Katarzyna Petru
Nearly two years after the release of the Apple Vision Pro, users have finally received a native YouTube app. Until now, content from the platform could only be viewed through the Safari browser, which meant limited support for 3D materials or 360-degree video. Now the situation is changing, and the Vision Pro is gaining full support for the immersive formats known from YouTube. This is an important step, as it is precisely these types of content that best showcase the capabilities of mixed reality devices. Interestingly, there was an unofficial Juno app that appeared earlier, but it quickly disappeared from the App Store. Now Google is officially entering the platform.
Vision Pro catches up
Until now, the Apple headset did not offer full support for spatial video on YouTube, while competing devices, like Samsung's Galaxy XR, highlighted such features more prominently. The new application allows users to harness the potential of 180 and 360-degree materials and 3D content in a more natural way. This makes the Vision Pro more appealing to creators and consumers of immersive films.
Will Google go further?
The emergence of YouTube may signal a broader collaboration between Apple and Google. In the background remains the partnership related to Gemini models, which could drive AI features in the Apple ecosystem. A natural next step would be an immersive version of Google Maps, similar to the one known from Samsung's XR devices. If YouTube proves to be a success, other Google services may arrive on Vision Pro sooner than we expect.
The native YouTube app on Vision Pro is an important addition to Apple’s headset offering. Users can finally fully utilise the potential of 3D and 360-degree video without compromises. Now the question is whether this is a one-off move or the beginning of a larger presence of Google’s apps in Apple’s mixed reality world.
source: cnet.com
