YouTube working on dedicated Apple Vision Pro app

YouTube has walked back its stance on not having a native support on the Apple Vision Pro, saying now that a dedicated app is "on the roadmap."

In January, YouTube announced it would not be building any specialized apps for the Apple Vision Pro, Apple's new spatial computing headset. It also announced that it would not allow its iPad apps to run on the hardware.

However, it didn't take very long for the company to walk back that statement.

"We're excited to see Vision Pro launch and we're supporting it by ensuring YouTube users have a great experience in Safari." YouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby told The Verge in a statement.

"We do not have any specific plans to share at this time, but can confirm that a Vision Pro app is on our roadmap," Gibby added.

There's no dedicated timeframe for the release of such an app. Currently, YouTube recommends that Apple Vision Pro users visit YouTube via Safari for the time being.

As The Verge points out, neither Apple nor YouTube have figured out how to support current 360 and VR videos active on YouTube. Allegedly, the content may never work on the Apple Vision Pro, as Apple spokesperson Jackie Roy has stated that the content isn't high-quality, and could cause motion discomfort.

17 Comments

MplsP 4020 comments · 8 Years

About 9 months ago

Pretty typical - they (i.e. any company) won't make an app....until it makes sense for them to do so. If Vision Pro really catches on you can be sure many other companies will follow YouTube's lead.

cpsro 3236 comments · 14 Years

Perhaps quite a few Googlers bought VPs and are pushing the project.

roundaboutnow 752 comments · 13 Years

Given the volume of AVP sales so far, I get not wanting to produce a native AVP app right away, but considering Youtube (and Netflix) can be used in AVP Safari, it seemed strange to me that both those companies didn't at least allow the iPad app to run out of the gate.

Speaking of Youtube, I've looked at a few of the AVP reviews there (in particular Marques Brownlee), and I have to say I am way more impressed with AVP than I thought I'd be. (What really helps is the fact that one can screen record the AVP visuals, so you get a pretty good idea of what the wearer sees).

hmlongco 580 comments · 9 Years

roundaboutnow said:

Given the volume of AVP sales so far, I get not wanting to produce a native AVP app right away, but considering Youtube (and Netflix) can be used in AVP Safari, it seemed strange to me that both those companies didn't at least allow the iPad app to run out of the gate.

Speaking of Youtube, I've looked at a few of the AVP reviews there (in particular Marques Brownlee), and I have to say I am way more impressed with AVP than I thought I'd be. (What really helps is the fact that one can screen record the AVP visuals, so you get a pretty good idea of what the wearer sees).

One thing to remember what watching those screen recordings is that AVP foveates the display, spending extra cycles to make sure the area of the screen you're looking at is razor sharp and such, not spending extra cycles on the parts of the screen you're NOT looking at.

So some screenshots and recordings can look blurry, unless you're looking at the same area where the wearer was looking.

hmlongco said:

roundaboutnow said:

Given the volume of AVP sales so far, I get not wanting to produce a native AVP app right away, but considering Youtube (and Netflix) can be used in AVP Safari, it seemed strange to me that both those companies didn't at least allow the iPad app to run out of the gate.

Speaking of Youtube, I've looked at a few of the AVP reviews there (in particular Marques Brownlee), and I have to say I am way more impressed with AVP than I thought I'd be. (What really helps is the fact that one can screen record the AVP visuals, so you get a pretty good idea of what the wearer sees).

One thing to remember what watching those screen recordings is that AVP foveates the display, spending extra cycles to make sure the area of the screen you're looking at is razor sharp and such, not spending extra cycles on the parts of the screen you're NOT looking at.
So some screenshots and recordings can look blurry, unless you're looking at the same area where the wearer was looking.

Yes, I noticed the foveated rendering. It was actually pointed out by Brownlee too. (I had actually anticipated a few years back when rumors of Apples AR/VR interests started surfacing that foveated rendering would be helpful--if not required--to reduce demands on the processing system).