Steve Troughton-SmithOct 29

Today I received an incredible surprise care package containing a 1TB Apple Vision Pro (M2), official case, weighted ResMed dual strap, and developer strap, all for which I am incredibly thankful. 🤯

Finally, after 2 years, I will be able to dive in to visionOS properly*

(And no, it wasn't from Apple)

*in as much as is possible in a non-supported country, which Apple has made /as painful as possible/, but I will complain about that in due time

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29

My custom satellite TV app works great on visionOS 👌

I can pick up a 70" virtual tv screen and wander round the house with it, or bring it to the moon or a desert island

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29

One aspect of the Vision Pro experience that really fucking sucks is the Apple TV app.

Not because it's bad.

Because its contents are completely unavailable if Vision Pro isn't supported in your country.

That means no Apple shows, no Paramount+, no nothing. Deep links go nowhere.

You can sometimes play these TV shows and movies using the Apple TV website (but not always), but that's it.

The Apple TV experience is 75% of the value of a Vision Pro, and it's just not available to me in Ireland

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29

I can understand the App Store not being available (though I disagree with that, too), but to lock away my access to the services I'm already paying per month for is a bit of a gut punch — especially when it's some of the only content Vision Pro *has* right now.

(I knew this going in, for the record, but now I've experienced it I want to share how I feel about it)

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29
In other news, visionOS is *gorgeous* in practice. It’s easy to forget that when discussing it from afar
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29
If you think Apple's immersive environments are cool, try Disney's. The Alien: Earth one is fucking terrifying. It genuinely feels close to real life in quality — no uncanny valley here. That's the first VR I've seen that I could believe
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29
It’s kinda shocking to see just how few key developers support visionOS. For example, 2 years on and Dropbox is still completely unavailable on the platform. Good luck having productivity apps if you can’t access your files
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29
Speaking of shocking, the visionOS 26 shell crashes to an Apple logo an alarming amount of times per day. It crashed while I was dictating audio, it crashed when I entered an immersive space in Disney, and it crashed when I tried doing a FaceTime call. I could tell the OS was in rough shape from the Simulator, but this is deep into unfinished territory
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29
The displays in the Vision Pro are effectively perfect; I don’t think they would benefit at all from more pixels. What the device could really do with are much better cameras and optics. A variable focal distance would go a long way to making this feel great. The passthrough cameras though need to be 10X better for anybody to take them seriously. I still don’t know how Apple convinced pundits who tried this at WWDC23 that passthrough was as good as they claimed. Y’all need help
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29
Passthrough vs in-headset content. It handles low light better than the Quest 3, but it's still not great
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 29

I’ve had the headset on for maybe 8 hours today, comfortably. It is so much heavier than the Quest 3, but there is effectively nothing in the OS that can make you motion sick…

…except for ‘Immersive View’ of spatial video. An optional mode in Photos, hidden behind a button — a button I would recommend never ever pressing, because only a couple seconds of that can make you very sick 🤮 Use it for stabilized fixed-perspective content only

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
One very zen thing to try on visionOS is to lie on your back and look at the stars in the moon environment at night
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30

This much was obvious before, but Vision Pro has a massive input problem: text entry and editing *sucks*.

I still think the platform would benefit greatly from a combined keyboard/trackpad accessory, purpose-built, and that's the kind of thing Apple could and should build

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
Something that slipped my mind is that you can AirPlay iPad and iPhone screens to the Vision Pro, which is kind of cool. Sadly, it doesn’t support any kind of touch handling
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
I do wish you could capture multiple Personas and swap between them at will. Business, casual, etc
Show threadSteve Troughton-Smith
It is abundantly clear that Vision Pro is a developer kit, and the software and platform should have a 'beta' label. There are many big problems that need to be solved, and they will still take years of effort. Should it exist? Absolutely. There should be a high-end headset, a 'cheap' headset, and whatever happens with glasses — these are all different products, and they'll drive the ecosystem forward in different ways. Above all, Apple, start making peace with developers. Give them kits, and $
Oct 30 at 1:41pmIvory for Mac
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30

Every Apple Developer should be able to log into the developer site and order Vision Pro hardware, light seals in any size, and the developer strap. In every country.

It boggles the mind that they haven't taken this step already

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30

FB20871373 — Every developer should be able to order Vision Pro from the developer site, in any country

#radars

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30

I had a lot of complaints about the original version of visionOS, but they have addressed pretty much all of my most-critical feedback in the OS releases since. If they actually had a good-enough relationship with developers to fill this thing with software, it would be an incredible computing device.

