YouTube, Spotify Apps Won't be Available on Apple Vision Pro at Launch: Report

After Netflix declined to release an app for the Apple Vision Pro, YouTube and Spotify say they have no plans to launch dedicated apps for the headset.

Written by David Delima, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 19 January 2024 12:28 IST

YouTube, Spotify Apps Won't be Available on Apple Vision Pro at Launch: Report

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Eyestetix Studio

YouTube and Spotify offer dedicated iPad apps that could be extended to the Vision Pro

Highlights

YouTube and Spotify join Netflix in skipping support for the Vision Pro
The Apple Vision Pro will offer support for several streaming apps
Customers will have to access these three apps via the built-in browser

YouTube and Spotify will not offer standalone apps for the Apple Vision Pro when the device launches on February 2, according to a report. The company's first new hardware category in nearly a decade is scheduled to arrive in the US in the coming days, but it will reportedly ship without support for three of the most popular video and audio streaming platforms — YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix. Customers who have active subscriptions might be able to watch content via the built-in Safari browser, with certain limitations.

The Alphabet-owned streaming platform told Bloomberg in a statement on Thursday that the company has no plans — for now — to launch a dedicated app for the Apple Vision Pro. Apple also lets developers allow users to access the iPad version of their apps on the mixed reality headset, but this will not be an option for YouTube users, according to the company.

Meanwhile, the publication also reports that popular music streaming platform Spotify will also neither offer a standalone streaming app for the Vision Pro, nor will it allow users to access the iPad app on the headset, citing a person familiar with the matter. With over 600 million users and 30 percent market share, the absence of Spotify on the platform is likely to be felt by Vision Pro owners.

Apple Vision Pro May Arrive in the US on February 2 Without This feature

It is worth noting that both services could eventually roll out support for the Apple Vision Pro, with dedicated apps that run on visionOS, the operating system designed by Apple to run apps optimised for the mixed reality headset. The companies could also simply offer their existing iPad apps, which are regularly updated, on the Vision Pro.

Until that happens, users of both platforms who purchase the Apple Vision Pro headset, priced at $3,499 (roughly Rs. 2,91,000), will have to access YouTube and Spotify via the built-in Safari browser. The lack of standalone apps from these platforms will also mean that users won't have access to immersive 'Environments' around the content they are watching.

When the headset launches in the US on February 2, customers will have access to several streaming apps and services, including Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, ESPN, and Apple TV+. You can read the full list of supported streaming services here. Apple also announced that customers will be able to view bought or rented movies in 2D and 3D using the mixed reality headset.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Further reading: YouTube, Spotify, Apple Vision Pro, Mixed reality, Apple, visionOS

David Delima

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As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More