During its first year of existence, the Vision Pro kept getting better, adding spatial personas, an extended Mac Virtual Display, and a raft of quality-of-life updates with visionOS 2.0. I’m not worried about this fundamentally speculative and impractical device not being something everyone should rush out and buy; I’d get worried, though, if it seemed like Apple had lost interest in it. A device can only represent the future if its builder is committed to pushing it toward that general direction.
There’s good news on that front, as today Apple is rolling out the first visionOS 2.4 beta. This update (a final version is due in April) adds the Vision Pro to the list of Apple devices that can run Apple Intelligence, and will lean into the power of spatial video, add better ties to iOS, and address some of the weaknesses of visionOS Guest Mode.
The Apple Intelligence aspect is pretty straightforward: If you’ve seen that collection of features on iOS and macOS, you’ll know what you’re getting on visionOS. Writing tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, smart replies in Messages, Photos memory movies based on text requests, priority messages in Mail, chatGPT support, priority notifications, and Math Notes are all there. Apple says that these features will initially be available only in U.S. English, though more languages and features will be added “throughout the year.”
While a lot of us have gotten excited about the potential of Apple’s immersive video format, the truth is that the Vision Pro is also a great viewer of more traditional 3-D video content. And Apple has built a new visionOS app to highlight great spatial content: Spatial Gallery.
Think of Spatial Gallery as something sort of like the TV app, but for spatial videos, photos, and panoramas. The content comes from Apple as well as third-party content sources, and Apple is curating it all itself. The company says the content will be updated on a regular basis, and among the demo content I saw featured was some of 3-D (not immersive) behind-the-scenes content from various Apple TV+ productions such as “Severance” and “Shrinking.”
Just as the Apple Watch has its own app on iOS, so too will the Vision Pro. The new Vision Pro iOS app will be available with iOS 18.4, and will automatically appear on the iPhones of people who have Vision Pros. Of course the app will show off new content and offer tips, but it’s also functional: If you add highlighted media content via the app, it’ll be set to download on the Vision Pro. Similarly, you can use the Vision Pro app to remotely download apps to your Vision Pro, so they’re ready for you when you put the headset on.
Finally, this update (and the corresponding iOS and iPadOS updates) will offer a major upgrade to Guest Mode. When a guest puts on a Vision Pro, a prompt will appear on the owner’s iPhone or iPad, so they can approve it without putting on the headset. The owner can also select what apps to allow the guest to have access to, and can start apps for them. To top it all off, the app also offers the ability to turn on AirPlay so that the owner can see what the guest is seeing.
Vision Pro as a platform has a long, long way to go. visionOS 2.4 is another sign that Apple is still pushing it forward, spotlighting some of the platform’s best features and making it easier to show it off to friends and family.
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