Apple's continued lack of native apps on Vision Pro isn't a good sign for the platform

AppleInsider

It seemed odd that Apple didn't port any of its compatible apps in visionOS 2, but not making any of them native in visionOS 26 is downright neglectful.

Apple's compatible app list is the same as it always has been

Apple Vision Pro is Apple's first spatial computing platform and an expensive one at that. Adoption of the platform has been glacial, and with it, the rollout of software and media that is native to the 3D mixed reality platform.

It seemed obvious as we approached WWDC 2025 that Apple would update at least some, if not all, of its compatible apps to native ones. In case you weren't aware, a compatible app is one that runs on Apple Vision Pro in its unmodified 2D iPad or iPhone form.

Apple bragged about how easy it would be for developers to use its systems to make apps become native. Toolbars, menus, and buttons would pop free from their 2D prison and float around the content.

Too bad Apple seems unable to follow its own advice. Apple announced Apple Vision Pro during WWDC 2023 and WWDC 2025 just concluded, and the compatible app list hasn't budged.

Here is the list of apps Apple makes that isn't currently native on the platform:

• Books


• Calendar


• Clock


• Home


• Maps


• News


• Numbers


• Pages


• Podcasts


• Reminders


• Shortcuts


• Stocks


• Voice Memos

Funny enough, the number of compatible apps has actually increased since Apple Vision Pro launched in February 2024. The acquisition of Pixelmator means those apps are now part of Apple's compatible apps list.

Apple's Vision Pro problem

Opinions vary widely on the staff, but I'm a big fan of Apple Vision Pro. I spend significant time every week working or entertaining myself in the 3D space.

For me, it's quite the compelling platform with an infinite canvas where you can just open windows, and now spatial widgets, and place them everywhere.

Apple Vision Pro needs apps, and Apple should provide the template

The new visionOS 26 is an excellent update that enhances how to utilize the platform. There are more collaborative options, permanently placed objects that survive restarts, and new gaming opportunities thanks to PSVR2 controller support.

However, it seems neglectful to go into the third year of this platform existing in the public (June 2023 reveal, February 2024 launch), without touching this list of apps. Even if it were one or two, that would at least feel like progress was being made, but zero sends a wild message.

What does it tell developers if the richest company in the world with near-unlimited resources can't spare time for the new platform?

There has been some slight movement in the space for these apps, but only tangentially. Apple includes spatial widgets for Calendar, Clock, News, Podcasts, Reminders, and Stocks.

There's even a Weather widget in spite of the app not even existing on the platform.

Apple should set the example and make the best of native apps

Perhaps Apple's introduction of these widgets is seen as their contribution to making native apps. They are a good in-between, I'll give them that, but it still seems odd.

Apple should be showing developers how they'd approach a spatial podcast or weather app. They've normally used their own APIs as a chance to showcase what's possible and encourage developers to follow a standard.

I'll be fair and say this is beta 1 of visionOS 26. Any number of things could change before the official release in the fall. And there's always the chance some new native apps could be introduced throughout the year.

Let's just hope Apple makes some move in this space. If we get to WWDC 2026 and nothing has changed, I'm going to start doubting Apple's commitment to its platform.



Read on AppleInsider

domicinator

I'm not sure you're much of a fan of the platform at this point -- you seem about 3/4 of the way toward it being doomed, meaning you don't believe in it anymore. Also seems like most of the Appleinsider contributing staff also isn't that into Apple anymore. Getting pretty "The Verge" around here lately, and choosing this hill to die on as far as Vision Pro feels a little weak this early on.

mikethemartian

Does Apple charge the same percentage fees to developers of the Vision Pro apps as the iPhone?

rogue01

Developers are not really interested in making apps for a platform that no one is interested in buying or using.  AR/VR has never been popular or something that consumers feel they need.  3DTV bombed because people did not even want to wear glasses, let alone big heavy goggles.  And consumers are not spending $3500 on a product they don't 'need' in their life.  Apple did not solve any problems with this device.  They are better off just killing it and putting the resources to improving iOS, macOS and iPadOS, the systems that consumers actually use and upgrade over time.

