Apple plans on porting over the iPad versions of its Reminders, Podcasts, and other apps to the device rather than make Vision Pro-specific versions
Several app makers are opting to opt their existing iPad apps over to the Vision Pro rather than create new apps specifically for the device, apparently including Apple itself.
Some of Apple’s biggest apps will likely be ported over from their iPad versions to the headset. Specifically, Podcasts, News, Calendar, and Reminders are all expected to be the iPad versions of the apps rather than versions made specifically to be used on the headset, Bloomberg reports.
Several developers have adopted a “wait and see” approach to creating apps for the Vision Pro. Apple is only launching the device with around 80,000 units, a small fraction of the number of iOS devices out there. Developers who weren’t able to obtain a developer kit from the company would also have to shell out $3500 for their own devices to test their apps, a high cost of entry for an app to reach a comparatively small audience.
YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix have all said they don’t plan on making ads for the device nor porting their iPad apps over so they can be used on the device. Instead, both are suggesting users access their websites through Safari.
Apple has previously boasted that the Vision Pro will run more than 1 million apps out of the box. While the company hasn’t shared what percentage of those are repurposed iPad apps, it’s likely to be a substantial portion of the apps, at least at launch.
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