Vision Pro apps: the good, the bad, and the ridiculous – The Verge

The Vision Pro is getting easier to share with guests, and adding a new iPhone app

2025-02-21T17:34:38-05:00

The Vision Pro app for iOS will let you find new content and queue up downloads for the headset.

One of the big problems with a VR headset is that anything you want to do, you have to do inside it. Apple is looking to tackle that and other Vision Pro pain points with visionOS 2.4, which will offer improvements to the guest user experience and two new apps for finding new things to do and watch, whether you're wearing the headset or not.

The visionOS 2.4 update rolling out in beta to developers starting today also adds Apple Intelligence features to the headset.

Right now, it's hard to find software for the Vision Pro without putting on the headset and doing the search there, but with this update and iOS 18.4 that's getting easier wit …

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The Vision Pro NBA app turns some games into a miniature 3D diorama

2025-02-15T10:32:50-05:00

It really makes you want to reach out and pick up one of the players.

The NBA has introduced a new AR feature for its Vision Pro app this week called Tabletop, which places a floating render of a basketball court in your space during "select" live games, according to an NBA help page describing the feature. On the court, digital avatars mirror the game's actual players as they move, pass, and shoot - but only for live games that you can watch or listen to with NBA League Pass.

The feature even works for local market games that are otherwise unavailable to stream video of in the app. It was about 45 seconds behind the announcer audio during a local game I tested it with, but Vision Pro owner Justin Ryan repor …

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The Vision Pro’s ultrawide Mac display is very close to being a killer app

2024-12-11T13:41:01-05:00

My favorite dynamic wallpaper floating in the desert. | Screenshot: Mac Virtual Display

Since its release, I've mostly used Apple's Vision Pro like a movie theater. The VR headset is an amazing way to watch Dune - but beyond that, it hasn't really lived up to its potential as a general-purpose computing device.

Today, that's finally starting to change. With the update to visionOS 2.2, Apple is seriously upgrading the headset's ability to work with a Mac. It's probably the closest thing the Vision Pro has to a killer app.

The Vision Pro has been able to mirror the screen of a Mac since day one, but I found the original Mac Virtual Display feature limiting. Text was sharp at low resolutions, but the screen was cramped. I could …

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Vision Pro’s viral Lapz app put on hold after F1 complaint

2024-11-20T10:09:40-05:00

Lapz, the Apple Vision Pro app that puts Formula One races in mixed reality, is on hold after F1 asked it to stop using its content, as reported by UploadVR. In a message posted to its Discord channel, Lapz says it halted distribution through TestFlight while it explores "licensing opportunities with various racing leagues and tech partners."

"F1® have respectfully asked us to discontinue the use of their F1®TV broadcast rights in our platform for the time being while we continue to advance our roadmap and enhance the beta experience," the message says.

Lapz started out as just a concept video created by designer John LePore. However, the …

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Watch this one-minute preview of Apple’s first scripted Vision Pro short

2024-10-07T15:54:09-04:00

Apple just released the trailer for Submerged, the first scripted immersive video for the Vision Pro. The short, written and directed by Edward Berger, is set inside a WWII submarine as its crew deals with "a harrowing torpedo attack."

The trailer for Submerged consists of behind-the-scenes shots and fisheye-looking clips from the short, along with a voiceover from Berger, who claims that the immersive format will "change the future of filmmaking."

Berger also says putting on the Vision Pro changes "the way you think about storytelling." One could see how the location - the narrow innards of a submarine - might be both a technical challeng …

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Christian Selig’s unofficial YouTube app for the Vision Pro just got taken down

2024-10-01T18:22:04-04:00

Juno, the third-party YouTube app created for the Apple Vision Pro, has been removed from the App Store. In a post on Tuesday, developer Christian Selig said the app was taken down months after Google warned that it violates YouTube's guidelines.

Like Netflix, Google doesn't make a YouTube app for the Vision Pro. That means you can only watch YouTube in Safari, which breaks out videos into Apple's native video player. Google said a YouTube app for the Vision Pro is "on the roadmap" in February, but we haven't heard any updates since.

Sad news, but Juno for YouTube has been removed from the App Store. It's been a ton of fun to build, thanks …

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Ladies and gentlemen, The Weeknd (on Apple Vision Pro)

2024-07-18T13:33:23-04:00

Apple is launching new "immersive" video content for the Vision Pro over the next few months, including one from The Weeknd, a close-up view of the 2024 NBA All-Star Weekend, and "the first scripted short film captured in Apple Immersive Video." The new series and film will come exclusively to the Vision Pro, allowing wearers to watch 3D video with a 180-degree field of view.

The immersive performance from The Weeknd will arrive on the Vision Pro later this year, while you can expect a short film featuring events from the NBA All-Star Game this fall, such as the Rising Stars Challenge, the slam dunk contest, and the All-Star Game.

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Marvel’s What If…? Vision Pro app is an awkward mix of video game and movie

2024-05-29T15:00:00-04:00

The Watcher is quite large. | Image: Disney

Besides watching movies, there's not all that much to do with Apple's Vision Pro once you get over the novelty. That's why I was eager to try Disney and Marvel's new What If…? An Immersive Story experience / TV show / video game… thing that's available on May 30th. The companies promised a mixed reality show that would "push the boundaries of technology." But what I experienced, while very pretty to look at, ended up feeling like an overlong, no-stakes video game tutorial - with no game to follow it.

You'll go through the Vision Pro-exclusive app either by standing in one spot in a virtual environment, watching things play out and participa …

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Marvel is bringing a mixed reality edition of What If…? to the Vision Pro

2024-05-08T15:16:44-04:00

Who watches the watcher watching The Watcher watching them? | Image: Marvel / Disney

The Vision Pro is about to get what sounds like an honest-to-goodness mixed reality video experience from Marvel Studios and ILM Immersive, something the platform sorely needs. The companies announced What If…? - An Immersive Story, which they say is Disney Plus' "first-ever" interactive original content. It'll come exclusively to Apple's VR headset and use a mixture of augmented and virtual reality.

The hour-long What If…? episode is based on Marvel's Disney Plus show of the same name. It's a promising development for starved Vision Pro owners, and not just because it's far longer than the small library of immersive films Apple has offered …

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The Supercut app brings good Netflix to the Vision Pro

2024-04-09T10:39:27-04:00

The service selector in Supercut. | Screenshot: Wes Davis / The Verge

Netflix said last year that it had no plans for a native app for the Apple Vision Pro - a disappointment for owners given how well-suited it is for the task. Now, a new app called Supercut brings Netflix streaming to Apple's headset without letterboxing bars on the top and bottom of the video; it also supports 4K streaming with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision.

Made by developer Christian Privitelli, Supercut offers playback controls - including subtitles, audio output, playback speed, and the ability to skip ahead or back a few seconds - plus the ability to switch between profiles on the fly. It even gives you a visual indicator telling you wh …

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