Apple’s Vision Pro has problems every year: Too few apps | Real Time Headlines

when apple It revealed the Vision Pro in 2023, calling its $3,500 headphones its next “main platform.” Two years later, and one year after it was sold, the app on the device was thin.

Apple does not regularly publish statistics on the number of Vision Professional apps available, and it is difficult to tell how many new apps are available in any given month. The number of New Vision Pro apps has dropped monthly since the device went public in February 2024, according to Appfigures, a consulting firm that tracks Apple’s platform.

When Apple unveiled Vision Pro, executives said developers would be able to create new experiences that traditional computers could not have been possible. But so far, top developers are still mainly concentrated elsewhere, with major tech companies like Google,,,,, Yuan and Netflix Its most important headphone app has not been released yet.

Many of Vision Pro’s new apps and ideas come from independent developers, giving them a one-day treat on weekends.

One of the men at the Independent Boot Camp is Polish programmer Adam Roszyk, who has created 17 Vision Pro apps since the headset was first released.

Roszyk’s $4 Night vision application Have Vision Pro users click on the device’s depth sensing camera to view objects in the dark. If you spend $5, perform in Luigi’s mansion video games use App Vacume, which can cover virtual coins on the floor, as well as any real dirt or dust. and $6,,,,, Roszyk’s application scan export allows users to create 3D digital scans of the entire building by walking around, a useful tool for building or real estate personnel.

“We were very early and we really didn’t know how it really works in your life,” Roszeke said. “There are a lot of different ideas that you think of.”

Roszyk continues to develop Vision Pro Apps because he says he thinks “space computing” (Apple’s preferred headphone and glasses technology term that integrates 3D objects with the world around him) will be the next big platform. Roszyk bet that when more people walk around with vision professionals, or one day, developing an app can put him in the main position.

“This calculation is the future,” Roszyk said. “I’ll definitely compare it to the first iPhone.”

Roszyk’s efforts made him profitable, but it wasn’t enough for Vision Pro Development to be his full-time job. His 17 apps have cleared about $4,000 on the App Store over the past three months. Roszyk said that as he released more apps, more people discovered the number.

Apple updated its latest Vision Pro app number in August, CEO Tim Cook Tell investors about revenue calls that the platform has 2500 apps. This figure covers fully immersive applications covering virtual objects in the real world as well as 2D applications with some spatial components.

At the end of January, less than 1,900 apps were still active, according to AppFigures’ count.

Apple declined to comment.

Competitors Yuan It said in 2023 that it has 500 apps on its Quest store, and the company said last year that the number was multiplied by 10.

The task 3s with many of the same features as the Vision Pro starts at $300. Yuan is for sale Millions of seniors In recent years. Although Meta did not disclose how many users it has, its Meta Quest app was downloaded about 6 million times in 2024, according to AppFigures data, which is a useful proxy as users need to download the app to set up their headsets.

There are about 1.5 million Vision Pro apps that are ported versions of iPhone and iPad apps. When Apple uploads, Apple automatically ports iPhone and iPad apps to Vision Pro, but the company may drop. These applications can be used inside the headset but appear as a 2D flat screen. Yuan started imitating this strategy last year 2D Android Appsbut the company does not have a library of millions of existing mobile apps.

Apple hasn’t released Vision Pro sales, but an estimate from IDC suggests Less than 1 million devices Sold.

Netflix and YouTube and game streaming services such as certain services Nvidia GeForce is now accessible through Apple Vision Pro’s browser. Existing applications often receive updates that introduce spatial patterns, such as the NBA score app, which recently obtained an experimental feature that allows users to watch live The basketball game seems to be a miniature figurine on the table.

Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple Apple does require its title to support Vision Pro in addition to iPhone and iPad. Apple Arcade developers are paid for by Apple, and their apps are free to subscribers.

Although many of these games are 2D, some are unique to Vision Pro. In January, Apple released the Vision Pro app Gears & Goo, which enables players to control a character like a stupid frog on a table in the real world.

Meanwhile, Meta is actively proposing to VR developers and promises that they can make money. Meta said in January that Quest headphone payments rose 12% last year, although there were no citations in total. Meta also said it owns 200 apps that make over $1 million from software sales.

One year after the iPhone App Store was launched in 2008, Apple is roar About the platform has 50 million customers, 2 billion downloads and 85,000 apps. Apple regularly tells investors and developers how much it pays from App Store sales—it doesn’t publish any similar Vision Pro statistics.

Many in the VR industry hope that Apple’s portal will create fate by launching a boom like the iPhone does for mobile apps, as millions of users try to fill new devices with new software.

“My assumption was the final form of Apple’s release at the time, so it was a good idea to prepare early,” said Nikhil Jacob, who runs Vision Uni. “But my assumption was wrong in the end.”

Jacob said he believes Vision Pro’s app developer ecosystem will take much longer than the iPhone because of the lack of key pieces. Jacob hopes Apple improves the Vision Pro App Store to help users find new apps.

The slow absorption rate is large, largely due to the high price, which has caused some people to worry about VR and its related technologies entering calm again.

“Winter is here,” said Jarrett Webb, who is developing headphone apps for Argo Design. “Even Apple can’t get a winner.”

Still, Vision Professional developers are somewhat optimistic.

They say Apple’s hardware is reliable, the company’s developer tools are improving, and Vision Pro lays the foundation for future software and hardware updates. This also helps Vision Pro owners still seem excited to try out new apps.

Apple enters the headphone market, plus Google’s recent announcement Android XR PlatformJohn Gearty said that besides Meta’s multi-billion dollar investment signals, there will be a market for VR content, who worked at Apple for Vision Pro and was the founder of Pulsejet Studios, who is VR JR Production House, focusing on it. on music. Gearty hopes to grow steadily from the market, but he has relieved his expectations.

“I don’t think it’s a growth in hockey sticks,” he said.

Apple did not say whether it would update Vision Pro. according to Analystthe company is working for successors. Developers want it to be lighter and cheaper. They welcome any improvements that can be obtained on more faces.

“As time goes by, everything will get better and it will get better and better,” Cook told the Wall Street Journal. October. “I think today is a success from the perspective of ecosystem building.”

– CNBC’s Jonathan Vanian contributed to the report.