Even watchOS is dead and developers have pretty much abandoned that platform.  The last 5 versions of the watch were uneventful with very little to offer.  I don't even wear my Watch 5 anymore.  Just sits on a charger.  Has some cool fitness apps, but much easier to just look at my phone.

Some may not agree, but that is the reality of it.  Any time I have been at an Apple Store, people are looking at phones and Macs.  They don't even look at the Vision Pro because it is so stupidly expensive, and they don't have a need for it.

wesley_hilliard

domicinator said:

I'm not sure you're much of a fan of the platform at this point -- you seem about 3/4 of the way toward it being doomed, meaning you don't believe in it anymore. Also seems like most of the Appleinsider contributing staff also isn't that into Apple anymore. Getting pretty "The Verge" around here lately, and choosing this hill to die on as far as Vision Pro feels a little weak this early on.

Being critical of poor decision making by a company is not the same thing as hating a product. Considering I wrote this piece from within Apple Vision Pro and have spent multiple hours testing the new features this week just for the fun of it, I'd say I'm still rather invested in the platform.

I'm not sure what you expect us to do, praise Apple when they're doing a poor job at something? You should try listening to the podcast sometime, I'm continuously accused of being too defensive of Apple. lol

If anything, me wanting the platform to be better should be an indicator of how much I care about it.

randominternetperson

Rogue01 said:

Developers are not really interested in making apps for a platform that no one is interested in buying or using.  AR/VR has never been popular or something that consumers feel they need.  3DTV bombed because people did not even want to wear glasses, let alone big heavy goggles.  And consumers are not spending $3500 on a product they don't 'need' in their life.  Apple did not solve any problems with this device.  They are better off just killing it and putting the resources to improving iOS, macOS and iPadOS, the systems that consumers actually use and upgrade over time.

Even watchOS is dead and developers have pretty much abandoned that platform.  The last 5 versions of the watch were uneventful with very little to offer.  I don't even wear my Watch 5 anymore.  Just sits on a charger.  Has some cool fitness apps, but much easier to just look at my phone.

Some may not agree, but that is the reality of it.  Any time I have been at an Apple Store, people are looking at phones and Macs.  They don't even look at the Vision Pro because it is so stupidly expensive, and they don't have a need for it.

LOL

Your Visio Pro take is fine. Your Apple Watch take is bizarre. Apple Watch is ubiquitous in the wild. The fact you don't wear your 6-year old AW is irrelevant. I do wonder why you keep charging it however. Give it away or sell it.

rogue01

randominternetperson said:

Rogue01 said:

Developers are not really interested in making apps for a platform that no one is interested in buying or using.  AR/VR has never been popular or something that consumers feel they need.  3DTV bombed because people did not even want to wear glasses, let alone big heavy goggles.  And consumers are not spending $3500 on a product they don't 'need' in their life.  Apple did not solve any problems with this device.  They are better off just killing it and putting the resources to improving iOS, macOS and iPadOS, the systems that consumers actually use and upgrade over time.

Even watchOS is dead and developers have pretty much abandoned that platform.  The last 5 versions of the watch were uneventful with very little to offer.  I don't even wear my Watch 5 anymore.  Just sits on a charger.  Has some cool fitness apps, but much easier to just look at my phone.

Some may not agree, but that is the reality of it.  Any time I have been at an Apple Store, people are looking at phones and Macs.  They don't even look at the Vision Pro because it is so stupidly expensive, and they don't have a need for it.

LOL

Your Visio Pro take is fine. Your Apple Watch take is bizarre. Apple Watch is ubiquitous in the wild. The fact you don't wear your 6-year old AW is irrelevant. I do wonder why you keep charging it however. Give it away or sell it.

It is not irrelevant.  It runs watchOS 10, so not that outdated.  But since I work from home, don't have any reason to wear it.  Once in awhile I might wear it, if I am going somewhere and want to track any walking distance, but there are no apps for the watch that are meaningful, so even a current Apple Watch would be useless as well.  Biggest downside, after 10 years of Apple making a watch, you still need to charge it every single day.  When Apple advertised the Watch, they were hoping for a 'killer' app, and it never happened because people would rather look at the larger screen on the phone, which is with them already, then the tiny screen on the watch.  Over the years, developers pretty much gave up on the watch.  Yes, the watch is way more popular than the Vision Pro, but it is really only good for the Apple-based apps.  The Watch 5 has zero resale value.  People are selling the Watch 9 on Facebook Marketplace for about $200 or less.  With watchOS 10, it still does pretty much everything the current model does, so no reason to ever buy a new one.  When developers have no interest, then it is pretty obvious.

