You may have heard that Apple Vision Pro has an app problem. No Netflix, Spotify, YouTube, Gmail, Instagram… there are big obvious gaps. But Apple is seeking to counter the “there are no apps” argument on the eve of Vision Pro’s launch with a press release touting 600 apps designed specifically for the platform.
The Apple Vision Pro App Store will contain more than 600 spatial computing applications when the headset launches on February 2; this number represents only a tiny fraction of what’s available on iPhone, iPad or Mac, but is expected to increase over time.
Apple has highlighted sports apps such as PGA TOUR Vision, MLB and NBA apps and Red Bull TV. For traditional streaming, Disney+ and Max have been praised. Productivity apps such as Box, Numerics, Microsoft 365 and Fantastical were also highlighted. For video conferencing, there is Zoom, Teams and WebEx.
Of course, the games should be very popular. This is the most popular mobile category and the most popular activity on current VR headsets. Apple mentioned that you can pair the PlayStation DualSense and Xbox Wireless Controller to play controller-based games in a window, but there are no apps from Xbox or Playstation to stream their game libraries and no way to connect the HDMI output of a console to the Vision. Pro. Instead, the controllers can be used to play compatible Apple Arcade games (over 250) in one window. There will be a number of new space games like Super Fruit Ninja, Game Room, WHAT IS GOLF?, Cut rope 3, Jetpack Joyride 2, Bloons TD 6+, dot., Patterned, Illustrated, and Wylde Flowers.
Creative apps like Djay will let you mix using realistic 3D turntables, Sky Guide and Night Sky bring the sky around you with interactive elements, and J.Crew Virtual Closet lets you see 3D clothes on a mannequin, in 3D environments.
The press release mixes mentions of new spatial computing applications with named “compatible” applications, which are just the iPhone or iPad versions. Prior to launch, developers could update their apps to “deny” their iPad apps from running on Vision Pro. These are unchanged apps that run in a floating window and that you interact with as you would on an iPad or iPhone. It’s good to see that over a million of these will be available, but you don’t spend $4,000 on a space computer to run them. unchanged iPad apps, right?
While 600 apps isn’t a very large number, it’s just the beginning for a much-hyped new Apple platform. Less important than any exact number of applications which what apps are available and how they work. If the apps you use most often, or that would benefit most from the platform, have good, optimized Vision Pro versions, it doesn’t matter if there are a thousand or a million. On the other hand, a huge app library means nothing if your favorite apps aren’t part of it. Apps released and updated in the coming weeks and months will be a better measure of the health of the platform than the number of “day one” apps.
