, plugged into the router with no monitor for most of the las year. I really only get stuttering if I’m downloading a game. The visual quality is great, and generally speaking it works much better than the first-party PS Remote Play. Highly recommended
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Quality gaming!

Glad this came out as it opens up Vision Pro to remote play with PS5. The quality is great with many options and even cloud gaming with premium pass on Sony. Worth checking out.

Incredible Game Streaming Client!

Whether you are a PlayStation, Xbox, or PC gamer this app has all the tools to give you an amazing game streaming experience.

4k upscaling
Wrap around immersive mode
GFN support
2D to 3D in AVP

The list goes on and on. Gaming using this app is an amazing experience, love it!

The AVP version especially is magical!
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Response from developer

Thank you!

The app Apple, Microsoft, and Sony should be making

TLDR: Portal is the closest thing to a remote play/cloud gaming app made by Apple. It not only offers all the latest, most advanced features, but also actually looks and works seamlessly compared to other first and third party remote play apps that either look good but don’t work well or that work well enough but don’t look as good.

The setup and flow of the app is far more plug and play than any of the third party apps – not unlike the official PS Remote Play app and Xbox Cloud Gaming or Remote Play web app. It leans into the Apple “it just works” concept and delivers well. Other third party apps require quite a bit of tinkering and sifting through lengthy text-based instructions and custom looking (not in the good way) interfaces or require disabling security settings on your PS/Xbox accounts to make things work.

Portal adopts all the latest native frameworks, APIs, and design language to match Apple in lock-step. Other third party apps have legacy iOS elements rather than modern ones and those that do adopt more modern visual elements lack the functional elements that make it feel like a well designed and seamless app. There are few bugs with Portal and when they do arise, the developer is quick to fix them – often in less than a few days, most of that time being the delay that comes from getting through Apple’s app review process.

Portal’s virtual gamepad haptics blow every other remote play and game app I’ve played out of the water. Some apps offer simulated vibrations that just give you a *ZZ* *ZZ* occasionally but don’t feel particularly good. In addition to getting feedback when tapping the virtual gamepad, Portal properly references the audio from games to offer DualSense-like haptics without needing an extra controller. If you do have a controller that has its own haptic/vibration motors, it’ll work there too. But my favorite is that controllers that don’t have built-in motors – such as most telescopic controllers from Backbone, GameSir or Razer Kishi – you have the option to leave the iPhone haptics on and essentially upgrades your controllers to feel like they have haptics coming from them since the iPhone haptics are strong enough and just that good.

The platform support from both sides is unmatched. I may be in the minority of users who likes to have PlayStation and Xbox in a one-stop shop app, but no other app offers that let alone native Xbox Cloud Gaming (not just as a web app). This app was originally made for Apple Vision Pro only, but after just a year, the developer has ported the app to iOS and has already committed to bringing the app to all of Apple’s other major platforms (tvOS, iPadOS, macOS). That’s nothing to say anything about some of the cool backend features planned that will offer even higher resolution and fidelity than what’s supported by Sony and Microsoft.

The pricing is a bit steep when you acknowledge that there are other free or cheaper options. However, no other app comes close to the level of polish, ease of use, fast support, and regular upgrades that Portal offers, so I’m willing to pay to have this app continually updated and improved upon. And after a ton of negative feedback from people who hate subscriptions, the developer has even just released a one-time purchase option that gives you all the new features and platforms for life.

As a long-time gamer who loves remote play and cloud gaming, this is the most premium option out there and I’m all for it. Keep up the good work!
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Response from developer

Thank you for the thoughtful review!

Games have been taken out of the catalog

I was enjoying the app, stopping gaming for two weeks now I’m back and can’t find Uncharted Legacy of thieves or Spider-Man Miles Morales, what happened?

Response from developer

Please login again. Also to get support, please send an email instead of leaving a 1 star review.

Subscription model…really?

I pay a monthly subscription to Microsoft and Sony to give me access to cloud gaming. Greenlight is free and works perfectly for Xbox. Sony is definitely lagging behind, but support is in the works. In what world would I want to pay an additional subscription to access this service on top of the sub I already paid? Do please tell me which ‘core’ features of this software are included for free? I’m not suggesting you don’t get paid for your hard work, but your sub fees are a joke
EDIT: so you’re unaffiliated with MS? Neither is Greenlight, nor XBPlay before that. Both free to use. I can easily afford the £200 lifetime subscription, I just don’t think you’ll be around long enough to make it worthwhile
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Fix the portal

I’m having an issue with certain games I used to play on the portal. why are they not working ?

Response from developer

Could you elaborate what games and what issues you are having? Also, there are proper routes for getting support, why leaving a 1 star review for a fuzzy issue?