YouTube and, according to a source, Spotify are not planning to launch a native Apple Vision Pro app or to allow their iPad app to run on the platform

- Users of those services will be steered toward the web — Searches indicate apps from Meta may also be unavailable

Bloomberg 2024-01-19

Context & Ripple Effects

The reported holdout came immediately after Netflix chose the browser route for Vision Pro, challenging the expectation that iPad-app compatibility would quickly fill the headset's catalog. That compatibility had been positioned as a potential advantage for the new App Store despite likely higher app pricing.

Later coverage shows the stance was not necessarily permanent: YouTube said a Vision Pro app was on its roadmap, though without a timetable for its release.

First-order effects

Vision Pro users seeking YouTube or Spotify are directed to web versions rather than dedicated or automatically compatible iPad apps, reducing the services' integration with the new device at launch.
Apple's Vision Pro catalog lacks participation from two major media services; searches also suggested Meta apps could be absent.

Second-order effects

The Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify decisions make browser access a more important fallback for Vision Pro, while Apple has less automatic iPad-app breadth to market to prospective users.
Other major app publishers gain a clearer choice between building for the headset, permitting their iPad apps, or withholding them; each choice affects the perceived completeness of the platform.

Third-order effects

If prominent services continue to withhold apps, headset platforms may need to prove a distinct audience or product advantage before large publishers devote resources to native experiences.
The episode points to a more conditional version of cross-platform app portability: technical compatibility can seed a catalog, but publishers retain control over whether their service participates.

The trend: Early spatial-computing platforms are competing not only for hardware buyers but for major publishers' willingness to make their services available beyond the web.

