Despite remaining one of the most prominent live-service games in the world, receiving extensive updates and impressive collaborations weekly, it’s hard to ignore the awkward availability of Fortnite on phones and tablets.
As has been the case since August 2020, Fortnite remains inaccessible from the Apple App Store and Google Play. For those who’ve since managed to hold on to the 13.40 app build of Fortnite on their devices, the last released on the Apple App Store and Google Play, the experience was severely limited on Jan. 30 since it no longer allows players to spend V-Bucks and requires them to be at least 18 years old to play.
Although those on Android can still download the game directly via the Fortnite website, Epic Games app, and Samsung Galaxy Store—pathways that may soon come to iOS devices—streaming remains the only option for those looking to play the game on iPhones or iPads. The two platforms for this are Xbox Cloud Gaming and NVIDIA GeForce NOW.
Here’s how to play Fortnite on the latter.
Playing Fortnite on GeForce NOW, explained
For first-time GeForce NOW users, the service requires players to sign up for one of three membership types: Free, Priority, and Ultimate.
The GeForce NOW membership page lists all the details of each one, including price, gameplay-session length, priority for accessing game servers, and performance.
Streaming Fortnite through GeForce NOW requires players to have internet speeds of at least 15 Mbps for 720p at 60 FPS, and less than 80 milliseconds latency from an NVIDIA data center. The resolution and frame rate of the streaming experience can improve to as much as 3840×1800 at 120 FPS under the right conditions.
While most USB keyboards and mice are said to work fine for playing Fortnite on PC and Mac through GeForce NOW, all devices compatible with the cloud service do support the Sony DualShock 4 (PS4) controller, Sony DualSense (PS5) controller, and Microsoft Xbox Wireless controllers. Those on mobile devices can simply use touch controls as well, of course.
After signing up, players can log into their NVIDIA accounts and hop into Fortnite on GeForce NOW through a supported web browser (iOS Safari, Google Chrome, and Microsoft Edge) or the native GeForce NOW app on a supported platform (Windows PC, macOS, Chromecast, Chrome OS, Android, Android TV, LG TV, Samsung Gaming Hub, SHIELD TV, and Sony TV).
To sync up with your existing Fortnite progress while playing through GeForce NOW, you will also need to link your Epic account to your NVIDIA account in the GeForce NOW settings.
All of the current Fortnite game modes are available to play on GeForce NOW except for Save the World, specifically on smartphones and tablets.
