by Dan Moren
Vision Pro compatible apps at launch may be thin
Over at MacStories, John Voorhees has an interesting look at Vision Pro app compatibility:
As it turns out, it’s possible to tell if a developer has opted out by using App Store API endpoints. So, with a little help, we built a shortcut to check some of the most popular apps on the App Store.
Short answer: not a lot of native apps at present, and a lot of developers have opted out of even letting their iPad apps work in compatibility mode.
As John points out, this list is neither exhaustive nor necessarily perfectly reflective of ultimate app availability, as we’re still a few weeks away from the Vision Pro launch, and many apps have not been updated on the Store yet (including some known to have a Vision Pro app, such as Disney+).
Still, on the heels of news that Netflix won’t have a native Vision Pro or compatibility for its iPad app, there is definitely some question as to how many developers—and perhaps especially those at big companies—are planning on building apps for Apple’s spatial computing platform, at least at launch. It’s a chicken-and-egg problem in the making: developers don’t want to commit until they know there’s a market there, and the market may not develop if the apps aren’t there.