Must-try apps for a new user?

[Makosuke]

I've been playing around with my new M5 AVP as a first-time user now that VisionOS 26 supports prism so I can actually use one of these things.

Any must-try apps I should download?

I see a couple of threads here with personal favorites, but thought I'd put it out there again to see what people think is worth trying. I'm open to both useful productivity apps and "Ooh, that's cool, I'll use it for five minutes and never again"--just looking for things to play around with.


I did not get it with any illusions of it being a daily-driver computer or life-changing device, I got it to get a taste for whether the idea of spatial computing is worthwhile (once we get to a future where a regular-looking pair of glasses can do the same things), and for a virtual Mac monitor when traveling.

So far, about what I imagined--very interesting, surprisingly effective technically, fun, and if nothing else I got to experience the sort of computing that sci-fi has been promising since I was a kid.

The virtual Mac monitor is pretty good, I'm looking forward to that one on planes and at my desk-away-from home. I have now, for the first time in life, experienced a computer monitor that is actually too big. It's going to be interesting trying out an expansive virtual environment in cattle class on a plane, as well--may make those 12-hour flights more psychologically palatable.

Unfortunately, it seems immersive 3d video isn't for me--the look of it is really cool, but as soon as there's a tracking shot I get vertigo since apparently my brain doesn't like getting all the visual feedback of motion without the inner ear part. A concert video with a fixed camera might be neat, though.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Just got mine on Wednesday so haven’t had much time to mess around with it but here is a selection of apps I’ve messed with so far.

“Soothing Boids” is a neat little free app. Has floating schools of rectangles that you can mildly interact with and has some light guided meditation to go along with it. If you’re into coding, the about page has a link to the GitHub page for source code.

“Kung Fu Panda: School of Chi” is a free app to perform Tai Chi with the panda.

I tried a couple of iPad apps but learned there is no rotate gesture for Vision Pro so if your iPad app relies on rotation, it isn’t going to work (at least I haven’t found a workaround yet).

I snagged “Mind Studio; Think In Space” which is free and has cool post it note functionality. You can snap the notes to objects in your room and they’ll remember where they were.

Simply Piano is a free learn to play app that lets you map onto a real piano / keyboard, or set up a virtual one on a flat surface. If you aren’t interested in piano, it’s still a neat demo.

These are most of the apps I’ve tried so far. I left out a couple of apps that could induce vertigo based on your post.

Beyond this I’ve also used Mac Virtual Display and tried an iPad game on it. The lack of rotation makes most of my iPad games not playable on the AVP though.

Movies are certainly a treat on this. Have downloaded the few movies I’ve bought from Apple’s movie service to watch at some point.

I’ve also played around a bit taking immersive pictures/video of my family and animals. These seem like dream sequences since the images / video seem almost transparent.

Currently running a video conversion using the free Depthify.ai app. Started last Tuesday on my M4 Pro MBP and it’s almost done. I hope the output isn’t a pile of garbage.

I’d really like a 3D browser that works like how the internet was shown in Johnny Mmemonic when he finally got his hands on an Ono-Sendai deck and data gloves, but probably still a pipe dream for now. If there was a way to use a 3D version of Apple Maps, then map websites to the map; like the map shows a Dunkin Donuts and you pinch it and that location’s website loads.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Oh, I forgot to add Night Sky to my post! Being able to look around and select celestial objects to learn more about them is neat! It’s an immersive 360° view. The default sky is based on current date/time/location, but you can tweak these to see skies of the past or future.

 

[Non-Euclidean]

Oh, I forgot to add Night Sky to my post! Being able to look around and select celestial objects to learn more about them is neat! It’s an immersive 360° view. The default sky is based on current date/time/location, but you can tweak these to see skies of the past or future.

Can it be set to replace the lock screen?

 

[inlvnv]

Try the free fyta app for viewing public submitted 3-D, VR and panorama pictures. Also, Moon Player and CineUltra to watch movies. CineUltra is a good Plex front end and probably the best way to watch any movies in 3-D.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Can it be set to replace the lock screen?

I don’t think so? If it can, I don’t know how to do it.

 

[fatTribble]

Congratulations on your new Vision Pro! Hope you enjoy it!

If you even mildly like Star Trek you might want to check out The Archive. It’s got all of the bridges for all Enterprises plus many other ships including Deep Space 9 and Voyager. The layout is a bit choppy but I think that’s minor.

Panorama photos in the Photos app are still one of my favorite features.

 

[MacCheetah3]

My AVP is expected to arrive next week.

I’ve used several of the astronomy apps before (on iOS/iPadOS).

https://www.space.com/best-stargazing-apps

Simply Piano has been listed on recommended Vision Pro apps lists, including the App Store’s Editor’s Choice — and it looks fun.

