YouTube, Spotify and Netflix won't launch an app Apple Vision Pro. Here's why
YouTube and Spotify Technology SA, the world’s most popular video and music services, are joining Netflix Inc. in steering clear of Apple Inc.’s upcoming mixed-reality headset. YouTube said in a statement Thursday that it isn’t planning to launch a new app for the Apple Vision Pro, nor will it allow its longstanding iPad application to work on the device — at least, for now.
YouTube, like Netflix, is recommending that customers use a web browser if they want to see its content: “YouTube users will be able to use YouTube in Safari on the Vision Pro at launch." Spotify also isn’t planning a new app for visionOS — the Vision Pro’s operating system — and doesn’t expect to enable its iPad app to run on the device, according to a person familiar with matter. But the music service will still likely work from a web browser. Bloomberg News reported on Netflix’s decision Wednesday.
The Vision Pro will include access to Apple’s apps for music and podcasts, which compete with Spotify’s offerings. But getting snubbed by Netflix, Spotify and YouTube means that the most popular streaming apps won’t be available when the headset launches on Feb. 2.
Apple has largely marketed the device as a platform for video, games and other entertainment. YouTube is a particularly large omission for the product. When Apple’s original iPad launched in 2010, YouTube was one of a handful of apps preinstalled on the tablet.
The company didn’t rule out eventually supporting the Vision Pro but said it had “no further plans to share at this time." YouTube and Spotify continue to offer popular apps for the iPhone and iPad. And that, theoretically, gave them an easy path toward supporting the Vision Pro. Developers with iPad software in the regular App Store
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