What do you want in visionOS 2.0?

[jclardy]

We are now on the 4th day post-launch - to those with the headset, what software features are you missing? I'm 100% sure visionOS 2.0 is coming the end of this year (To be announced at WWDC.) I doubt it will be a massive update, but I'm sure a lot of the rough edges will get ironed out.

For me:

• Spaces/Mission Control - some way to save a configuration of windows and hide/show them all together. I'd like to have a "work" setup, an entertainment setup and a gaming setup. Currently there is just a ton of manual window management to do to switch modes.
• Phone calls - My iPhone rang with a normal phone call and I couldn't see/answer via the headset.
• Widgets - basically 2d/3d mini apps that you can stick around your space. Think a small clock widget. Or a notepad. Or a little box that displays the temperature with a 3d model of the weather. They should also "stick" to surfaces, as in you can put a calendar displayed on the surface of your desk, or a live reminders list on the edge.
• App organization - currently I'm in the phase of install first, try later. But finding things in a giant alphabetical list is pretty annoying.
• Calendar/reminders native apps - my suspicion is that these apps are getting completely redone for both visionOS, iOS and macOS with new AI features, and that is why we have iPad versions in 1.0.
• Home gesture - some new hand gesture to open the app launcher, like looking at the palm of your hand. The button is fine, and siri works, but having some less involved way to do it would be cool.
• "Shared Immersive Space" - don't really know what to call this - but a new mode of app allowing for shared space apps to be used from within an immersive space. One giant use case - working inside a giant movie theater in the TV app - playing a show in the background on a giant screen, while working on your laptop/using other visionOS apps. Right now visionOS is an amazing theater experience, but sometimes it'd be cool to just have youtube playing on a giant theater screen 20 feet away on a virtual wall while typing away on my mac.

 

[4sallypat]

• Dual AVP shared experience between 2 people simultaneously.
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• Less jarring / shaking / movement when moving.
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• Clearer pass thru video
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• Multi Apple ID support
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• Cellular optional network support

 

[Arran]

Live spatial video streaming/broadcast from one AVP wearer to others. With live, 2-way voice communication.

It would be ideal for teaching practical subjects (think physics lab demos, surgery, car repairs, etc.) or for things like remotely participating in a live, tour-guide-led walkabout in Paris, London, Rome, New York. Or a house walkthrough, a car walk-around, etc. as part of remote shopping.

 

[bigjnyc]

Multiple user support. For $3,500 your spouse or whoever you live with should be able to set up a separate Apple ID on the headset and be able to use it without the cumbersome guest user set up. Or does Apple expect you to drop $3,500 for each member of your household?

 

[jclardy]

Multiple user support. For $3,500 your spouse or whoever you live with should be able to set up a separate Apple ID on the headset and be able to use it without the cumbersome guest user set up. Or does Apple expect you to drop $3,500 for each member of your household?

For sure...and it is a win/win for apple because they charge a ton for storage. And with Vision Pro they can also sell you a $200 light seal and $200 optical inserts for family members with different face shapes/prescriptions. And then having multiple people use it eventually leads to buying a second device...

 

[fatTribble]

I’m really surprised this thread hasn’t received more replies.

I’d love to see Environments from all apps to be available everywhere, not just in the app that supplies it. One example is using the Tatooine Environment from Disney+ while you do things outside that app.

I did submit this to Apple.

 

[subjonas]

I’m also surprised there isn’t more input here from people.

I’m currently not planning to get a VP because of one reason which I hope they’ll somehow address in 2.0–the reason is I need to draw digitally for work (using desktop software) and there is apparently no real way to do that while using a VP. There is no drawing support in the VP itself (other than maybe finger air painting?), nor is it apparently practical to even just wear the VP and draw on my regular physical pen display for any length of time due to the less than perfect video pass-through. So my hope of getting the VP to have floating app windows all around me while I work probably isn’t an option (need to demo and verify for myself though).

The only way I can imagine Apple solving this is to add the ability to perfectly map a virtual Mac display onto a physical pen display. But the precision required to create a professional-level drawing experience would be extreme—plus there would need to be really good occlusion for the stylus—so I’m unsure how feasible it is. Not to mention to be truly useful for me, I would need it to perfectly map onto a portable pen display and stay perfectly anchored to it as it moves and shifts around, and I really don’t know how feasible that is.

It may just be the VP is not meant for people who draw (unless they use indirect drawing tablets), especially people who draw on the go, which would be disappointing since the VP is most uniquely useful away from a desk. I hope this won’t be the case for long.

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

Local sync via WiFi so I don’t need to go through iCloud bs.

More accurate eye tracking and hand gesture detection.

Reworked UI that is less iPad like. Text selection and manipulation is painfully stupid and iPad like. If accuracy is an issue how about blow the window up 10x, you have infinite space for crying out loud! The my hand can easily selec text, move it, cut/copy it.

