YouTube is not building a Vision Pro app, so Apollo for Reddit dev made one
Apple’s Vision Pro headset is set to release for consumers today, but YouTube is not currently building a dedicated app for the device. To fill that void, Christian Selig, the developer who made Apollo for Reddit client, has made a Vision Pro app for YouTube called Juno.
The app costs $5 for a one-time purchase and doesn’t have any recurring revenue model. Selig said on his blog that the app uses YouTube’s embed API, which essentially loads videos in a web view and provides controls for playback.
The developer mentioned that this allows an app like Juno to run natively, and even automatically resize windows based on different aspect ratios. Plus, through the embed API, YouTube can still show ads to users who are not subscribed to the Premium tier.
The Juno app allows features like resizable windows, pinch drag to scrub through the video, double pinch on sides to move the video forward or back by 10 seconds and dim surroundings to focus on the video.
The idea about development started last month when Selig posted on X that he wanted to develop a wrapper app for YouTube native to Vision Pro because he spends a lot of time on the service.
To be clear I think YouTube's API is even worse than Reddit's, so it'd be just a quick and dirty wrapper around the website, but it'd be better than nothing maybe? I dunno I'm just talking out loud
— Christian Selig (@ChristianSelig) January 20, 2024
Currently, the app supports only one window. But with Vision Pro’s ability to show multiple spatial windows, he plans to introduce multiview support. The ability to see comments, new immersive environments and caption controls are the other planned features for Juno.
Earlier this week, Apple said that there will be 600 apps available specifically tuned for Vision Pro. While there are no apps for Netflix, YouTube and Spotify at launch, users can consume content through Disney+, Max, ESPN, CBS, Paramount+, NBC, NBC Sports, Peacock, FOX Sports and the UFC.
Selig shut down Apollo after Reddit changed its API terms in June last year. In September, the developer updated his Pixel Pals app, which is a cute virtual pet app for Apple’s Dynamic Island, with support for interactive widgets. In October, he also released a language-learning widget as part of the Pixel Pals app.