Reading up on the dev documentation for #VisionPro
By contrast to how gesture handling worked in the past
—you could override methods in view subclasses, or receive delegate calls all across the gesture’s lifecycle—
Apple handles eye tracking in a SEPARATE PROCESS your app can’t touch. All devs get is events corresponding to selection
The more I see from #VisionPro, the more I’m struck by Apple’s unique ability to execute on long-term strategy.
Swift debuted almost a decade ago to replace Objective-C. It was purpose-built to support Apple’s developer experience imperatives.
The potential of this was made clear five years later, with SwiftUI
And five years after THAT, everyone who knows how to build with SwiftUI can be productive on Day 0 with Apple’s #AR platform
Talk about a unique advantage.
The promise of #SwiftUI is view code that’s agnostic across Apple’s hardware platforms
There’s a lot of devil in those details, but even so, merely having a transferable set of concepts and vocabulary is a lot of power.
More than that, a declarative approach suddenly has far more impact when one of your UI targets is fucking THREE DIMENSIONAL. Lots of value to letting the framework take the wheel
The upshot is far more devs able to target #VisionPro, more spins of the wheel for killer apps
This is Grand Platform Strategy played at the highest level.
Last time we saw a play this graceful, Microsoft was plopping its 3D graphics libraries in the living room, instantly multiplying their Windows game dev advantage against Sony and Nintendo.
Similarly, #SwiftUI on #VisionPro is a chance to build quickly using your team’s existing skill set. Loads of advanced uses applying high level 3D math, yes, but tons of low-hanging fruit without any graphics expertise at all.
For example, you can combine #SwiftUI content with 3D content on #VisionPro using “attachments,” in a 3D window called a “volume”
So it’s not just the “recording radio plays with a camera and calling that television” effect of placing a 2D plane into an #AR viewport
It’s “you can dip your toe in the 3D waters using completely familiar frameworks and design patterns”
Oof, and it occurs to me: all the cross-platform UI junk becomes a huge liability in the #VisionPro age
Everyone who invested in a quality native app is going to enjoy a lower cost of transition to ~spatial computing~
For loads of apps this isn't going to matter. But as the price comes down, the successor devices for Vision Pro are going to cannibalize some portion of sales of Macs, iPads and iPhones—plus equivalent devices in competing ecosystems
Lots of opportunity for first movers
bsky: @daniloc.xyz