Simply Piano App - App Store

Download Simply Piano by Simply Ltd on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Simply Piano.

apps.apple.com

Speaking of App Store showcased/featured and astronomy:

Space Vision App - App Store

Download Space Vision by Visionly LLC on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Space Vision.

apps.apple.com

Space Vision

thespacevision.com

If you subscribe to Apple Arcade:

Game Room - Available for cross play across Apple Vision Pro, iPhone, and iPad — Resolution Games

www.resolutiongames.com

Another one I’ve seen on “top/best” lists:

Explore POV App - App Store

Download Explore POV by James Hustler on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Explore POV.

apps.apple.com

If you even mildly like Star Trek you might want to check out The Archive. It’s got all of the bridges for all Enterprises plus many other ships including Deep Space 9 and Voyager. The layout is a bit choppy but I think that’s minor.

Oh…. Neat!

The [Archive] App - App Store

Download The [Archive] by OTOY inc. on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like The [Archive].

apps.apple.com

‘The Archive’ Star Trek Spatial Experience Released For Apple Vision Pro

Tour the Enterprise and much more with the new release from Roddenberry Entertainment.

trekmovie.com

 

[The Game 161]

tubular pro youtube app is great

 

[Makosuke]

A belated thank you for all the suggestions, I've been gradually working my way through them poking around.

So far, as an old-school Trek fan, The Archive is definitely my favorite toy app so far. Weirdly, the best part of it by far seems to be a side feature. As far as I can tell, the "content" is the Star Trek info and ship models, which are nicely done and fun, but felt less like a well-designed AR experience and more like just a nice 3D model with basic controls. I wanted to have a switch to make the ship appear life size in front of me or stand on top of the saucer or something, not just rotate and zoom in and out a bit.

But the immersive 3D backgrounds of various ship bridges? That is like a childhood fantasy made real. But what's weird is that they really do seem to be intended as just background art--you can't move around at all, there's no "bridge viewer" option, and you can't even turn off the menu UI for the thing you're supposed to be looking at and just enjoy standing in the corner of a meticulously-recreated bridge.

Seriously, if they ditched all the other content and just made it so you could VR-walk around the bridges even a little bit, I'd pay $10 or $20 for that app without a second thought. Heck, I'd probably pay per bridge-model if they were interactive enough.

Fyta is a good idea but the quality seems very poor on average--at least when I was poking around, like 80% of the videos seemed to be post-processed or something (maybe an AI 3D-ifier?), so were not actually 3D at all, it was more like a very-poorly-aimed cutout around one or two foreground objects that tried to add crude, weird-looking depth. About half the remainder were game clips that had objects jutting out so close to your face it was a double-image mess. I assume this is because almost nobody has an even half-decent 3D camera yet, but currently not much to see.

 

[Makosuke]

I’ve also played around a bit taking immersive pictures/video of my family and animals. These seem like dream sequences since the images / video seem almost transparent.

I took a couple of spatial videos a year ago thinking I'd eventually have the chance to see them in 3D, and dream sequence isn't an entirely bad analogy, although to me it felt more like looking through a window into the scene.

Either way, not life-changing, but certainly fun, and I think there are occasional times when what makes a scene I'm trying to capture interesting is the depth itself I'll probably record clips for later experiencing. One of the videos I took was an avenue lined with cherry trees raining petals in a gentle wind, which was beautiful but what made it beautiful couldn't be captured very accurately in a photo and even a flat video didn't quite do it justice.

I’d really like a 3D browser that works like how the internet was shown in Johnny Mmemonic when he finally got his hands on an Ono-Sendai deck and data gloves, but probably still a pipe dream for now. If there was a way to use a 3D version of Apple Maps, then map websites to the map; like the map shows a Dunkin Donuts and you pinch it and that location’s website loads.

Johnny Mnemonic it was not, but one of the most interesting things I realized I could do with visionOS is open a few browser windows and documents, then paste them to the walls around the room. I could walk out of the room and back in, or even take the headset off and come back later, and everything was stuck exactly where I'd left it.

That's definitely the promise of spatial computing as an idea. Whether it's actually useful, I'm not so sure, but I could imagine if you and a couple of co-workers had a shared AR view it could make for a really neat brainstorming or collaboration tool--being able to leave documents, images, or notes around the room like everything was a huge whiteboard/corkboard combo.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

Your last paragraph brought this to my mind lol

 

[Makosuke]

Your last paragraph brought this to my mind lol

Heh... that is, in fact, more or less exactly what I was imagining myself!

But whether the image is funny or not, I have had meetings in which a less-exaggerated version of this would have been useful, and if the tools were in place you could have something pretty cool.

