The wait is over for Vision Pro owners. YouTube is launching its first native visionOS app Thursday, more than two years after Apple's spatial computing headset hit shelves. The app supports everything from standard videos and Shorts to immersive 3D, 360-degree, and VR180 content, according to Apple spokesperson Corey Nord in a statement to The Verge. The move marks a significant reversal for Google's video giant, which initially said it had no plans to build for the platform.
YouTube just handed Apple a lifeline for its struggling Vision Pro platform. The official visionOS app launches Thursday, ending a two-year standoff that left the world's largest video platform conspicuously absent from Apple's most ambitious hardware bet since the iPhone.
The timing tells you everything about the headset's rocky start. When the Vision Pro launched in February 2024 at $3,499, YouTube was among several major platforms that declined to build native apps. The company initially told users to just access YouTube through Safari, a workaround that stripped away the spatial computing features Apple spent years hyping. According to reports from The Verge, YouTube said it "wasn't planning" to develop for the platform ahead of launch.
But market pressure works fast in tech. Within days of the Vision Pro hitting store shelves, YouTube pivoted. The company added a Vision Pro app to its roadmap in early February 2024, though it took another two years to actually ship. The delay speaks to the chicken-and-egg problem facing spatial computing - developers won't invest without users, but users won't buy without apps.
The new app doesn't skimp on features. Vision Pro owners can now watch standard YouTube videos, Shorts, 3D content, 360-degree videos, and VR180 footage natively in visionOS. That last format is crucial. VR180 uses stereoscopic video to create depth, the kind of immersive content that actually justifies wearing a headset instead of just grabbing your phone. Apple spokesperson Corey Nord confirmed the feature set to , marking one of the few times Apple's acknowledged the app drought publicly.
