Interesting Apple Vision Pro apps to try out

The Apple Vision Pro is here, with a slew of new apps that are configured to work with visionOS. There are a huge number of new apps which are new on the store, from budding developers to larger conglomerates. Here is a selection of the ones you likely haven’t come across, which may work well with your new Apple Vision Pro. This is not an exhaustive list; it's more to profile other apps you may not have come across otherwise. At times it was tricky to categorise an app too, as many are pretty unique. You will see what I mean as you flick through. 

Some themes I noticed: 

• Many apps are productivity-focused or have films, implying that the Apple Vision Pro has a more natural home for productivity and media consumption too. 

• Many apps have been made by small-time developers who transfer their work to visionOS, keeping a dynamic edge. 

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Contents

• Self-improvement

  • Honing your reflexes 

  • Recipe planner 

  • Explore a museum

  • Learn how to do something new

  • See a concert

• Productivity 

  • Task management

  • Flashcards

  • Mirror iPhones

  • Organise your personal space

  • Set timers

  • Time tracker

  • Time zone conversion

  • Content blocker

  • Guided meditation

  • Business dashboard

  • Personal notes

• Games

  • Escape a room

  • Crawl some dungeons

  • See an orchestra

  • Sing a carol

  • Guide some fish

  • Use some AR

• Enterprise 

  • Content management system

  • Holographic meetings

  • Education

  • Creation tool

  • Real estate

Self-improvement

From cooking food to visiting museums, there are a few visionOS apps designed to help improve its users. Some focus on creating how-to guides more easily, while others help to improve reflexes. Here are a selection of self-improvement experiences for Apple Vision Pro: 

Honing your reflexes 

Reflexy allows users to improve their reaction time and reflexes, using their hands. Users go through a set of challenges with various difficulties, to help improve their time and reflexes. The more you practice, the higher the score. Out 2 February. 

Recipe planner 

Crouton is a simple recipe organiser and meal planner. Already on iOS, it adds a few new features for the visionOS version. It now includes a meal planning card stack; swipe left and right through meals to add them to your meal plan for the week. Plus there is an experimental cooking mode where you can place timers around your kitchen as you cook, though the developer recommended not using the headset near hot equipment as it works better for baking. Out 2 February. 

Explore a museum

Atopia lets you experience all the world’s museums, galleries, historic sites and stages on one spatial platform. These types of experiences are already popular on other headsets like the Meta Quest 3, and it’s great to see that trend continue with the Apple Vision Pro. Out Summer 2024. 

Learn how to do something new

Expert Eyes is a how-to app that will give people the ability to "how-to" anything: changing a tire, fixing an espresso machine, or rerouting your wireless connection, users can choose from a series of expert videos to guide them in finding a solution. Out 2 February.

See a concert

AmazeVR Concerts is a spatial interactive music experience on Apple Vision Pro. it combines the spectacle of a concert with the intimacy of a personal performance, which will feature new artists. Out 2 February.

Productivity 

The Apple Vision Pro has been tagged as a productivity device, where users dive into spreadsheets and write articles from their virtual screens. Developers have responded with a slew of apps geared around business and data. Here are a few examples to whet the appetite.

Task management

Planny is an app that makes it streamlined to get tasks into out of people's heads and into a system that will remember everything for them. Tasks can then be organised in a way that suits them, while planning features ensure people always know the tasks that need their attention. Out 2 February. 

Flashcards

The same developer also made Flippy, following the same productivity train. Flippy combines digital flashcards with intelligence and gamification to improve learning. It uses VisionKit to scan lists of vocabulary which are then automatically added as flashcards to the app, and the app is based on the testing effect (psychology). Out 2 February.

Mirror iPhones

Bezel mirrors your iPhone on the Vision Pro. Nice and straightforward! Good way to check your WhatsApps when needed. Out 2 February. 

Organise your personal space

Need a more expansive private environment? Blueprint is a way for users to personalise their space with persistent items, such as Portals, 3D models, Photos, and Sticky Notes, that will appear ​alongside their other applications. It integrates seamlessly with other Vision Pro applications, allowing you to engage in both work-related productivity and entertainment activities. Out 2 February. 