More elements in augmented space that are not in windows. How about a timer that looks like a timer. A multi dimensional spreadsheet where cells are in 3D space. Where calculation results can be associated with a physical item and where inputs for the calculation can be physical sources. Light in the window at spot x,y,z is input as an amount I want to light or darken this area of my house with. So much you can do in having a true special interface.

I want more overlays for the real world. I want tags flying up recognizing people giving me their bios and when I last met them. I want labels coming up on plants or animals or cars or products I stare at.

 

[Dovahkiing]

Agree with most of this so far. If we’re putting together a wish list, I’d add: full open OS permission to install whatever software I want, just like macOS. If it’s a “computer” - let it be a computer

 

[martens]

Unlock with Watch, just like iPhone or Mac.

A Remote Desktop app (either port of Apple's or some other), would use attached keyboard/pointing device. Could connect to more than one computer.

Open up USB-C for external connections (e.g. via Developer Strap; I assume battery USB-C is just for power): Ethernet, storage, peripherals, maybe power. (I have DS, it doesn't do any of this now).

SharePlay lets you inhabit virtual space with other people with AVP (or rather their avatars).

Use front display for illumination when walking around in dark environments while wearing AVP.

 

[fatTribble]

Apple needs to replace the Tips app on VP with an AR Clippy from Windows 🤪🤭
Excuse the levity. My coffee seems extra strong this morning. 😊

 

[Macaholic868]

I agree with most of what everyone is saying but this is my wish list in no particular order with the very last one being something that I know will likely not happen but I’m including it anyway. Everything else below is doable already in other iOS based devices so brining that functionality so I wouldn’t think brining it to visionOS would be all that difficult:

• The ability to take or reject phone calls from my iPhone on the device just as I can from my Mac, iPad and Apple Watch. In a perfect world if your iPhone wasn’t around but you were on the same WiFi network as your Apple Watch and/or iPad (if it supports Number Sync the way the Watch does … I don’t know because I’ve never owned an iPad with a cellular chip but my last two Apple Watches have had them) then you should be able to take calls even if you don’t have your iPhone but have one of the other devices with Number Sync enabled.
• Support for multiple user accounts with a different Apple ID for each. tvOS allows you to setup multiple users with different Apple ID’s and switch between them so if you can do it on that and it’s based on iOS then you should be able to do it on visionOS as well. All it should take is an iris scan and/or your passcode (and/or you could throw in detection of whether or not lenses are in and which user the lenses are registered under as an additional layer of identity for your device to optionally consider since you have to register your lenses for your device) for it to automatically determine which user is putting it on and it should be able to then load their respective Apple ID automatically with the option to switch if the device gets it wrong or if you want to have to specify it each time you put it on.
• The ability to edit the order in which apps appear on the Home Screen, allow regular apps to appear right along iPad compatible apps instead of making users click the Compatible Apps Home Screen icon to pull up the list if they don’t want to have to that and, of course, the ability to group apps to gather by folder.
• The ability for shared experiences so that two people who each have a device on can watch or listen to the same content along with some kind of screen sharing so I can broadcast the app I have active or my entire view to another user or vice versa plus a way to initiate voice communication with another user in the house who may have the device on but be in a different room where they can’t hear me. Sort of like what you can do with the HomePod and HomePod Mini. If I’m away from home but have my iPhone I can say something over the devices and someone who is listening can say something back and I can hear it on my iPhone. I’d like a version this for people who would like to communicate when they have their devices on and some kind of voice to text feature if you’re watching a movie or viewing some other kind of content and don’t want to be audibly interrupted would be more icing on the cake.
• Support for Bluetooth mice.
• Support for multiple virtual displays for you Mac. Ideally up to three but I’d settle for just two at the moment. There are third party solutions already available and I’ve tried one and paid for it but there is a component that must be installed and running on the Mac for it to work properly that needs to be kept up to date and ideally this is something that should be built into the OS and “just work” as it does for a single virtual display.
• Piggy backing on the second and third item above each unique user with their own Apple ID should have the ability to have it’s own profile where the user can setup the Home Screen to look and be organized how they want it to look and be organized but since to my knowledge you can’t even do that on tvOS yet I doubt we’ll see it but IMO that’s something that should be there on iPads, Apple TV’s and the Vision Pro as your phone and watch are the only two devices you can make a strong case for never reallly being shared with another user. An iPad, Apple TV and Vision Pro, on the other hand, are all devices that cold be shared with others in the house and they’d all benefit from having a basic level of control over how apps are organized on the Home Screen.

