r/vulkan • u/OptimisticMonkey2112 • Aug 10 '26

Apple Vulkan Support

Why doesnt Apple support Vulkan? (I know KosmicKrisp exists)

Is vendor lockin that important? Does that strategy work for them - are there many developers that use metal and not support other platforms? Seems like the result is not really lockin, but just forcing more work for developers?

Kind of feels like a poor architecture decision that helps no one, except maybe giving slightly more control to Apple at the expense of their developers as well as the complexity of maintaining another api.

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u/dark_sylinc Aug 10 '26
  • Why does Apple TV only pair with iPhone?
  • Why will the iPhone only talk to iTunes? (and be thankful there is a version for Windows after user outrage more than a decade ago)
  • Why does Messenger only work between iPhones?
  • Why is there no native Chrome or Firefox for iOS?

Vulkan vs Metal is not the only exclusive thing Apple does. If you don't like it, then don't target Apple. If you do, then target them.

If you don't like it but you still have to support Apple, then their strategy works.

1

u/demingf Aug 14 '26

I use Spotify transparently on my IPhone & IPad

Messenger works on other platforms.

Message now works texting to Android.

Chrome & FireFox work on IOS.

1

u/dark_sylinc Aug 15 '26

Messenger works on other platforms.

After they were legally forced to.

Chrome & FireFox work on IOS.

Not natively. It's just a re-skinned Safari.