Apple Vision Pro now has 1,000 native apps on the visionOS App Store

AppleInsider

Developers had little chance to develop apps with Apple Vision Pro hardware before its February 2 launch, resulting in a slow native app rollout of about 11 days to reach 1,000 total.

The visionOS App Store

Before the Apple Vision Pro launch, there was some concern about how many native experiences would be available when it was released to the public. Initial tallies in January placed the number around 150, but that quickly increased to 600 by February 2.

On February 13, Apple Senior Vice President of Marketing Greg Joswiak shared that the number of visionOS native apps now exceeds 1,000. The number of compatible iPhone and iPad apps has also increased to over 1.5 million.

A huge thank you to our developers! Their hard work has already resulted in over 1,000 incredible spatial apps designed specifically for Vision Pro, along with over 1.5 million compatible apps. We're thrilled to see how they'll continue to push the boundaries for what's possible.

— Greg Joswiak (@gregjoz)

February 13, 2024

A native visionOS app is built with the operating system in mind. They tend to have large targets for eye tracking, glass-like frames, and interactive menus around a window called ornaments.

Compatible apps run in a flat 2D window that can be shown in portrait or landscape. They appear identically to how they look on an iPad or iPhone.

The limited number of available apps or games means the App Store is barebones in visionOS 1.0. There are very few categories, and finding apps that aren't featured in the main page's categories can be challenging.

It's still early days for Apple Vision Pro and visionOS. Since the product is only available in the United States, many popular apps likely won't be updated for visionOS until the hardware launches globally.



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coolfactor

1000 native apps less than 2 weeks after a platform is released to the public. I call that a win.

Stabitha_Christie

coolfactor said:

1000 native apps less than 2 weeks after a platform is released to the public. I call that a win.

I agree, for perspective the iOS App Store launched with 500 apps.  And those developers were able to get the device they were developing for.

Xed

Most of the apps that I've used have looked pretty great. I only wish I could share the environment with other AVP users with some of the apps.

robgreene

Would love to see Subatomic Studios make a comeback with Fieldrunners 2 in a 3D augmented form.

Stabitha_Christie

Xed said:

Most of the apps that I've used have looked pretty great. I only wish I could share the environment with other AVP users with some of the apps.

I have been pondering this. Using ARKit on a iPhone/iPad two devices can share an environment and interact with the same environment. I know that getting AVP to do the something isn't as simple a plunking ARKit into OS I have to think it is on the roadmap. 

RigiDigi

And apparently many people are returning them:
Tech Bros Are Returning Their Vision Pros and Keeping Receipts (gizmodo.com)

gatorguy

RigiDigi said:

And apparently many people are returning them:
Tech Bros Are Returning Their Vision Pros and Keeping Receipts (gizmodo.com)

They had a story on Fox this morning about returns starting, with the 14 day return window ready to close for the earliest buyers. Interviews with returnees cite weight, vision issues, motion sickness, and lack of interesting/useful apps as the most common reasons.

Apple isn't surprised by a number of returns. Some folks bought knowing they would be returning it within two weeks anyway and just wanted to say they tried one. Others wanted to love it but, for some of the reasons mentioned, couldn't abide it. Only Apple knows if the sales vs. returns is within expectations.