Don't read too much into early Apple Vision Pro app sales

Apple's visionOS menu system

Developers have begun offering insight into how their apps are performing on the Apple Vision Pro, with many developers feeling underwhelmed right now.

Currently, the Apple Vision Pro has a library of about 600 apps, but it remains to be seen if any are considered the killer app yet. The $3,500 barrier to entry, coupled with units still shipping out to developers, means that any insights that can be gleaned just yet may not hold true over the next several months.

However, it's worth looking at what's worked and what hasn't. Tom Ffiske, of Immersive Wire reached out to developers to see why some apps are doing well and others are not.

Ffiske found that many developers are struggling to crack the 1,000 download mark. Zenitizer, for example, had only reached 600 downloads as of February 11. Hold On, a timer app, only had six.

One of the reasons for this is that the Apple Vision Pro App Store experience isn't terribly intuitive. Developers note that the search function could be better and that top 10 and popular download lists are difficult to find. And searching outside of the headset isn't easy to do, either.

Of course, there's also the fact that many buyers may be content to explore the apps that already come on the Apple Vision Pro rather than search for new experiences.

Immersive Wire notes that the analytics haven't been particularly helpful, either. Most developers use App Store Connect for analytics, but the service wasn't properly set up for the Apple Vision Pro. Outages meant developers weren't receiving accurate data, making measuring success difficult.

Some apps have done markedly well, though. Of course, any app that Apple highlighted in the Apple Vision Pro launch video and promotional materials does exceptionally well. JigSpace, for example, has received 14,000 installs in the first week of the device's launch.

If you can't get promoted directly by Apple, Immersive Wire points out that owning a niche is better. News Ticker, the top paid news app on the Apple Vision Pro, receives more than 300 downloads daily.

Solving existing problems is another great way to get downloads. While YouTube has walked back the statement saying that they wouldn't be releasing an app for the Apple Vision Pro, that wasn't always the case.

So, when Christian Selig created Juno, a YouTube player for the Apple Vision Pro, he saw immediate success.

Still, it's early in the game, and what does well today may not do well next week. Ultimately, the Apple Vision Pro — and the App Store ecosystem that spring up around it — will only hit steady-state with time.