diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 90a05c8b..f6e2194f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -120,10 +120,10 @@ function(buildExamples)
 endfunction(buildExamples)
 
 if(RESOURCE_INSTALL_DIR)
-	add_definitions(-DVK_EXAMPLE_DATA_DIR=\"${RESOURCE_INSTALL_DIR}/\")
+	add_definitions(-DVK_EXAMPLE_ASSETS_DIR=\"${RESOURCE_INSTALL_DIR}/\")
 	install(DIRECTORY data/ DESTINATION ${RESOURCE_INSTALL_DIR}/)
 else()
-	add_definitions(-DVK_EXAMPLE_DATA_DIR=\"${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/data/\")
+	add_definitions(-DVK_EXAMPLE_ASSETS_DIR=\"${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/assets/\")
 endif()
 
 # Compiler specific stuff
diff --git a/base/VulkanTools.cpp b/base/VulkanTools.cpp
index 25b1ce07..b36b3296 100644
--- a/base/VulkanTools.cpp
+++ b/base/VulkanTools.cpp
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 /*
-* Assorted commonly used Vulkan helper functions
-*
-* Copyright (C) 2016 by Sascha Willems - www.saschawillems.de
-*
-* This code is licensed under the MIT license (MIT) (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
-*/
+ * Assorted commonly used Vulkan helper functions
+ *
+ * Copyright (C) 2016-2023 by Sascha Willems - www.saschawillems.de
+ *
+ * This code is licensed under the MIT license (MIT) (http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
+ */
 
 #include "VulkanTools.h"
 
@@ -14,10 +14,24 @@ const std::string getAssetPath()
 {
 #if defined(VK_USE_PLATFORM_ANDROID_KHR)
 	return "";
-#elif defined(VK_EXAMPLE_DATA_DIR)
-	return VK_EXAMPLE_DATA_DIR;
+#elif defined(DVK_EXAMPLE_ASSETS_DIR)
+	return DVK_EXAMPLE_ASSETS_DIR;
 #else
-	return "./../data/";
+	return "./../assets/";
+#endif
+}
+#endif
+
+#if !(defined(VK_USE_PLATFORM_IOS_MVK) || defined(VK_USE_PLATFORM_MACOS_MVK))
+// iOS & macOS: VulkanExampleBase::getAssetPath() implemented externally to allow access to Objective-C components
+const std::string getShaderBasePath()
+{
+#if defined(VK_USE_PLATFORM_ANDROID_KHR)
+	return "shaders/";
+#elif defined(DVK_EXAMPLE_SHADERS_DIR)
+	return DVK_EXAMPLE_SHADERS_DIR;
+#else
+	return "./../shaders/";
 #endif
 }
 #endif
diff --git a/base/VulkanTools.h b/base/VulkanTools.h
index c597b696..dc2323ce 100644
--- a/base/VulkanTools.h
+++ b/base/VulkanTools.h
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
 #endif
 
 const std::string getAssetPath();
+const std::string getShaderBasePath();
 
 namespace vks
 {
diff --git a/download_assets.py b/download_assets.py
deleted file mode 100755
index 93a509bf..00000000
--- a/download_assets.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,31 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
-
-import sys
-from urllib.request import urlretrieve
-from zipfile import ZipFile
-
-ASSET_PACK_URL = 'http://vulkan.gpuinfo.org/downloads/vulkan_asset_pack_gltf.zip'
-ASSET_PACK_FILE_NAME = 'vulkan_asset_pack_gltf.zip'
-
-print("Downloading asset pack from '%s'" % ASSET_PACK_URL)    
-
-def reporthook(blocknum, blocksize, totalsize):
-    bytesread = blocknum * blocksize
-    if totalsize > 0:
-        percent = bytesread * 1e2 / totalsize
-        s = "\r%5.1f%% (%*d / %d bytes)" % (percent, len(str(totalsize)), bytesread, totalsize)
-        sys.stderr.write(s)
-        if bytesread >= totalsize:
-            sys.stderr.write("\n")
-    else:
-        sys.stderr.write("read %d\n" % (bytesread,))
-
-urlretrieve(ASSET_PACK_URL, ASSET_PACK_FILE_NAME, reporthook)
-
-print("Download finished")
-
-print("Extracting assets")
-
-zip = ZipFile(ASSET_PACK_FILE_NAME, 'r')
-zip.extractall("./")
-zip.close()