Apps and content I’m waiting on:

• A better RDP client for Windows users optimized for use with the Vision Pro and a keyboard and the Magic Trackpad (and eventually Bluetooth mice) as the primary sources of input once inside the RDP window. Some eye control is fine, especially if you’ve got the App open in a huge window when using a small track pad to move the mouse cursor and using the finger and thumb to simulate a lick of the mouse) but right now the Jump RDP App, which I was lucky enough to have purchased way back when it was one of the only RDP clients for the iPhone, and one other lesser option have worked as RDP clients for me but both are iPad apps not optimized for the Vision Pro so while usable they leave a void I’d happily pay again to fill.
• More episodes of Apple’s immersive content on Apple TV. The device sure seemed like it would be ready to ship with three immersive series that we could expect to have a season one of but so far all we have is a single episode of their outdoor adventure series, a single episode of Prehistoric Planet that’s immersive and a single episode of their series about wildlife plus a single immersive session with Alicia keys. If there’s more in the can what is Apple waiting on? The device has been out for a month know and if there’s not then shame on Apple for shipping this before they had more content ready.
• More 3D movies available for rent or for purchase in the Apple Store. I was also impressed by line up of movies they just added in for all AppleTV+ subscribers until sometime in April. There are some movies there that are free now including some 3D titles. Kudos to Apple and here’s to hoping they do more of that in the future as right now there are some movies I can’t justify buying that I’d like to see in 3D and though I can rent them having some also available via the AppleTV+ service I’m paying for is a nice plus. There are some I’ll be checking out in 3D that I’ve either already seen (like two of the recent Star Trek films) and might otherwise rent or buy that I hadn’t before but getting those as bonus items even for a limited time is a nice plus and there are movies I’ve seen parts of that didn’t interest me enough to finish (like the Jurassic World movies) with some out there as well in 3D that I’ll actually be watching in total from start to finish in 3D now that they are available and who knows, if I like them enough in 3D I might rent them again later on down the road if I’m in a certain mood or maybe even buy them if I just wan’t in the right frame of mind to enjoy them when I say part of them the first time around. It’s rare but it happens with me from time to time.

 

[PhaserFuzz]

It’d be nice to have the ability to control from your phone what guests see on the headset. That way you can load up content such as immersive experiences for them without them having to learn how everything works and navigate themselves.

 

[xraydoc]

My VisionOS 2.0 wishlist (so far):

• App folders / reorganizing the Home Screen (Springboard, whatever they call it).
• A way to lay the virtual keyboard flat on a tabletop and skew it so it looks flat and size it like a real keyboard. Might make "typing" bearable.
• Options to shift the image center up/down/left/right a little bit. I feel like I'm slightly off to the right of midline for some reason, even when everything is centered & square (may just be my right-eye strength relative to left, but a way to shift everything over would be nice).
• A way to have a complete immersive environment but still have a little floating window for passthrough video. This would be killer!
• A mode in which a floating window or windows can travel with you has you walk without having to "hold" it. I'm sure Apple did this for safety while walking, but it would be nice to have a permanent window off to the side (not in center vision for safety reasons).

And while not really an OS issue, I'd like to see Apple release an extra-large double capacity battery pack for the AVP. I know I can just connect a PD-capable battery to the AVP's battery, but one unit would be a cleaner option and I bet they'd sell.

 

[Rychiar]

the eye tracking to stay consistently solid like it did inversion 1.03…

 

[fatTribble]

Just thought I’d ask if anyone has some new ideas now that they’ve had their VP for awhile?

I'd like to see global Environments so, for example, the Disney Environments could be use anywhere rather than just in their app. I’d also like a default Environment setting because now I’m always expanding it to full.

Like everyone I’d love to be able to organize the Home Screen apps.

Some sort of persistent Widgets could be pretty cool.

I’m hoping we see more Apple apps going native. Like maybe Maps showing selected cities in 3D.
Photos has a lot of potential in terms of slideshows and Memories but I’d be happy just to have more feature parity with the MacOS version.

Just some thoughts. I’m really excited about WWDC to see what visionOS has in store!

 

[ZombiePhysicist]

I'd like to see some Apple Watch gesture tracking features too. So that I could tap the watch like a Star Trek communicator and UI toolbars could pop up from it for me to select things.

 

[Ghost31]

I got an idea. With the spatial cameras and lidar, figure out a way so i can make my own custom environment. We see how cool these 360 cameras work on YouTube. Make the tech something like that, but where i could go somewhere and make my own environments. Even if it’s not as high quality as apple does, it would be cool as hell on a vacation somewhere and want to remember it? Boom. Make your own environment. Imagine an environment where you’re at the top of the Seattle space needle and you could make multiple interconnected environments. One from the outside spot at the top, then one inside at the restaurant and a way to beam between them

 

[KauaiBruce]

I would love to have two user mode that allows a second member of the house to have their own environment and logs into theit apple id with their retina display.

We should be able to create a guest mode environment that only shows the icons we want them to see with a way to mark create a folder of the images we would like to share. If I am showing it off I would like to be able to have a special folder of JUST the spacial photos I want a guest to see and not my entire cloud.

 

[atmuwben]

“Close all Safari tabs” ability.