Apple May Warm to WebXR; What’s Next In Games and Metaverse M&A?

AR/VR developers, take note: new evidence suggests Apple will support the WebXR standard both in its Safari browser and on its upcoming headset. Such a move would help shift development for AR/VR further away from a discrete app model and toward something a bit more open like the old web (or even, yes, like the m-word everyone is throwing around these days).

The clues pointing to WebXR support in Safari were spotted in the browser’s latest iOS beta by mobile developer Maximiliano Firtman (via RoadtoVR). The four new experimental WebXR features Firtman found are not enabled by default and are meant to work with external devices—in other words, they’re not built for viewing an AR or VR app on an iPhone or iPad, even though WebXR includes support for non-headset applications. That “external device” caveat makes it sound like this is Apple building toward WebXR support for its headset, perhaps by way of communication with something like an iPhone.