Apple has finally unveiled its long-rumoured AR/VR headset, the Apple Vision Pro, and the VisionOS software that’ll power it. It looks like an impressive operating system that brings your digital apps into the real world, but what apps will be available on the headset?
While it’s relatively early days to talk about VisionOS app support – the headset isn’t due out until early 2024 and developers are just now starting to get ready for it – but Apple did name-drop a few first- and third-party apps during its reveal at WWDC that give us a tantalising taste at the kind of experiences we should expect from the headset.
With that in mind, here are all the confirmed first- and third-party apps and services that’ll be available for VisionOS next year.
Official Apple VisionOS apps
Apple spent quite a bit of time at the WWDC 2023 keynote showcasing just what the Apple Vision Pro could do, and much of that was focused on using Apple’s first-party apps in augmented reality. This is great not only for giving consumers a good idea of the experience on offer, but it gives us our first look at the kinds of apps that’ll be available for the headset.
Expect the core Apple apps to be present and accounted for, including Messages, Mail, Safari, Music and Notes, allowing you to browse the web, chat with friends and make quick notes as you go.
Music and Apple TV are also available on VisionOS for entertainment, as will a plethora of Apple Arcade apps, though specific titles are TBC for now.
Keynote and Freeform will also be available on the headset, great for productivity and collaboration respectively, and you’ll be able to browse from Apple’s AR app collection via a redesigned App Store.
Other popular Apple apps like Weather, Pages, Numbers and even more complex apps like Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro are yet to be confirmed, but would all be great additions to the Vision Pro’s roster.
For now, here are all the confirmed Apple-designed apps coming to VisionOS:
- App Store
- Messages
- Safari
- Photos
- Mindfulness
- Music
- Freeform
- Apple TV
- Keynote
- Notes
- Apple Arcade (titles TBC)
- Settings
Third-party VisionOS apps
Apple’s official apps are no doubt handy additions to VisionOS, but Apple’s Vision Pro headset will live or die on the availability of third-party apps.
It’s why Apple announced the headset at the developer-focused WWDC and likely explains why it’s not shipping until next year. Apple wants to make sure developers have enough time to port popular iOS apps to the platform, giving users a huge swathe of apps to download from the App Store from day one.
It’s still early days for third-party VisionOS apps, but Apple did name-drop a few big brands at WWDC including Microsoft and Disney. The latter is particularly interesting as the announcement seemed to show interactive AR elements when watching content on Disney+ as well as custom Disney-themed VR environments to help immerse yourself.
When it comes to Microsoft, the company has pledged to bring the big three – Word, Excel and Teams – to Apple’s new platform. It has also confirmed that it’ll support the 3D persona tech that uses machine learning to recreate your face in video calls when using the Vision Pro headset, as will Zoom and WebEx.
The company also confirmed that Unity apps and games will run natively on the headset, which should hopefully translate to a healthy selection of AR games once the headset is released next year.
Here’s a full list of third-party apps confirmed for VisionOS so far:
- Disney+
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Teams
- Zoom
- WebEx
- Adobe Lightroom
- Unity-based apps and games (titles TBC)
- Sky Guide
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
