Apple announced VisionOS 2.4 which is designed to make it easier to find content to enjoy on a Vision Pro, adds support for Apple Intelligence, and makes it easier to share the headset with guests.
Apple Intelligence is rolling out to Vision Pro devices as part of the update, which includes writing tools, Genmoji, and Image Playground. Users can also create a memory movie that leverages AI which uses assets on-device to make a video. Once complete, this video can be watched on a Vision Pro in an immersive environment. These and a host of other AI features will be coming in April. Apple is starting the rollout in English first and more features and languages are coming later this year. The developer beta launches next week.
The update to VisionOS also adds what Apple calls Spatial Gallery, which is a new app that features spatial photos, videos, and panoramas that are curated by Apple for Vision Ppro users. The company says it will be updated regularly all of the content is free to Vision Pro users.
Apple is also launching the Vision Pro app which is most akin to the Watch app for Apple Watch users but is more feature-rich. It is meant to give visibility to Vision Pro and available immersive content as well as provide remote access to a Vision Pro from an iPhone. It can perform remote actions, such as adding content to Watch Lists in Apple TV+, which will then appear on Vision Pro when it is used next. Users can also remotely download apps to the Vision Pro from the iPhone screen without having to put the headset on first. New features will also be shown in this app as well as what is called “My Vision Pro” which shows personalized information about a user’s specific device.
As noted, the experience is pretty similar to the Watch app but one of the differentiators is that the Watch app is more of a utility app while the Vision Pro app has the “discover” aspect to it.
This app will appear automatically on iOS 18.4 for users who own a Vision Pro, but can be downloaded manually in any region where the Vision Pro is supported even if a user doesn’t own a Vision Pro.
Finally, Apple is making the guest and sharing experience much better. Presently, the owner of the Vision Pro has to put it on first before handing it to a guest. After the updatea, a guest can put it on and just request access and the owner will get a prompt to their iPhone and provide access. Also from the iPhone, owners can select what they want the guest to see. It also allows them to guide guests through an experience they can see what the guest is doing in the Vision Pro on their iPhone.
It’s very similar to the in-store Vision Pro demonstration experience, although it’s not identical. That said, it should be much easier to share the headset, making it possible for more people to experience the headset, which can be a problem given its high asking price.
Last year, Apple told PetaPixel that it remains incredibly committed to immersive content.
“Everything from the Final Cut team to the WebKit team, to all of the teams that you would expect on Vision Pro, to the photos team, the camera engineering team, the camera hardware engineering team who did the impossible of moving the camera modules around to accommodate for this,” Della Huff, a member of the Product Marketing team at Apple, said in a special episode of The PetaPixel Podcast.
“There’s tons of teams that are invested and I think that just speaks to we’re literally putting our money down on this future because we think it is so important.”
VisionOS 2.4 is available now as a beta for developers. The public release is scheduled to arrive in April.
Image credits: Apple
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