Clearly, Vision Pro was not as successful as Apple wanted it to be. AIM’s deep-dive into the reasons revealed that beyond the hardware issues, the limited app selection failed to justify a $3,500 price tag for most users.
We did a quick check on the number of active apps for VisionOS on Appfigures (the operating system for Vision Pro) and found that the figure was shockingly low at 1,782 apps.
Unless a developer opts out, every iOS app is compatible with VisionOS. While this statement reads like if you are already an iOS developer, it shouldn’t take much effort to push your app on VisionOS, multiple developers have intentionally opted out of this program.
Major apps like Instagram, Spotify, YouTube, WhatsApp, and many more have opted out of VisionOS. The reasons could be many. One is that big-tech companies want to develop a native app for VisionOS, similar to what TikTok did.
Platform or Developer Community: Who’s at Fault?
The Vision Pro is a double-edged sword. While you get the most polished XR experience, the price is so high that most consumers cannot afford it. Moreover, it’s a bummer for developers to build a native app for a platform if the user base is not large enough.
Even if we ignore the user base, there are fundamental problems that have been bothering users. Cihat Gündüz, an Apple developer, mentioned that he had several unique app ideas but often got restricted by a lack of APIs that would make those concepts feasible.
“I would have released more apps had VisionOS delivered the tools necessary for creating the AR/VR experiences the device promised. This isn’t about wanting a more open platform like macOS. I understand the value of security and simplicity in the iOS/iPad ecosystem. Yet, visionOS feels like just an iPadOS with different input options. What’s missing are unique APIs designed to fully leverage the immersive experiences that the Vision Pro can offer,” he added.
Apart from the limited API options, Apple’s own development tool for creating 3D experiences needs some major work. Reality Composer Pro is severely lacking for a modern real time 3D engine. A developer on Reddit said that the only other alternative is Unity, which locks VP development behind a $2000 paywall. Not to mention, Unity has been notorious for buggy releases and bad business practices.
The Vision Pro takes hand and eye tracking as primary inputs, and while this sounds innovative, it presents challenges for developers. The limitation restricts the easy porting of existing VR experiences and constrains the creation of new ones. Although these input methods are impressive, they aren’t universally suitable for all applications.
Apple’s mandate for apps to be fully functional with these inputs further complicates matters. “Even if Apple does release official controllers, you can never assume people have them. I have personally had to scrap several ideas due to this limitation,” he added further.
Not a Mass Market Product
“At $3,500, it’s not a mass-market product,” said Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, later mentioning that currently it’s an early-adopter product. “People who want to have tomorrow’s technology today – that’s who it’s for.”
“Fortunately, there are enough people in that camp, and it’s exciting. If you doubt the Vision Pro, you might be right. Or you might be as wrong as the sceptics who dismissed iPods and iPhones and AirPods,” he further added.
In all likelihood, we will have to wait for a few iterations of VisionOS to streamline the development process. As time goes by, Apple will not only be able to reduce the cost of the device but also streamline the development process for the VisionOS platform. Fingers crossed.
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