9secondkox2

Apple will not invest much more into the headset niche. It’s simply not a profitable pursuit. But they’ll take what they learned from this snd apply it to glasses. 

In a small sense, I think the Liquid Glass UI is Apple trying to maximize the ROI for AVP development. Transferring some of the ideas to the mainstream products helps it justify the expense of existing. 

But for all intents and purposes, the headset form factor is going to fade out - even though it is the best headset ever made. 

Glasses will likely receive continued development and get a massive push.

 There is likely just a skeleton crew maintaining Vision Pro now so as to honor the customets who bought in. that’s the Apple way. 

They should find a way to get half life alyc ported to AVP for its customers. The least they can do. 

9secondkox2

Rogue01 said:

randominternetperson said:

Rogue01 said:

Developers are not really interested in making apps for a platform that no one is interested in buying or using.  AR/VR has never been popular or something that consumers feel they need.  3DTV bombed because people did not even want to wear glasses, let alone big heavy goggles.  And consumers are not spending $3500 on a product they don't 'need' in their life.  Apple did not solve any problems with this device.  They are better off just killing it and putting the resources to improving iOS, macOS and iPadOS, the systems that consumers actually use and upgrade over time.

Even watchOS is dead and developers have pretty much abandoned that platform.  The last 5 versions of the watch were uneventful with very little to offer.  I don't even wear my Watch 5 anymore.  Just sits on a charger.  Has some cool fitness apps, but much easier to just look at my phone.

Some may not agree, but that is the reality of it.  Any time I have been at an Apple Store, people are looking at phones and Macs.  They don't even look at the Vision Pro because it is so stupidly expensive, and they don't have a need for it.

LOL

Your Visio Pro take is fine. Your Apple Watch take is bizarre. Apple Watch is ubiquitous in the wild. The fact you don't wear your 6-year old AW is irrelevant. I do wonder why you keep charging it however. Give it away or sell it.

It is not irrelevant.  It runs watchOS 10, so not that outdated.  But since I work from home, don't have any reason to wear it.  Once in awhile I might wear it, if I am going somewhere and want to track any walking distance, but there are no apps for the watch that are meaningful, so even a current Apple Watch would be useless as well.  Biggest downside, after 10 years of Apple making a watch, you still need to charge it every single day.  When Apple advertised the Watch, they were hoping for a 'killer' app, and it never happened because people would rather look at the larger screen on the phone, which is with them already, then the tiny screen on the watch.  Over the years, developers pretty much gave up on the watch.  Yes, the watch is way more popular than the Vision Pro, but it is really only good for the Apple-based apps.  The Watch 5 has zero resale value.  People are selling the Watch 9 on Facebook Marketplace for about $200 or less.  With watchOS 10, it still does pretty much everything the current model does, so no reason to ever buy a new one.  When developers have no interest, then it is pretty obvious.

Going to have to disagree with this. 

The headset was doomed to fail as soon as it was desired to make a headset. Bevause no one wants or needs a headset. 

A phone, a watch, etc. are commonly wanted/needed items. 

When Apple launched the watch, it was great. Immediately did well. Some areas didn’t pan out like the gold watch. Apple learned and the watch did better and better. Key points like the tap you feel on your wrist for notifications, telling tje time, and fitness are huge. And a watch is the best way to access that data. No pulling out a phone, opening a case, etc. just flip the wrist. Boom. Done. 

The watch makes everyday mass market sense. 

The headset is extremely niche and only a small subset want to use it as it doesn’t fit into your daily life. It forces you to stop your life and give all your attention and some substantial physical real estate to the headset. 

While I have never ever seen a Vision Pro in the wild, I can’t go anywhere with seeing the majority of people wearing an Apple Watch. 

massiveattack

This goggle is a fail. 
Apple should launch smart glasses, which can canibalize this goggle. 

