Apple’s Vision Pro went on sale last week. The Cupertino-based tech giant also announced support for over 600 native spatial apps and games on the mixed-reality headset. Recently the world’s most popular streaming platforms – YouTube, Netflix, and Spotify confirmed their plans of snubbing a dedicated app on the mixed-reality headset. Additionally, iPad apps were prohibited from running on the device. YouTube has now taken a U-turn and revealed that its app is on its way to the Vision Pro.
YouTube changes its stance on snubbing the Apple Vision Pro
In an official emailed statement to The Verge, YouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby reveals that they are excited to see the Vision Pro launch and supporting it by ensuring that YouTube users have a great user experience in Safari. This means that until the release of the official app, users can expect an optimized viewing experience in the browser. Gibby confirmed that YouTube has got a Vision Pro app on the roadmap. However, the specific release timeline remains unclear.
YouTube’s decision to launch a native app for the Vision Pro comes after the release of a third-party app called Juno. It was developed by Reddit client Apollo’s Christian Selig and allows watching YouTube on the mixed-reality headset. The app costs $5. It is number 16 in the photo and video category in the App Store downloads for the headset.
Regardless, YouTube changing its mind swiftly after initially denying support for a new tech product is quite surprising. Notably, the video-sharing platform along with its parent company Google is slow to adopt Apple’s features.
YouTube may still not support 360 and VR content on Vision Pro
YouTube also has a large collection of 360-degree and VR videos that can be experienced on VR headsets like the Meta Quest 3. However, they don’t work with the Vision Pro even in the Safari browser. This is because they aren’t good enough and the content was created for devices that do not deliver high-quality spatial experience as per Apple spokesperson Roy.