TikTok's Apple Vision Pro App Foreshadows the Future of Creators
TikTok
TikTok has launched a native app for the Apple Vision Pro, Apple's recently launched mixed-reality headset.
How It Works:
The app optimizes the viewing experience for full videos by relocating the navigation bar and like buttons off-screen. When users interact with comment sections or creator profiles, these elements appear on the side of the feed, enhancing the immersive content viewing experience.
Users can leverage the Apple Vision Pro's fully immersive capabilities to watch TikTok videos in various environments, such as Yosemite or even on the moon. They can also use the Shared Space feature to watch TikTok content while using other apps simultaneously. However, creating or uploading content is currently not supported by this app.
One of A Few Apps:
TikTok is one of approximately 1,000 native visionOS apps for the Apple Vision Pro. Surprisingly, YouTube, Netflix, and Spotify are not among these apps, although YouTube has an app on its roadmap.
The TikTok Experience Is More Immersive:
TikTok's early investment in tailoring an experience specifically for the Apple Vision Pro aligns with its strategy to expand onto larger screens, including tablets, televisions, and billboards. This move provides additional avenues for discovery for creators and supports TikTok's efforts in generating longer videos.
The immersive experience offered by the Apple Vision Pro may attract users to engage with longer videos, benefiting creators specializing in such content. Whether short or long videos, consuming TikToks in a mixed media experience can enhance engagement. For example, users can watch a recipe video and cook, view how-to tutorials for an app while pulling it up, or simply watch a travel vlog with a corresponding immersive background.
More Spatial Creator Content Could Arrive:
Although content sharing is currently unavailable on the app, it is likely to be introduced in the near future. There is also a possibility that TikTok will support spatial photos and videos, allowing users to enjoy 3D content. With the iPhone Pro 15's capability to capture spatial media, creators have a low entry point for shooting this type of content.
While it may take time for mass adoption due to the device's price point, TikTok's native app for Apple Vision Pro foreshadows the opportunity for creators to connect and engage with audiences through immersive experiences. In the future, creators may need to consider optimizing content for the Apple Vision Pro, the Meta Quest Pro, and similar devices and experiences, as YouTube creators are doing for television today.
If Apple can replicate the success, it has had with the iPhone and iPad, a future where we watch and interact with our favorite creators through more immersive experiences is possible, opening up a host of opportunities, including new content formats, fan engagement, monetization, and brand integrations.
