visionOS 26 introduces powerful new spatial experiences for Apple Vision Pro

 Apple today previewed visionOS 26, an expansive update
packed with groundbreaking spatial experiences and new features for Apple
Vision Pro. Everyday interactions become more immersive and personal, with
widgets that integrate into a user’s space, spatial scenes that use generative
AI to add stunning lifelike depth to photos, striking enhancements that make
Personas feel more natural and familiar, and shared spatial experiences for
Vision Pro users in the same room.

visionOS 26 also adds support for 180-degree, 360-degree,
and wide field-of-view content from Insta360, GoPro, and Canon, while new
enterprise APIs allow organizations to create spatial experiences unique to
visionOS. And with support for PlayStation VR2 Sense controllers, players can
enjoy a new class of games on Apple Vision Pro.¹

“Apple Vision Pro has defined what’s possible in this new
era of spatial computing, and with visionOS 26, we’re excited to push the
boundaries even further,” said Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of the
Vision Products Group. “With brand-new ways for Vision Pro owners to connect,
explore, work together, and enjoy content, we’re incredibly excited for users
to enjoy features like apps and widgets that they can arrange in their spaces,
spatial scenes that offer a brand-new viewing experience for their photos, and
dramatically enhanced Personas on Vision Pro.”

Widgets Become Spatial

Across the Apple ecosystem, widgets offer personalized and
useful information at a glance, and with visionOS 26, widgets become spatial,
integrating seamlessly into a user’s space and reappearing every time they put
on Apple Vision Pro. Widgets in visionOS 26 are customizable, with a variety of
options for frame width, color, and depth. Beautiful new widgets — including
Clock, Weather, Music, and Photos — all offer unique interactions and
experiences.

Users can decorate their spaces with favorite widgets,
including stunning panoramas and spatial photos of their favorite memories,
clocks with distinctive face designs, and quick access to their go-to playlists
and songs on Apple Music. The Widgets app helps users find widgets, including
those from compatible iOS and iPadOS apps, and developers will also be able to
create their own widgets using WidgetKit.

Enhanced Shared Spatial Experiences

Users love how visionOS lets them connect with family,
friends, and colleagues remotely, and with visionOS 26, they can share spatial
experiences with other Apple Vision Pro users in the same room. They can come
together to watch the latest blockbuster movie in 3D, play a spatial game, or
collaborate with coworkers. Users can also add remote participants from across
the world via FaceTime, enabling connection with people near and far.

Dassault Systèmes, a leading provider of engineering and 3D
design software, is leveraging this ability with their 3DLive app, bringing the
ability to visualize 3D designs both in person and with remote colleagues.

With visionOS 26, Personas are transformed to feel more
natural and familiar. Taking advantage of industry-leading volumetric rendering
and machine learning technology, the all-new Personas now have striking
expressivity and sharpness, offering a full side profile view, and remarkably
accurate hair, lashes, and complexion. Personas are still created on device in
a matter of seconds, and new improvements to the setup process allow users to
adjust and preview how their Persona looks spatially, and even pick glasses
from over 1,000 variations.

Introducing Spatial Scenes

visionOS 26 makes spatial photos even more realistic,
leveraging a new generative AI algorithm and computational depth to create
spatial scenes with multiple perspectives, letting users feel like they can
lean in and look around.

Users can view spatial scenes in the Photos app, Spatial
Gallery app, and Safari, while developers can use the Spatial Scene API to make
their app experience even more immersive. Zillow is taking advantage of the API
for their Zillow Immersive app, allowing users to see images of homes and
apartments with the rich depth and dimension that spatial scenes offer.

New Ways to Browse, Play, and Watch

Users can select spatial browsing to transform articles on
Safari, hide distractions, and reveal spatial scenes that come alive as they
scroll. Web developers have the ability to embed 3D models directly into web
pages, letting users shop and browse with depth and dimension, and see and
manipulate 3D objects and models right in Safari.

visionOS 26 supports native playback of 180-degree,
360-degree, and wide field-of-view content from Insta360, GoPro, and Canon.
Users can enjoy their exciting 2D action footage the way it was meant to be
seen. Developers can incorporate this new playback capability into their apps
and websites.

visionOS 26 also introduces support for the PlayStation VR2
Sense controller. Now, developers can deliver even more engaging gameplay
experiences for Apple Vision Pro thanks to high-performance motion tracking in
6 degrees of freedom, finger touch detection, and vibration support.

Enterprise APIs and Tools

Companies around the world are harnessing spatial computing
on Apple Vision Pro to supercharge their workflows for design, training, sales,
education, and more. New capabilities like team device sharing let
organizations easily set up and manage a shared pool of devices. Users can
securely save their eye and hand data, vision prescription, and accessibility
settings to their iPhone running iOS 26 and bring it to another Vision Pro,
making sharing easier than ever.

visionOS 26 adds support for Logitech Muse, a spatial
accessory built for Apple Vision Pro that enables precise input and new ways to
interact with collaboration apps like Spatial Analogue.¹

Enterprise-focused APIs, like the new Protected Content API,
ensure that only people who have been granted access can see confidential
materials like medical records or business forecasts, while preventing copying,
screenshots, and screen sharing.

Additional visionOS 26 features include:

• More Apple
  Intelligence features — including updates to Image Playground —
  come to Apple Vision Pro. visionOS 26 also adds support for new languages:
  French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish, along with support
  for English in Australia, Canada, India, Singapore, and the UK.²

• Look
  to Scroll allows users to explore apps and websites using just
  their eyes. Users can customize the scroll speed, and developers can
  integrate Look to Scroll into their visionOS apps.

• In
  the redesigned Control Center, features like Guest User,
  Focus, Travel Mode, and more are conveniently displayed in one view,
  letting users effortlessly manage their music, adjust their Environment
  settings, and connect to Mac Virtual Display.

• Users
  can unlock their iPhone while wearing Apple Vision Pro, even
  in a fully immersive experience like an Environment. This feature can be
  enabled in Settings for Face ID-enabled iPhone models running iOS 26.³

• visionOS
  26 supports relaying calls from iPhone, so a user can now
  answer phone calls directly from Apple Vision Pro, or start a call from
  People View by selecting a contact’s phone number or clicking on a phone
  number in a web page.⁴

• Home
  View now supports folders, letting users rearrange and group apps
  together.