But I highly doubt that even smart glasses will be as successful as iPhones. 
Nobody volunteers to wear glasses. Even wearing glasses for fashionable purpose is a niche area (except sunglasses). 
I can see some use cases for smart glasses in the medicine, construction, engineering fields, but the current goggle is too heavy and I highly doubt that a lighter version will contribute much more due to the size. 

The only limited use case for this goggle, I see, is watching movies during the flight. It helps a bit to let times fly. 

humbug1873

You forgot, that Apple 'only' released a developer build of VisionOS 26, so devs can make use of the new API's etc. It's not a release for an end customer, so no need to add more apps.

This is going to be a valid point should things not change for the customer release though I admit. Then again they might well plan for some HW upgrade in fall, to finally kick off the 'real' release cycle (from my point of view the current Vision Pro is more an extended Developer Hardware Kit than a real consumer product).

stabitha_christie

I use mine regularly as well. I think the people that are down on the product just haven’t used it.  It doesn’t take much time on an AVP to realize you are using the future  of  wearable computing. 

The lack of native Pages and Numbers is kind of annoying. I’m going to do come completely baseless speculation and question if Holding off was part of a deal with Microsoft to get Office on the platform on day one. 

No chance they have added photo editing in 26?

domicinator

Wesley_Hilliard said:

domicinator said:

I'm not sure you're much of a fan of the platform at this point -- you seem about 3/4 of the way toward it being doomed, meaning you don't believe in it anymore. Also seems like most of the Appleinsider contributing staff also isn't that into Apple anymore. Getting pretty "The Verge" around here lately, and choosing this hill to die on as far as Vision Pro feels a little weak this early on.

Being critical of poor decision making by a company is not the same thing as hating a product. Considering I wrote this piece from within Apple Vision Pro and have spent multiple hours testing the new features this week just for the fun of it, I'd say I'm still rather invested in the platform.

I'm not sure what you expect us to do, praise Apple when they're doing a poor job at something? You should try listening to the podcast sometime, I'm continuously accused of being too defensive of Apple. lol

If anything, me wanting the platform to be better should be an indicator of how much I care about it.

Being critical and concern trolling are two different things. You know full well that if you write stories with incendiary headlines like this one what kind of traffic it attracts. It's quite obvious that you wanting to make money trolling Apple supersedes you "wanting the platform to be better". Please. This is the oldest trick/excuse in the book.

saarek

It does seem rather sloppy of Apple. Certainly not a financial constraint issue.

massiveattack

humbug1873 said:

You forgot, that Apple 'only' released a developer build of VisionOS 26, so devs can make use of the new API's etc. It's not a release for an end customer, so no need to add more apps.

This is going to be a valid point should things not change for the customer release though I admit. Then again they might well plan for some HW upgrade in fall, to finally kick off the 'real' release cycle (from my point of view the current Vision Pro is more an extended Developer Hardware Kit than a real consumer product).

As long as something is available and can be purchased at Apple Store, it is meant to be for end customers. 
If the scale of availability of apps from developers is not fast enough (rather sloppy), developers struggle to make something which suits for end customers.

But I admit that Vision Pro is a technical masterpiece (maybe, way ahead of our times). But it is strongly limited to certain use cases.

Nevertheless, I liked the spartial view. I could imagine to have it when having meetings. It makes Microsoft Teams look like stone-aged application. And it could reduce my business trip activities. 

quakerotis

Noe of the apps on your list require a separate app. They are all accessible through tethering which is less of a resource hog

mainyehc

randominternetperson said:

Rogue01 said:

Developers are not really interested in making apps for a platform that no one is interested in buying or using.  AR/VR has never been popular or something that consumers feel they need.  3DTV bombed because people did not even want to wear glasses, let alone big heavy goggles.  And consumers are not spending $3500 on a product they don't 'need' in their life.  Apple did not solve any problems with this device.  They are better off just killing it and putting the resources to improving iOS, macOS and iPadOS, the systems that consumers actually use and upgrade over time.

Even watchOS is dead and developers have pretty much abandoned that platform.  The last 5 versions of the watch were uneventful with very little to offer.  I don't even wear my Watch 5 anymore.  Just sits on a charger.  Has some cool fitness apps, but much easier to just look at my phone.