With an empty App Store, though, it’s still merely an expensive toy. There are so many ways they could have fixed that in the time since launch, Apple just need to get over themselves…

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
3D RealityKit content in visionOS is kinda shocking. It feels real, completely believable. Like there’s a physical object floating in front of me. The way it reacts to light is wild, and how it reflects the view out of my (irl) window. I am shook
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
The more time you spend in visionOS, the more you fool your brain into thinking that these floating windows are physical objects in real space. The visual quality is that good. It's like a superpower, being able to summon 'UI' everywhere you go
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
I’m using Moonlight, which works pretty well, but I really wish I had Windows Virtual Display on visionOS as well as Mac Virtual Display so I could have both my Windows and Mac monitors side by side like in real life
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
I really love visionOS 26's ability to snap and align windows to flat surfaces, like walls, or monitors. Makes it really easy to replace my real displays with virtual displays
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
Seeing your own apps floating in augmented reality is a deeply emotional experience. I made this? Holy shit.
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
I made this? I made this
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 30
I’m really falling in love with visionOS, you guys
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31

The Disney environments make me wonder what Pixar could do if they made a 'movie' (short, stage play, etc) entirely in RealityKit. The Monsters Inc Scare Floor makes me feel like I'm *in* the movie. Not in VR.

There is a level of fidelity here that's impossible to describe without being there yourself. No pixels, no discernible textures or polygons. You're just… there

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31

Testing my apps from the top of a mountain feels kinda profound 😂

Speaking of which, I did bringup on my Broadcasts 4 codebase on visionOS, which was something I wasn't planning anytime soon

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31
Not me wishing the visionOS moon environment actually had a moving, accurate starry skybox shader that syncs with the time of day. You can tell it's a flat texture, which is unsurprising
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31

I've also tried to summon the visionOS Control Center via gesture in real life, or things from across the room 💀

This is the new forgetting your Mac doesn't have a touchscreen

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31

I know plenty of people have complained about it, but it's a little infuriating to do visionOS development with Mac Virtual Display, because every time you build and run the app is spawned where you're looking (i.e. on top of the Mac) instead of where you last carefully positioned it.

I really hope they anchor that between runs in the future

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31
Speaking of development — I'd kinda forgotten, but I have multiple [near-]release-quality apps ready to go for visionOS that I just never shipped, and actually seeing them here in-headset kinda gives me the urge to go for it
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31
One area that visionOS really needs to improve in is occlusion. It's good, but it's not great, and it can be very distracting. Any time a virtual window clips objects in the real world, you're taken right out of the illusion. I envision a future version of the software that uses gaussian splatting perhaps to precisely mesh out your room to make this much better
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31
There's a genuine disappointment at being back in the real world after using and working in visionOS for a few hours 😂 You get really used to being able to summon apps everywhere you go, and grab and fling windows to/from the next room over
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithNov 1

Some of Apple's visionOS sample code is more evocative than others

This is Canyon Crosser

https://developer.apple.com/documentation/visionos/canyon-crosser-building-a-volumetric-hike-planning-app

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithNov 1
Now this is multiwindowing
Show threadTheEJJ 🇨🇦Oct 31
@stroughtonsmith When someone nails AR glasses, it’s going to be a massive hit.
Show threadMax MellmanOct 31
@stroughtonsmith it was so nice to read your experience!
Show threadGKOct 31
@stroughtonsmith also opening new windows behind real life objects is particularly disappointing
Show threadhaifischOct 31

@stroughtonsmith it’d be fun to see the window projected onto the cylinder.

Imagine attaching a window to a can, rolling the window up to minimize, then unwrap it elsewhere like a wall to maximize it. Nothing like a heap of cans to help organize a virtual desktop.

Show threadDr. Juande Santander-VelaOct 31
@stroughtonsmith or trying pinch to zoom on an actual book… or tap to get a definition. I will not further identify the person I know that does that… 👀
Show threadMatt LargeOct 31

@stroughtonsmith when I first got my Vision Pro I really struggled with trying to use gestures to control AppleTV in real life.

FYI, I have broadcasts pinned to the wall in my office :)

Show threadFrederik Riedel 🐻‍❄️Oct 31
@stroughtonsmith lol I can relate to that. after my first Vision Pro lab on the train back home I wanted to scroll the station list with a pinch gesture. did not work of course 😬 but shows how intuitive Apple’s UX is on visionOS.
Show threadJoe BeamOct 31
@stroughtonsmith
Wow!
Show threadDave DeLongOct 31

@stroughtonsmith I've felt for a while that Environments are one of the huge un-tapped potentials for visionOS. Imagine wandering around Hogwarts, or the Millennium Falcon, or a Halo installation, or the Avengers tower, or …

The possibilities are endless and no one's really doing anything with it.

