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YouTube, Spotify, and some other popular apps (probably) won’t be available on Vision Pro at launch

We learned yesterday that Netflix won’t offer a dedicated app for Vision Pro, nor will it allow Vision Pro users to run the iPad version of the app. Now, additional details have emerged about which apps will be available via Vision Pro when it launches on February 2.

We’ve been working on a system to compile lists of apps that will and won’t be available on Vision Pro over the last week. Apparently, the team at MacStories has been working on the same thing, and they published their story before us. They won this one. We are, however, able to corroborate all of their findings.

When Vision Pro debuts, there will be two types of apps:

  • Native apps that are developed and optimized specifically for Vision Pro
  • iPad apps that run in compatibility mode on Vision Pro.

By default, every iPad app will be available on Vision Pro. Developers, however, can choose to opt out and block users from running their iPad apps on Vision Pro. MacStories found that a lot of big names have chosen to opt out of Vision Pro altogether:

What we found when we searched 46 of the most popular apps on the App Store is that as of today, none will be available on launch day as native apps, and just over one-third will be available in compatibility mode.

YouTube and Spotify, for instance, are two of the biggest apps that have chosen to opt out of Vision Pro support. In a statement to Bloomberg, a YouTube spokesperson said: “YouTube users will be able to use YouTube in Safari on the Vision Pro at launch.”

In a statement to The Verge, a Spotify spokesperson said that the company has “made no announcement concerning plans for the Vision Pro.” Bloomberg cites a person familiar with the matter in saying that Spotify “doesn’t expect to enable its iPad app to run on the device when it launches.”

The vast majority of the top social media apps have opted out of Vision Pro support for the time being, including Instagram, Threads, Facebook, WhatsApp, and TikTok. You will, however, be able to order an Uber or Uber Eats via Vision Pro.

There’s still time for these things to change, given that we’re still two weeks away from Vision Pro actually launching. Between now and then, developers could reverse their decision to block users from running their iPad app on Vision Pro, or they could release native apps for Vision Pro.

But as John Voorhees points out in his MacStories post: “It’s hard to see those numbers swinging significantly.” Check out the full post over at MacStories for more details.

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Avatar for Chance Miller Chance Miller

Chance is the editor-in-chief of 9to5Mac, overseeing the entire site’s operations. He also hosts the 9to5Mac Daily and 9to5Mac Happy Hour podcasts.

You can send tips, questions, and typos to chance@9to5mac.com.

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