With visionOS 2, Apple's Vision Pro takes center stage

This week, Apple released updates to all of its major operating systems, and the Vision Pro was no exception. With visionOS 2, the company has a chance to show the relatively few who bought its pricey headset (and those who still might) that it remains committed to the new platform.

After a few months of using it in beta, visionOS 2 isn't a drastic change, it's more of a watered-down version of the software the device launched with. The addition of things like new gestures, better device support, and a couple of flashy features has removed a lot of the friction from using the Vision Pro and should give those who own it a reason to dust it off and try it out again.

Let's start with the updates that really should have been in visionOS from day one. Apple has added Bluetooth mouse support and the ability to rearrange apps on the home screen, which were previously strictly alphabetically ordered. You can also move iPad and iPhone apps out of the folder they're in by default and put them in with Vision Pro's native apps. Hooray! I'd really like to be able to create new folders because once you get past three pages of apps, finding one can be tricky, especially if you can't remember its name. Well, maybe next time.

Navigating the operating system is now easier thanks to new gesture controls that let you summon the home screen by tapping your fingers together after a circle appears when you look at your palm. Rotate your hand as if you were looking at a watch, and the circle will transform into a pill-shaped status bar that displays the time, battery level, and volume level. Tap the status bar to get to Control Center, or long-press to adjust the volume.

Compared to the old way of looking up and tapping a small circle to pull down control widgets, the new gestures feel more natural and, more importantly, more fun. (Months later, I still have to resist the dramatic urge to do an unnecessary hand gesture and say “magic!” when I open the home screen.) Apple also added the ability to navigate using a paired Bluetooth controller, like Nintendo’s Joy-Con.

Working with the Vision Pro is much better now thanks to the addition of mouse support and a new keyboard recognition feature that allows the keyboard to scroll around the virtual environment, either persistently or when you bring your hands close to it. No more fumbling around for the home row! Sadly, Apple only names its own keyboards when describing the feature – it works with my mechanical keyboard, but not reliably.

The only major missing piece for those who want to use their Vision Pro for work is the ultrawide curved virtual display that Apple announced at WWDC. Apple says it's coming later this year.

In addition to the productivity features, Apple has introduced some fun new features and improvements, such as the ability to turn photos into 3D spatial images. It's a lot like retroactively adding Portrait Mode to the iPhone, and it can be impressive in the way it adds a new emotional dimension (sorry!) to old family photos.

But these generated spatial images also suffer from some of the same drawbacks as retroactive portrait mode. The conversion can do weird things to hair and edges, and if someone in a photo is wearing glasses, the 3D effect is hilariously broken, making it look like they're wearing joke glasses with fake eyeballs glued to the front of the lenses. I tried to capture this in screenshots, but you have to see the phenomenon in 3D for it to be apparent.

Another plus: you can now save a guest user's hand and eye data so they don't have to set it up again. I won't say it's not a welcome change, but it's not enough. I'd like to be able to permanently save multiple people. Let me share my expensive headset! We can't afford to buy another one!

Watching video content in Safari is a bit more pleasant in visionOS 2. Now, when you tap the full-screen button, the webpage and browser disappear, leaving you with a floating video view that behaves much like it would in any other video app. More often than not, that includes being able to switch it to immersive mode, transforming it into a giant cinema screen that floats above the environment you’re in, projecting light onto the ground or water below. It helps ease the pain of the continued lack of a native YouTube or Netflix app, though I still prefer to use third-party apps like Juno and Supercut for those services.

Additionally, Safari now supports WebXR by default in VisionOS 2, so you can take advantage of web-based VR and AR games and experiences. So far, the games I've tried using this on either crappy or don't work at all with Vision Pro gestures, but I'd love to hear some recommendations. (Edge Readers, gather around!)

As good as these changes are, I'm not sure visionOS 2 will turn around Vision Pro sales, as one analysis from July suggested. It will not exceed 500,000 Over the year, and no wonder. People are still hesitant about VR for reasons like convenience and price. Maybe Apple's rumored cheap headset could change things in a couple of years.

Even if you can afford it shop/buy-vision/apple-vision-pro”>The $3,499 Vision ProThe visionOS 2 update doesn't fix everything Nilay Patel mentioned in his Edge Review: I like the narrow field of view and the solitude that comes with using it. But it's a step in the right direction and shows that Apple hasn't abandoned the Vision Pro.