Discussion

@michaelbrwnjr Michael Brown on threads
I think this is an opportunity of growth for Apple to built it themselves. iMessage is really good. Continue to make it better so people don't miss WhatsApp. Build amazing experiences on Vision Pro so people don't care to miss YouTube, Spotify, Instagram, etc...x
@viticci Federico Viticci on threads
We have been able to independently survey the state of popular apps coming to the Apple Vision Pro - either in compatibility mode or as native apps. As of *today* the results are pretty concerning. We found no native apps and a lot of companies that manually opted out of compat…
@wongmjane Jane Manchun Wong on threads
was that voluntary or involuntary?
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on threads
YouTube and Spotify will also not have apps for the Apple Vision Pro, along with Netflix. This makes sense given the size of the platform will be too small to spin up dedicated teams in an era of cost efficiency. It's on Apple to sell them on the value of investing in the platf…
@gergelyorosz_ Gergely Orosz on threads
You've got to wonder why Netflix and Spotify would refuse to help out Apple's Vision Pro launch (and odds of success) when Apple has been such a tyrant in policing their apps for years, banning even a hint of mention of where iOS users can buy a subscription - as Apple promotes A…
@parkerortolani Parker Ortolani on threads
not surprised that Instagram, Threads, Facebook, and WhatsApp aren't gonna work natively on Vision Pro - but it is still a bummer
@joenandez Joe Fernandez on threads
Tough, but I'm not super surprised. I think the appetite to spend precious engineering resources on speculative hardware platforms is significantly reduced from where it was a few years back. It's not just about building the app, you need to support it and maintain feature pari…
@firerock31 Andy Cheng on threads
Netflix won't build a native app for Apple Vision Pro and reportedly won't even allow its iPad app to work with it, leaving Vision Pro users stuck using the browser for Netflix access. This stands in contrast to their approach with Meta Quest headsets, where they developed an ap…
@viticci@mastodon.macstories.net @viticci@mastodon.macstories.net on mastodon
Here's @markgurman confirming our findings from earlier today. — Welp. No YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix at launch is pretty rough. Especially because using them in Safari means no offline downloads. — https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@maddox@mastodon.social Jon Maddox on mastodon
tvOS versions of media apps would 100% be a better fit for Compatibility mode on visionOS than their iPad counterparts. tvOS apps are already designed for focus based interactions and iPad apps are soooooo not doing this. The layouts of iPad apps are also pretty terrible for vis…
@film_girl@mastodon.social Christina Warren on mastodon
I agree with @gruber that this is a corporate pissing match, but I also understand not dedicating engineering resources (any of them) to a $3500 dev kit masked as a consumer product (it prob will be a consumer product but it won't be at launch) at launch. Especially when the com…
@macstories@mastodon.macstories.net @macstories@mastodon.macstories.net on mastodon
A Survey of Popular Apps Currently Compatible With Apple Vision Pro https://www.macstories.net/...
@film_girl@mastodon.social Christina Warren on mastodon
@chockenberry 1000% And frankly, there are very few companies that can take this stance this way. I much prefer the Netflix method to the Epic method and Netflix has done this before (when it removed IAP from their apps in 2018 but let users know anyway). We need companies who …
@viticci@mastodon.macstories.net @viticci@mastodon.macstories.net on mastodon
We have been able to independently survey the state of popular apps coming to the Apple Vision Pro - either in compatibility mode or as native apps. — As of *today* the results (coming straight from the App Store API) are pretty concerning. We found no native apps and a lot of…
@gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x
For years, Apple banned Spotify and Netflix to write “if you want to listen/stream, sign up on our website.” They had these awkward screens for non-logged-in users. Lost a bunch of business. No one likes a bully. Apple is a bully to many devs. Via https://newsletter.pragmaticengi…
@christianselig Christian Selig on x
@msnmatt Last I checked YouTube caps the iOS web browser at a paltry 720p, which would be brutal on a device with 4K per eye
@snazzylabs @snazzylabs on x
In less than 24 hours, you will be able to buy a Vision Pro—a device shipping in two weeks—for which we still have no specs sheet. We don't even know what it weighs.
@gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x
Got to wonder why, after years of being bullied by Apple to get a 30% cut of their revenue - and after refusing, Apple not allowing even a hint of mention on how users can subscribe - after all this, why Spotify and Netflix wouldn't help the latest Apple product succeed. Odd!
@jetscott Scott Stein on x
So..."metaverse" always implied cross-ecosystem and cross-device compatibilities. But if what's happening with apps not appearing on Vision Pro is an indicator, there's a whole new platform tug of war that'll be happening.
@dhh @dhh on x
Computing is a series of cooperative games. You can win a round by being ruthless, but it makes it harder to play the next one well.
@leguilloux Christian LeGuilloux on x
Honestly, using YouTube and Netflix via the browser is fine with me. It was a pain point on other headsets when even the browser wouldn't work with streaming services so this is a non-issue since it's full Safari.
@zacbowden Zac Bowden on x
Will this be Apple's “app gap” moment?
@eliblumenthal Eli Blumenthal on x
If companies are going to take a stand against Apple's App Store policies, this seems to be the product to do it for. $3,500 price (and reported limited supply) allows for pushback with a very high profile product all without impacting large amounts of their own users.
@stevesi Steven Sinofsky on x
A Survey of Popular Apps Currently Compatible With Apple Vision Pro https://www.macstories.net/... // this is exactly the wrong way to view whether AVP is gaining momentum or not. Legacy apps won't make or break the platform. It's about new apps. Every shift has shown this “rule”…
@tina__nigro Tina Debove Nigro on x
Remember Spotify has an app on Magic Leap. But won't have a visionOS app. Ok. [image]
@markgurman Mark Gurman on x
NEW: YouTube, Spotify — two of the world's largest streaming services — join Netflix is not planning to launch apps - or support their iPad apps - on the Vision Pro. https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@christianselig Christian Selig on x
That's a shame about YouTube on the Vision Pro, the YouTube app on the Meta Quest is actually pretty cool
@ishanagarwal24 Ishan Agarwal on x
@markgurman it's not a mass market product. it's not surprising. Apple refuses to make an android app for tv+ so honestly 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️
@snazzylabs @snazzylabs on x
“Out of the most 46 popular apps on the App Store, none of them will have a native visionOS version” and many apps like Netflix, YouTube, and Spotify will even specifically block the iPadOS versions from running on visionOS. ... yikes. https://www.theverge.com/...
@anshelsag Anshel Sag on x
They will, there just isn't any actual ROI on spending the resources to ship on a headset that everyone believes will ship under a million units in the first year. This is normal. Unless Apple pays a developer for it's time and resources, there's little incentive for a big comp…
@rakeshlobster Rakesh Agrawal on x
And some of the powerful legacy players have strong incentives to slow apple's efforts to advantage their own products or to give themselves time to finish their strategizing.
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
@stevesi Totally agree although you do need table stakes until the new ones come. My question isn't what the new compelling apps will be, if I knew that I'd find a way to make them. I'm concerned they're not going to be many and that's a problem for a platform. Time will tell on …
@dylanmcd8 @dylanmcd8 on x
At this point Apple shouldn't let you disable your iPad app. There is ZERO REASON for these companies to be disabling them. Zero.

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