Sources say Apple Vision Pro developer lab is deserted, with little interest from developers
IT House reported on August 3 that Apple began inviting developers to Vision Pro’s developer labs in July. These labs are located in Cupertino, London, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo. So far, developers have not shown much interest in these labs. According to Mark Gurman, these developer labs “have a small number of participants and a small number of developers.”
Apple’s Vision Pro Developer Lab is designed to allow developers to get hands-on with the Vision Pro headset and get help from Apple engineers as they start building apps for the upcoming device. These labs will provide testing and optimization of visionOS applications, with on-site guidance from Apple experts. Any developer can apply to attend a developer lab, but Apple won’t reimburse travel costs, and developers on the east coast of the U.S. must travel across the country at their own expense to get to the lab.
IT Home noticed that the visionOS emulator has not been launched for a long time, so many developers may still be developing applications and may not be ready to participate in the lab. Some other developers may not have the incentive to create apps because the Vision Pro has a long wait to be available in their countries.
Apple also plans to send Vision Pro developer kits to some developers, and applications opened two weeks ago. There are a limited number of these developer kits, and Apple is prioritizing applications that best take advantage of Vision Pro’s capabilities and features. Apple has strict rules about developer kits, such as limiting them to one development location and keeping them in a private, secure workspace, which can be difficult for some small developers.
Developers will have more than six months to test and develop the Vision Pro app, which is expected to be available in early 2024.
