Channel 4 app spices up the Apple Vision Pro App Store with Taskmaster

Broadcaster Channel 4 has made an app for Apple’s Vision Pro headset, and while it’s mainly for watching TV programmes, there’s a bit more to it.

The Channel 4 Apple Vision Pro app is positively Taskmaster-obsessed. As well as being able to watch shows on a ruddy great big virtual TV screen, the Vision Pro app from Channel 4 will also let you watch Taskmaster from the show’s own set, rather than seeing your own surroundings in the background.

OK, so based on the promo video Channel 4 has released, we are talking about a PlayStation 2-level rendering of the Taskmaster environs. But it certainly has something Apple Vision Pro isn’t always the best at fostering: a sense of silliness and fun.

Here’s that Taskmaster set view in all its 2003-era graphics glory:

Season 18 of Taskmaster is about to come to an end, the tenth episode set to broadcast on November 14. What better way to give it a send-off than with a £3000 headset?

It’s not just about Taskmaster, of course. You’ll also be able to stream other shows. And the Taskmaster backdrop is optional.

This app release makes Channel 4 the first UK broadcaster to launch an app on Vision Pro, beating the BBC’s iPlayer to the punch. To watch BBC shows on the headset, you have to do so through the headset's browser at present.

“The new Channel 4 Apple Vision Pro app builds on our heritage of viewer innovation, be that the first broadcaster in the world to offer a TV-based on-demand service, or the first PSB to launch an HD channel in the UK,” says Grace Boswood, Channel 4’s Director of Technology. A “PSB” is a public service broadcaster, if you’re wondering.

Netflix, YouTube and Spotify apps are yet to appear for Vision Pro, showing quite what a trailblazer Channel 4 is on this front.

We imagine the app situation on Apple Vision Pro would be a lot more fast-moving were the headset more affordable. While just about everyone agrees it’s a technical marvel, headset sales have routinely sold fewer units than predicted.

Market research firm says the Vision Pro is not expected to crack 500,000 units sold in 2024, a slow start considering the headset launched in the US back in February 2024.

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