Apple is restricting the potential of Vision Pro apps, but for a good reason
Should Apple grant access to the Vision Pro’s cameras?
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Apple’s products are well known for theirstrong security and privacy protections, and theApple Vision Prois no different. Now, it’s emerged that Apple’s stance might be limiting the types of apps you’ll be able to use on its mixed-reality headset – but there’s a very good reason for it.
According to a new report fromThe Information(via9to5Mac), several developers have become frustrated at how Apple has locked down its headset and prevented them from creating the apps they want to make. On a different platform that might be possible, but not on the Vision Pro.
Specifically, the developers in question have complained that they cannot make use of the device’s on-board cameras. For instance, Antony Vitillo, developer of augmented reality (AR) fitness game HitMotion, told The Information that he wanted to access the product’s cameras so that his app could let users interact with real-world items like punching bags. Apple, however, doesn’t let apps get to that kind of data.
Similarly, developer Kalani Helekunihi, who builds apps for elderly adults and people with disabilities, says Apple’s rules mean they can’t create an app that can give “people with limited vision a description of their surroundings and act as a virtual cane that warns them when they’re approaching obstacles.”
Privacy protections
Ultimately, there’s a very good reason why Apple prevents apps from using the Vision Pro’s camera feed: privacy. Granting access to the camera might enable the creation of some useful apps, but it could also invade the privacy of everyone in the vicinity if an untrustworthy app developer uses it for nefarious purposes.
Reportedly, Apple doesn’t want the Vision Pro to become like theGoogle GlassAR headset. When that first launched, it caused a major controversy. As The Information puts it, “Former Apple employees say Apple wants to avoid what happened to theGoogleGlass, a wearable device that caused a huge outcry over a decade ago because the presence of a camera on the product made people uncomfortable around others who were wearing them.”
Given how proactive Apple is when it comes to privacy, granting app developers access to the Vision Pro’s cameras seems like a non-starter. So, while it might mean your choice ofVision Pro appsis a little bit thinner for now, it’s probably worth not having your every move surreptitiously recorded by a Vision Pro-wearing passerby.
Get the best Black Friday deals direct to your inbox, plus news, reviews, and more.
Sign up to be the first to know about unmissable Black Friday deals on top tech, plus get all your favorite TechRadar content.
You might also like
Alex Blake has been fooling around with computers since the early 1990s, and since that time he’s learned a thing or two about tech. No more than two things, though. That’s all his brain can hold. As well as TechRadar, Alex writes for iMore, Digital Trends and Creative Bloq, among others. He was previously commissioning editor at MacFormat magazine. That means he mostly covers the world of Apple and its latest products, but also Windows, computer peripherals, mobile apps, and much more beyond. When not writing, you can find him hiking the English countryside and gaming on his PC.
Trying to get the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU? It seems only scalpers have it and they’re jacking up the price
As if Intel didn’t have enough to worry about, Nvidia might be about to jump into the PC processor market
This super-cheap HP Victus 15 gaming laptop just dropped to its lowest price yet
