The Vision Pro Has Over 600 Apps Designed For It at Launch
The Vision Pro officially releases tomorrow, and if you were one of the over 200,000 customers to pre-order one, you're likely excited to see what Apple's "vision" for mixed reality is all about.
From initial reviews, it seems Apple has a potential hit on their hands. While the headset is certainly expensive at a starting price of $3,499, the built-in experiences are immersive and impressive. Apple has designed the Vision Pro to go from working on a virtual Mac to watching a movie in the desert—all without leaving your couch.
But what will make or break the Vision Pro isn't the experience Apple curates for it: It's the third-party app support. Without a marketplace of specialized apps and services, the Vision Pro won't be more than a fancy Apple demo.
Luckily, things seem to be off to a good start: Apple announced today that there are more than 600 apps and games designed specifically for the Vision Pro, in addition to over one million compatible iOS and iPadOS apps.
What are apps like on Vision Pro?
Apple's press release doesn't list all 600+ Vision Pro apps new customers can expect to find in the visionOS App Store, but they do highlight some interesting options: There's PGA TOUR Vision, which lets you watch the tour in your space; the Vision Pro NBA app, which lets you stream up to five live broadcasts or on demand, with stats and scores displayed next to your feeds; the Max app, which lets you watch shows and movies in different Max locations (e.g., watching House of the Dragon in the Iron Throne Room); and, of course, the Apple TV app, which Apple designed to take advantage of the Vision Pro's unique immersion tech.
Apple also highlights some apps that can help with work using the Vision Pro: Box, an app that lets you manage files and content like 3D objects in virtual space; MindNode, which lets you place thought bubbles around your space to keep tabs on important notes; and OmniFocus and OmniPlan, which you can use for project management visualization. Apple says you can use "Microsoft 365 productivity apps," but it isn't clear if that means there are native versions of apps like Word and Excel yet. That said, you can join calls from Teams, Zoom, and Webex, and existing apps for Slack, Notion, Todoist, and more are compatible.
There are more than 250 games available on the Vision Pro, including NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition, Sonic Dream Team, and TMNT Splintered Fate. If you subscribe to Apple Arcade, you'll find specific experiences designed for the Vision Pro, including Synth Riders, LEGO Builder's Journey, Super Fruit Ninja, Game Room, WHAT THE GOLF?, Cut the Rope 3, Jetpack Joyride 2, Bloons TD 6+, stitch., Patterned, Illustrated, and Wylde Flowers. There are original experiences here as well, from titles like Loóna, Void-X, and Saktrix Pro, in addition to standard gaming experiences from Lies of P and Baldur's Gate 3.
The list goes on here: There are apps for exploring the world, such as Hold the World; checking the weather in 3D with CARROT Weather; experiencing the solar system with solAR; learning about anatomy with HeartX; becoming a DJ with 3D turntables with djay; "attending" live concerts with AmazeVR Concerts; and shopping with J.Crew Virtual Closet and Lowe's Style Studio.
I'm sure as users start to get their hands on the Vision Pro, we'll learn more about the over 600 original apps, especially those that offer unique experiences in mixed reality. Hopefully, the initial Vision Pro hype will propel more developers to create visionOS apps, but only time will tell.