Major Video and Music Platforms Won’t Be on Apple Vision Pro
YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix, major video and music streaming platforms, opted out of developing dedicated apps for the Apple Vision Pro.
- The Apple Vision Pro’s release date is February 2nd.
- All three platforms turned down making a visionOS-compatible app and supporting their iPad apps on the Vision Pro.
YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix won’t be making their applications available on the Apple Vision Pro at launch.
If you haven’t heard yet, Apple will launch its Apple Vision Pro (couldn’t they find a shorter name for this thing?) on February 2nd. The headset is unlike others on the market as it features mixed-reality (MR) technology. People’s reactions were quite mixed ranging anywhere from “APPLE’S BACK, BABY!” and “What in the ski goggles is that?”. But after the latest round of demos, people are more curious than ever about “spatial computing”. They are, however, not really looking forward to experiencing the Apple Vision Pro’s weight distribution issue.
The headset will run on Apple’s new operating system, visionOS. It was built on the foundation of existing Apple frameworks from macOS, iOS, and iPadOS (see a pattern?). But it’s specifically designed for the MR headset’s unique capabilities. Hence, for apps to operate on the Apple Vision Pro, they need to be compatible with visionOS.
All three major video and music streaming platforms are turning down the opportunity to tailor their applications to the Apple Vision Pro’s operating system.
YouTube said in a statement that it has no plans to launch a new app for the Apple Vision Pro. Instead, it’s telling users to access the content via the Safari web browser on the device. YouTube has been a pre-installed app on Apple devices since the original iPad launched in 2010.
Spotify also made it clear that it has no plans to build a visionOS-compatible app, nor does it expect its iPadOS app to be compatible. One would surmise that it’s because of Spotify’s recent spat with Apple over App Store policies. But apparently, that is not the case (as if they’ll admit it if it were).
The actual trendsetter here is Netflix. It was the first one to announce its reluctance to cater to the visionOS. “Our members will be able to enjoy Netflix on the web browser on the Vision Pro, similar to how our members can enjoy Netflix on Macs,” Los Gatos, California-based Netflix said in the statement.
Considering how Apple was promoting this theatre-at-home experience, not offering one of the biggest streaming services worldwide is a real kick in the… spirits. Yes, they have Apple TV but what’s 25 million users when Netflix has 247.15 million?
But I don’t think it will be that big of an issue when it comes to sales. If you are shelling out almost $4,000 (if you count the controller and prescription lenses), you are probably an Apple fan, and accessing the apps through the browser won’t be a hurdle. You probably have both Apple TV and Apple Music, anyway.
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