Some may not agree, but that is the reality of it.  Any time I have been at an Apple Store, people are looking at phones and Macs.  They don't even look at the Vision Pro because it is so stupidly expensive, and they don't have a need for it.

LOL

Your Visio Pro take is fine. Your Apple Watch take is bizarre. Apple Watch is ubiquitous in the wild. The fact you don't wear your 6-year old AW is irrelevant. I do wonder why you keep charging it however. Give it away or sell it.

This. I live in an European country where the iPhone itself is not all that popular, and I keep seeing Apple Watches on people’s wrists (and other competing smartwatches, mind you) all the time. I don’t know where @randominternetperson ;got that idea from, but I smell FUD and especially BS.

mike wuerthele

domicinator said:

Wesley_Hilliard said:

domicinator said:

I'm not sure you're much of a fan of the platform at this point -- you seem about 3/4 of the way toward it being doomed, meaning you don't believe in it anymore. Also seems like most of the Appleinsider contributing staff also isn't that into Apple anymore. Getting pretty "The Verge" around here lately, and choosing this hill to die on as far as Vision Pro feels a little weak this early on.

Being critical of poor decision making by a company is not the same thing as hating a product. Considering I wrote this piece from within Apple Vision Pro and have spent multiple hours testing the new features this week just for the fun of it, I'd say I'm still rather invested in the platform.

I'm not sure what you expect us to do, praise Apple when they're doing a poor job at something? You should try listening to the podcast sometime, I'm continuously accused of being too defensive of Apple. lol

If anything, me wanting the platform to be better should be an indicator of how much I care about it.

Being critical and concern trolling are two different things. You know full well that if you write stories with incendiary headlines like this one what kind of traffic it attracts. It's quite obvious that you wanting to make money trolling Apple supersedes you "wanting the platform to be better". Please. This is the oldest trick/excuse in the book.

Your argument is flawed. Monetization and editorial are firewalled here. Wes makes no more or less money based on traffic, or what you erroneously call "concern trolling." He is salaried.

Just because your point of view disagrees with his, doesn't mean that he's done it for the cash. In fact, saying so because you don't agree, is the oldest trick/excuse in the book.

lmac

Apple needs to figure out what the "killer app" is for the Vision Pro, the way Desktop Publishing was for the early Macintosh. Moving native apps over is nice, but kind of beside the point, because if you can do the thing on another device, why buy a pricey Vision Pro? Apple can try to reduce the price (hopefully without lowering the quality) and they can acknowledge that it is a "hobby project" at this point and just keep it alive until the technology gets cheaper and better, but 3rd party developers aren't going to take the risk until there's a bigger user base, and without a killer app that grows the user base, there isn't a reason for most people to buy this device.

lmac

Rogue01 said:

Even watchOS is dead and developers have pretty much abandoned that platform. 

The Apple Watch is pretty popular, even if it remains mostly an accessory for the iPhone. If developers aren't developing for watchOS, that's on Apple not making it easy enough or profitable enough. Remember the early iPhone had no 3rd party developers, but once the App Store got rolling, 3rd party development took off.

mikethemartian

domicinator said:

Wesley_Hilliard said:

domicinator said:

I'm not sure you're much of a fan of the platform at this point -- you seem about 3/4 of the way toward it being doomed, meaning you don't believe in it anymore. Also seems like most of the Appleinsider contributing staff also isn't that into Apple anymore. Getting pretty "The Verge" around here lately, and choosing this hill to die on as far as Vision Pro feels a little weak this early on.

Being critical of poor decision making by a company is not the same thing as hating a product. Considering I wrote this piece from within Apple Vision Pro and have spent multiple hours testing the new features this week just for the fun of it, I'd say I'm still rather invested in the platform.

I'm not sure what you expect us to do, praise Apple when they're doing a poor job at something? You should try listening to the podcast sometime, I'm continuously accused of being too defensive of Apple. lol

If anything, me wanting the platform to be better should be an indicator of how much I care about it.

Being critical and concern trolling are two different things. You know full well that if you write stories with incendiary headlines like this one what kind of traffic it attracts. It's quite obvious that you wanting to make money trolling Apple supersedes you "wanting the platform to be better". Please. This is the oldest trick/excuse in the book.

Incendiary?