Set timers

I like the idea of this. Hold On allows you to create multiple spherical timers in your space. It’s designed to help you mindfully spend your time on Apple Vision Pro, starting with the Orb timers. Out 2 February

Time tracker

Timelines is a time-tracking app that helps you make the most of your time. Track your activities throughout the day with timers, and then see your time visualised on an interactive timeline. You can also explore pie charts and bar charts of your tracked time, track progress towards your goals, and then make informed changes in how you spend your time. Out 2 February. 

Time zone conversion

Tizipizi is a world clock / time zone convert app. Nice and simple! Out 2 February. 

Content blocker

1Blocker is a content blocker for Safari, which will also work on visionOS. I don’t personally endorse content blockers on sites like YouTube, where I like to support the viewers I watch. But if you need it for other reasons, this is something you can go for. Out 2 February. 

Guided meditation

Zenitizer is an unguided meditation app. The change here is it acts like a meditation timer, where it can be customised or personalised for each user. A future update may also bring in virtual environments at play. Out 2 February. 

Business dashboard

Numerics is a dashboard app that lets you track and communicate your KPIs. The app unifies metrics from across several tools into shareable dashboards, which then offer a 360-degree view of the business. Out 2 February.

Personal notes

MoneySpaces is a personal notes app specifically designed for your finances, designed for personal budgeting. It has a feature called Conversations, where you and a partner can collaborate on finances and other outgoings. Out 2 February. 

Games

The Apple Vision Pro has a series of games which are available on the platform as well. Here are a small selection of whats to expect.

Escape a room

The Escape Artist is an escape room that was previously on the Meta Quest 3, which will be released on the Apple Vision Pro. I am a big fan of escape rooms, so any VR equivalent ranks high in my books. Out 2 February. 

Crawl some dungeons

Demeo is a popular tabletop game which released on other VR headsets. It is now on the Apple Vision Pro, where players can work together to crawl some dungeons and slay some dragons. Out 2 February.

See an orchestra

La Pasión takes guests on an ephemeral and audio-reactive journey through the Clarksville, Tennesee Gateway Chamber Orchestra’s performance of Golijov's La Pasión según San Marcos. Guests begin downstage in a point cloud scan of the concert hall. There is a soft hum from instruments and music stands dissolving in and out of existence and guests are presented with a menu for selecting an experience mode, viewing controls, and credits. Comes Summer 2024. 

Sing a carol

A Christmas Carol is a fully live multiplayer theatrical production of Dickens’ classic. Audiences can join using a wide range of spatial computing devices or navigate the experience as they would a traditional video game (think Fortnite for immersive theater). The two-hander production features Ari Tarr as Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge, and others, and Debbie Deer as the four visiting ghosts. Comes December 2024. 

Guide some fish

TinyFins is a game about guiding cute fish through rings with your hand. It kind of feels like waterbending, where users drift their hands and the fish follow through. Out 2 February. 

Use some AR

WarTribe of Binyamin is an AR game where users fight enemies. This is a battle for humanity, and you are roped in for the rise. Good luck! Out TBD. 

Enterprise 

Enterprise use-cases for virtual reality have been consistent since the launch of headsets in the 2010s. Businesses looking to tap into the wider potential of immersive technologies to help customers attain more value from their work. Here are a few companies bringing their enterprise offerings into the Apple Vision Pro.

Content management system

Accedo Xtend is a scalable framework that allows companies to launch their existing OTT app on Apple Vision Pro. Xtend comes with a content management system that allows them to create, customise and configure contextual and interactive modules (ornaments) and integrate third-party XR solutions enhancing the existing streaming experience. Out 2 February.

Holographic meetings

MATSUKO is a collaboration app where users can join holographic meetings. Think of it like Zoom, only you pop into existence within a virtual space alongside other users. Out Q2 2024. 

Education

EducationXR is building a training and education tool which focuses on no-code tools, which will also work on Apple’s headset. It will be released near the end of February.

Creation tool

Scenery is an XR creation and storytelling tool, simplifying the process of crafting spatial experiences and deploying them across iOS and visionOS. It allows creators and brands to build multi-sensory immersive experiences without code, leveraging spatial audio, custom haptics, physics, and custom Machine Learning models. Out 2 February. 

Real estate

Modwell is a 3D immersive real estate and design platform built to help the next generation of consumers buy and design their homes. Real estate agents, architects, interior designers, developers, and homeowners can collaborate in one all-inclusive experience.