Show threadJoe BeamOct 31
@davedelong @stroughtonsmith
Or Ancient Rome, the Giza Plateau when the pyramids were shiny, Babylon, Manhattan in the roaring 20’s, etc, etc
Show threadJoe BeamOct 31
@davedelong @stroughtonsmith
An Empty Louvre
Show threadtoo many namesOct 31
@davedelong @stroughtonsmith Avengers Tower is already there :)
Show threadDave DeLongOct 31
@mikeymikey @stroughtonsmith I mean having a fully 3D environment you can walk around it. Having the room is cool, but I want to explore the whole tower!
Show threadSimOct 31
@stroughtonsmith how did Apple not send you one of these on day one. Your ability to just build and demo the platform with enthusiasm would have helped them so much
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31
@simsaens 🤷‍♂️ I signed up, twice, for the dev kit. Never heard anything, like so many others
Show threadCollin AllenOct 31
@stroughtonsmith We did do a Coco experience in VR: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=688XEeK80GQ
Coco VR Trailer

YouTube
Show threadJon MaddoxOct 31

@command_tab @stroughtonsmith When this shipped (back in the day), I just assumed VR would become a new marketing channel, at least for Disney. This was great an fun.

I assumed there would be free fun experiences to push product like this, but alas, that never happened.

Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31
@command_tab but not RealityKit!
Show threadMike CaneOct 31

@stroughtonsmith But what can you DO? Seems like Star Trek Holodeck without the ability to, you know, DO something.

Oh, and when I went to the Apple Store last time, they had a table of that thing. No one was asking to try. I didn’t either.

Show threadJosh HrachNov 2
@stroughtonsmith I want to see The Archive do something similar with all of the Star Trek environments they have built into the app.
Show threadMike CaneOct 31
@stroughtonsmith So do you think Spatial Computing is a thing?
Show threadSteve Troughton-SmithOct 31
@mikecane yes?
Show threadMike CaneOct 31
@stroughtonsmith As the deranged single women on TikTok say, that gives me the Ick.
Show threadPaul McGraneOct 31
@stroughtonsmith I feel like I would adore it if my eyes were amenable to it! (or perhaps if I could afford it). As opposed to the other way, I'm sure it is LONG for this world!
Show threadHwee-Boon YarOct 31
@stroughtonsmith If you use Netflix or Prime but haven't try Supercut, try it https://apps.apple.com/us/app/supercut-streaming-hub/id6478435954 . Not sure if there's a better app for this, but I like it and it's worth paying just to experience it.
‎Supercut – Streaming Hub

‎Supercut is the acclaimed streaming app that provides the best way to experience Netflix and Prime Video on Vision Pro.  "Supercut is a proper visionOS app that delivers a first-class experience for Netflix and Amazon Prime Video subscribers on Apple Vision Pro." — 9to5Mac "The new app makes for a…

App Store
Show threadrstevens 🐳💨✅Oct 30
@stroughtonsmith what a perfect little floating ipod
Show threadJamie BlumbergOct 30

@stroughtonsmith One of the first things I did when I got a Vision Pro was to load up the sample app I had built in it. It was genuinely exciting.

But then I returned it because it gave me migraines so womp womp

Show threadJosh HrachOct 31
@stroughtonsmith Also a great way to persist a Messages chat somewhere. My wife’s chat is always available on my office wall.
Show threadGKOct 30
@stroughtonsmith What’s wrong with an RDesktop client?
Show threadJohn ClearyOct 30
@stroughtonsmith VNC + Screens? (I assume the WindowsApp RDP client from iPad doesn’t work?)
Show threadNico ReeseOct 30
@stroughtonsmith I especially love the way the home and Control Center hand gestures work and UI appears on your body. I hope this is something they expand upon. Maybe notifications can actually appear on your wrist instead of that very awkward top position they're in now.
Show threadBuckOct 30
@stroughtonsmith Would enjoy having one ... if it wasn't 1/4 the price of my car.
Show threadTheEJJ 🇨🇦Oct 30
@stroughtonsmith One of the things I remember after being in VisionOS was how cumbersome and heavy my phone felt afterwards. There’s no lighter screen than one that’s weightless.
Show threadRobert Petersen Oct 30
@stroughtonsmith it’s gonna be crazy once pass through is good enough and battery tech catches up.
Show threadMarkVOct 30
@stroughtonsmith Have you tried Mac Virtual Display? Curious how you’ll feel about coding in VR.
Show threaderin sparlingOct 30
@stroughtonsmith if you haven’t yet, make sure to try the TGV Inoui app. It’s so good, especially for convincing you that you’re on a real train.
Show threadKeirOct 30
@stroughtonsmith the fact that half of their own apps are still just running the iPad version says pretty much everything about their priorities 😂
Show threadGKOct 30
@stroughtonsmith yeah. And they are scratching their heads why sales ale so low.
Show threadTaylor HaddenOct 30
@gklka @stroughtonsmith I don't think they are. The rumors and leaks about the expected sales were _never_ high. They know it's not a mass-market device.