Vision Pro users might be upset with the mixed bag of apps they will choose from

Even though Apple hit the jackpot with the iPhone and iPad App Store it also struck out on App Stores for the Apple Watch and Apple TV. Those two stores draw fewer than one million monthly users in European Union countries where such data is published by Apple. That compares to 130 million monthly active users for the EU iPhone, iPad, and Mac stores.

The App Store for the Vision Pro will probably lie somewhere in the middle between the rousing success of the iOS/iPadOS App Store and the lackluster demand for apps available for the Apple Watch and Apple TV. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman in the latest edition of the weekly Power ON newsletter, the high price of the Vision Pro ($3,499 in case you forgot) and the limited number of users would probably prevent existing developers from spending the cash required to completely build new Vision Pro apps from scratch that would work with both VR and AR.

The apps built from scratch would also be designed to work with the Vision Pro's high-resolution displays and hand/eye controls. These apps will start to get built this month as Apple starts giving Vision Pro devices to developers.

Two other types of Vision Pro apps will be offered. One group will be converted iPad apps that will run as native VisionOS apps after developers update the UI of these apps and optimize them for the mixed AR/VR user experience. And the last group of apps are unchanged iPhone and iPad apps that will run in a window on VisionOS without the developer doing any work. For most developers, the decision to let Vision Pro run their apps unchanged is a simple one since it could generate additional revenue without requiring any additional work.

For consumers who just spent $3,499 for their new tech toy, using unchanged iPad apps will probably not meet their lofty expectations. But with Apple likely to sell a limited number of Vision Pro units a year for the first few years, one app developer told Power ON, "If you’re making something for it, either Apple has to pay you to develop it or you’re building the app just to create some buzz."

Gurman does see some upside for Vision Pro app developers since they know their customers are well-off and are willing to spend money. This could allow them to charge higher prices for their apps than you might expect otherwise. Gurman said that with the Vision Pro, he wouldn't be surprised if $20 is the new $1 and he says that many of the paid apps for the device could cost between $50 and $250.

Gurman also points out that while Disney+ is expected to create a native VisionOS app for the Vision Pro, that doesn't appear to be what rival streamer Netflix has in mind. As of now, the largest streaming app in the world, Netflix, will probably have its iPad app available on the Vision Pro since it hasn't announced any plans to build a native Vision OS version. He adds that some developers of productivity apps like Zoom and Microsoft are planning to create native VisionOS versions of their apps.

The Vision Pro was unveiled during the first day of WWDC and should be released in the U.S. early next year. Later in the year, the Vision Pro will be released in various other markets including Japan, India, Brazil, Canada and Australia. Pricing will vary in each country.