YouTube Says a Vision Pro App is “On The Roadmap,” Because of Course It Is

Before Apple’s VR/AR, or now, rather “spatial computing,” Vision Pro headset hit the marketplace, some naysayers painted a grim picture of the device’s chance of success. Developers were shunning this innovative new platform they said, and, in particular, YouTube wasn’t going to be making a dedicated Vision Pro app. But a YouTube spokesperson has now confirmed that Google does in fact support its Vision Pro-wearing YouTube users and will, at some point, be making a real, honest-to-goodness Vision Pro YouTube app.

Nilay Patel, editor in chief of tech website The Verge, broke the news after receiving an email from YouTube spokesperson Jessica Gibby containing a statement from Google. It explained that Google was “excited to see Vision Pro launch,” and it’s supporting it by “ensuring YouTube users have a great experience in Safari.” This implies it’s checked that everything’s working for Pro users who use Apple’s Safari web browser to view YouTube content. Plus, though there are no “specific plans to share at this time,” the company could “confirm that a Vision Pro app is on our roadmap.”

At some point, perhaps when Google has either decided that there are enough Vision Pro users that it is worth its while addressing the new device’s capabilities-or when it feels it’s being left behind by other, more successful, earlier-moving video service apps-Google will be making a Vision Pro app. 

There’s a lot of potential in a YouTube app, of course. Reviewers say Apple’s new headset seems to excel at pinning digital workspaces to real, fixed points around a wearer’s environment. Meaning that when wearing one you could, say, display a big tv-like movie-watching app on one wall of your home, fix a digital timer over your kitchen stove, or pin a particular spreadsheet over an office desk. When you return to that physical space, the relevant app remains ready. What Google, with its countless millions of user-uploaded videos, may be able to do with a clever implementation of YouTube in this sort of digital environment could be very interesting.

Which is, of course, why Google is actually not “shunning” the Vision Pro at all. Just as iPhone users represent a revenue stream for Google via apps like YouTube, even though they compete with its own Android smartphone system, Vision Pro represents a brand-new potential revenue stream. And as any business leader knows, Google would be remiss not to pursue this income source. Remember, while Google doesn’t make any hardware to compete with the Vision Pro, it was an early-if controversial-entrant into this marketplace with its much maligned augmented reality Google Glass flop many years ago. Google knows more than a thing or two about VR and AR.

One significant standout among missing apps for the Vision Pro remains. Netflix isn’t even enabling its iPad app for Vision Pro users. It’s a curious move, given that Netflix doesn’t make goggle-like hardware. But, of course, Apple competes in Netflix’s market in a way that ad giant and search leviathan Google does not: streaming TV shows and movies, and also making that content.

Meanwhile, the Pro is getting into many more reviewers’ hands, stirring up controversies, skits, and novel content. Though headlines still lean to the negative, such as “demand could wane”, the first-generation, wildly expensive Vision Pro is predicted to sell some 300,000 units over the course of the year, when the device goes on sale outside the U.S. At a starting price of $3,500 that means revenues of over $1 billion. If sales reach Morgan Stanley analysts’ top prediction of 400,000 units, that equates to revenues of $1.4 billion. Looks like you can’t Google “failure” and find the Vision Pro.