News of Google’s intention to design a YouTube application designed for Apple Vision Pro have been unveiled. Due to the company’s confirmation of developing the dedicated Vision Pro application, an unofficial version previously launched by Christian Selig was effectively rendered obsolete. YouTube expressed their commitment to delivering stellar user experience via Safari as advised by Jessica Gibby, the company spokesperson, in an email contact with Nilay Patel. This came as a surprise announcement since the video platform had stated it had no plans to develop the Vision Pro app.
Moreover, Netflix and YouTube display a similar stand of not having intentions to develop the Vision Pro app. In the meantime, YouTube had not planned to make its iPad app compatible with visionOS. This is surprising because the easiest method for developers to integrate their software into Apple’s innovative “spatial computing” device is by adapting iPad apps.
The situation took a different turn for the company just after two weeks, with speculation suggesting that the high demand for Apple’s premium-priced headset among its devotees and high spenders prompted the change. Noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo forecasted Apple’s opening sales figures spanned between 160,000 to 180,000 devices.
Another theory suggests YouTube’s decision to develop an app for Vision Pro was influenced by an independent developer filling this gap. Christian Selig, who previously developed Apollo for Reddit, introduced an unofficial YouTube app named Juno. Selig is held in high regard among Apple’s user base, being a former Apple developer himself and the creator of a popular Reddit app for iOS users that Reddit controversially shut down due to its API rules.
Expressing his disappointment at YouTube’s initial declaration of not planning a visionOS app, Selig shared in a blog post, “YouTube is probably one of the parts of the internet I consume the most, so I was more than a little sad when YouTube announced that they don’t have plans to build a visionOS app.”
It is not certain at this point whether YouTube intends to incorporate support for 3D and 360-degree videos into the Vision Pro app since these features currently do not operate on the device. Time will tell what features will be included in YouTube’s native Vision Pro app.
