Developer Christian Selig of "Apollo for Reddit" fame has created what Google wouldn't – a dedicated YouTube app for Apple Vision Pro.
Called Juno for YouTube, the app lets Vision Pro owners browse the YouTube platform in a cleanly refined visionOS interface without having to resort to the lackluster alternative, which is visiting the YouTube website in Safari.
The video player includes native controls for interacting with the video, including resizing to create a home theater experience in your living room, repositioning, dimming your room around the video, and more.
In addition, there's support for aspect ratio detection, and buttons to increase or decrease playback speed, toggle captions, and share videos. As you'd expect from a third-party app, no YouTube account is required to use Juno, and it won't auto-skip ads, but YouTube Premium subscribers will enjoy the benefits that accompany the tier through the app.
Selig cautions that early adopters of the app may encounter a few bugs, since he has only been able to develop and interact with it in the Vision Pro simulator. But that's unlikely to concern users who are familiar with the developer's reputation and engagement with people who use his apps. Plus, he's getting a Vision Pro headset today.
And here's a quick overview video showing it in action. I'm looking forward to trying it on an actual device tomorrow, I really feel like Apple Vision Pro is going to make such an amazing YouTube experience 🥳 pic.twitter.com/GY39eDF7bC — Christian Selig (@ChristianSelig) February 2, 2024
YouTube said earlier this month that it is not developing a YouTube Vision Pro app, nor will it allow the YouTube iPad app to run on the device. Netflix and Spotify have said the same thing. Netflix and Spotify will instead be accessible through Safari, similar to YouTube.
Juno for YouTube is priced at $4.99 and the app is already available on the App Store for nascent Vision Pro owners to check out.
