TikTok just outraced some of its biggest rivals by releasing a native Vision Pro application. The short video service that’s become a global phenomenon can now be enjoyed on Apple’s AR headset thanks to the TikTok Vision Pro app.
The head of development for the new app says the company “redesigned the entire TikTok experience.”
TikTok Vision Pro app embraces spatial computing
Apple positioned Vision Pro as the start of a new day for computers — what it calls spatial computing. Not everyone is ready to join in, though. YouTube says only that a native Vision Pro app is “on the roadmap” (although you can watch YouTube videos in the headset’s Safari browser). Instagram is also dragging its feet.
But ByteDance leaped right into the spatial computing scrum Thursday, introducing a version of TikTok for Vision Pro.
“While many app developers have ditched the Apple Vision Pro, my team has redesigned the entire TikTok experience from the ground up,” said Ahmad Zahran, the product lead, on LinkedIn.
Redesigned to work with Apple’s headset
Screenshot: TikTok/ByteDance
Even so, there’s not much the visionOS application can do about the fact that the short-form video service was originally created for phones. Therefore most TikTok videos have a portrait (tall and thin) orientation. Apple’s headset has a landscape (short and wide) orientation, so the fit isn’t ideal. The developers somewhat compensated by optionally displaying viewer comments to one side of TikTok videos in the visionOS app.
TikTok for Vision Pro is available in the App Store. It’s free, with advertising and user tracking.
Perhaps iPad users should feel insulted at the speed of this release – a native version of TikTok for Apple tablets only just came out a few weeks ago. ByteDance didn’t make Vision Pro users wait seven years.
As for longer video on Apple’s AR headset, Disney is all in, with a lengthy list of 3D movies ready to watch. An Apple TV+ app is available too — naturally. Netflix, on the other hand, continues to take a wait-and-see attitude. (As with YouTube, you can watch Netflix movies and shows in Safari.
via: The Verge
