YouTube and Spotify, renowned video and music services globally, are following Netflix Inc.’s lead in avoiding Apple Inc.’s forthcoming mixed-reality headset.
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YouTube clarified that it currently has no plans to introduce a new app for the Apple Vision Pro, and its long-standing iPad application won’t be compatible with the device, at least for now. YouTube, like Netflix, suggests users access its content via a web browser, stating, “YouTube users will be able to use YouTube in Safari on the Vision Pro at launch.”
Similarly, Spotify is not presently developing a new app for visionOS, the operating system of the Vision Pro, and doesn’t anticipate enabling its iPad app for use on the device upon its launch. However, Spotify will likely remain accessible through a web browser.
This news follows Bloomberg’s report on Netflix’s decision earlier in the week. While the Vision Pro will offer access to Apple’s music and podcast apps, competing directly with Spotify, the absence of popular streaming apps like Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube at the headset’s February 2 launch is notable.
Apple has primarily marketed the device as a platform for video, games, and entertainment. The exclusion of YouTube is particularly significant, considering its presence on the original iPad when it launched in 2010.
While YouTube and Spotify continue to support iPhone and iPad apps, making it seemingly straightforward to extend support to the Vision Pro, both companies declined to elaborate on their decisions. Developers with iPad software in the regular App Store will automatically see their apps appear in the Vision Pro store unless they choose to opt out.
Despite the withdrawal of support from YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix, several other entertainment apps, including Disney+, Max, Peacock, ESPN, and Amazon Prime Video, are still participating. Apple claims the device will support over a million titles in its App Store. Preorders for the Vision Pro will start on Friday.
YouTube and Spotify declined to provide reasons for their decision not to support the $3,499 device. Spotify doesn’t offer an app on competing headsets, such as Meta Platforms Inc.’s Quest, though YouTube does.
Spotify has also been engaged in a dispute with Apple over App Store policies, but the decision on the Vision Pro isn’t related to that, according to an anonymous source. Searches indicated that other key iPhone and iPad apps, including Meta’s Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, aren’t currently set to work on the Vision Pro.