I've found a new favorite "neat" app myself: ForeFlight Voyager.

Its "main" feature is the ability to put up a 3D AR map of various airports with real-time flights--kind of like FlightRadar24 but in AR. Which is pretty cool, and the floating 3D map reminds me of the map at the start of Myst way back when.

But it also has extremely detailed models of a nearly-complete selection of commercial aircraft, and you can extend the flaps, turn on the thrust reversers, drop the landing gear, and more. That's cool. But there's also a button to "make life sized", which is awesome. Boom, you are standing underneath a 747. Pan it around, and you're in the cockpit of a to-scale, meticulously-modeled airliner, and you can look around at all the instruments. Walking around the scale model looks so good it makes me want to go outside and drop it in the street so I can look like a crazy person wandering around looking up at the invisible airplane.

That's the dream right there. The only downside is that the pinch-drag controls for moving around the life-sized models are really awkward, and there's no button for "put me in the pilot's seat" so I can sit in a chair and get the full experience.

 

[MacCheetah3]

I've found a new favorite "neat" app myself: ForeFlight Voyager.

Its "main" feature is the ability to put up a 3D AR map of various airports with real-time flights--kind of like FlightRadar24 but in AR. Which is pretty cool, and the floating 3D map reminds me of the map at the start of Myst way back when.

It is (somewhat) showcased in the App Store but I didn’t jump on it because I’m not the ATC-focused aviation enthusiast. The live 3D maps (with weather effects) and optional live ATC audio are very neat. It’s just not my hobby interest. Nor do I travel much, sadly, so the departure and arrival boards would be rarely used at best.

But there's also a button to "make life sized", which is awesome. Boom, you are standing underneath a 747. [...] The only downside is that the pinch-drag controls for moving around the life-sized models are really awkward [...]

I even stood on my balcony and placed it in the parking lot. Just didn’t seem to do it justice. I think, you’d need to be standing in the parking lot or other open space , then activate the life size version to really appreciate it.

But there's also a button to "make life sized", which is awesome. Boom, you are standing underneath a 747. Pan it around, and you're in the cockpit of a to-scale, meticulously-modeled airliner, and you can look around at all the instruments.

I forgot to try that. Next time.

By the way, the app does have some glitches. The biggest bug I’ve come across is exiting immersions can crash visionOS (i.e., the AVP restarts). I’ve had it occur several times, although, not every instance.

 

[Makosuke]

It is (somewhat) showcased in the App Store but I didn’t jump on it because I’m not the ATC-focused aviation enthusiast. The live 3D maps (with weather effects) and optional live ATC audio are very neat. It’s just not my hobby interest. Nor do I travel much, sadly, so the departure and arrival boards would be rarely used at best.

Not your hobby interest, can't do anything about. I don't travel much either, but I do spend far more time looking at FlightRadar24 than I probably should, so this one is extremely up my alley.

By the way, the app does have some glitches. The biggest bug I’ve come across is exiting immersions can crash visionOS (i.e., the AVP restarts). I’ve had it occur several times, although, not every instance.

It is somewhat buggy--I kept having it get stuck in the AR plane view where I couldn't move the model around or actuate the controls, so I had to bring up the hand-button to close it. I sure didn't have it crash the whole OS, though, that's a bummer.

 

[Makosuke]

I also discovered another one, and probably the first one that is both genuinely useful and in some ways is better on a Vision Pro than a phone or iPad: PeakVisor

I was not familiar with it before, but on a phone or iPad it's a really neat hiking trail app with more focus on visualization than the sort of technical/review AllTrails. On a phone, you can do an AR thing where you pan around and look at what the 3D topography would be like in an area you're looking at.

But on the Vision Pro? You can either pop up a hovering AR map of the mountain you're interested in, as a really nice-looking 3D satellite photo hybrid, with hiking trails, or bring up a full VR version where you're standing in the middle of an expansive 3D map of whatever region you want, and can move yourself around, zoom in/out (which also moves you up or down from the ground) walk around, etc.

It's incredibly cool, and also actually useful--being able to stand in a gods-eye perspective over an area that you want to hike in gives you so much better of a feel for what the terrain is like than any of the other map options I've tried. The only downside is it's full VR not AR in that mode, and so well done it's kind of dangerous--really easy to walk into furniture if you're not careful.

I was at one point at a park near a relative's house trying to figure out which peak I had climbed previously, and spent like half an hour with Google Earth positioning myself in the right spot, with the right zoom, with the right map labels, to finally suss out which mountain was which. I brought up the same location in PeakVisor, and it took about 30 seconds to figure out the same thing by panning over and crouching down, and it was much more obvious.

VR more than AR, but both cool and useful--actually worth the price for the paid version although the free features are more than enough to play with.