When the Apple Vision Pro debuts next year, it will offer three types of apps
In the new edition of his “Power On” newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman says that when the Apple Vision Pro comes out next year, it it will offer three different types of apps:
- Unaltered iPad and iPhone apps that run as a window in visionOS without the developer doing any additional work.
- Converted iPad apps that run as a native visionOS app, requiring the developer to update the software’s user interface and to optimize it for a mixed-reality experience.
- Entirely new visionOS apps built from the ground up to work in both virtual and augmented reality. They will take advantage of the device’s high-resolution displays and its eye-and-hand controls. (Apple will try its best to spur the creation of these apps starting this month, when it begins letting developers apply to get their hands on the device early.)
“At the start, I expect most Vision Pro apps to center on video streaming. Disney+ is already slated to come to the Vision Pro, and Apple’s wide-ranging deal with Amazon probably means Prime Video will have a similar arrangement,” he writes. “Some productivity app developers — like Microsoft Corp. and Zoom Video Communications Inc. — have also committed to the platform.
However, Gurman says that Netflix currently has no plans to develop a native app for the Vision Pro. Apple previewed the US$3,499 (and up) “spatial computer” system at last month’s Worldwide Developer Conference. However, it won’t arrived until early 2024 — and, then, apparently, only in limited quantities.
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