7 Features We Want in Vision Pro’s First Major Software Update

Not only would this point each person to their own apps and content, but the device could quickly load each user’s stored eye-calibration and IPD values for seamless switching.

This feels like a no-brainer, but considering that iPhones and iPads don’t have readily available multiple user profiles, we’re not sure we’ll ever see it.

Charging Indicator on the External Display

The Vision Pro battery has a single LED that I’ve only ever seen turn green or orange. Orange presumably means ‘low battery’ but how low? And what exactly does green mean? Fully charged? Mostly full?
All of these questions could be easily answered by putting a charging indicator on the headset’s front display when it’s plugged in but not being worn. A tiny icon with a battery would be fine, but they could even do something a little more interesting by slowly filling up the whole display from left to right with that cool cloudy aesthetic they use when you’re in fully immersed mode.
We actually know for a fact that Apple has already thought about this kind of usage for the display way back when they first drew up the patent.

Multiple Mac Displays (or better yet, virtualized app windows)

Vision Pro seamlessly connects to a local Mac computer on the same network and presents a sharp virtual display. With it you can use the full power and features of your computer from inside the headset, and you even multitask with Vision Pro apps floating alongside it.
But unfortunately this is limited to a single virtual desktop. Many professionals use more than one display so they can spread out their work with less window management. So it’s clear why someone would want to use more than one virtual desktop.
Better yet, a button to create not virtual desktops… but virtual applications… could be great. Instead of a single box showing your Mac desktop, what if each application could spawn its own window inside your headset, just like other VisionOS apps? This would definitely introduce a lot more technical complexity than just having two virtual desktops, but it would surely be the most seamless way to implement this feature.

Desk Mode

Hand occlusion on Vision Pro makes your real hands show up in front of windows and inside fully immersive content, making the virtual content in front of you seem far more real. Without it, your hands would always appear ‘behind’ windows, no matter how far the window is from you, which breaks the illusion.
But it’s only your hands and arms that can show through. If you’re holding a cup of coffee or using a keyboard and then flip to a fully immersive environment, you’ll see your arms and hands… but the coffee cup becomes invisible. It’s actually a pretty weird experience; almost like the headset is erasing a part of reality that’s right in front of you.
‘Desk Mode’ could continue to reveal anything that’s on a plane in front of you (your desk or table). So your keyboard, coffee mug, notebook, phone, and more could continue to be visible even if you want to be fully immersed.

Gestures

As the first version of this headset, it’s not surprising to find some parts of the experience that just need to be a little easier to do. Opening notifications or the Control Center, for instance, requires looking above you and then clicking on a tiny dot to expand it. Then from there you need to click another icon to reach the actual Control Center.
For how often Control Center gets used, it would really benefit from a system-wide hand gesture to bring it into focus. Gestures are pre-determined hand motions the headset can recognize. Quest, for instance, has a gesture where turning your palm upward and then pinching your fingers will open a quick-menu, which is very handy.
Something similar on Vision Pro would not only make it much faster to check the time and get to Control Center, but it would also make getting to your notifications way faster.
There’s a few other ripe opportunities to speed up Vision Pro with gestures. Opening the app menu, for instance, probably shouldn’t require reaching all the way up to the headset to press a button you can’t see. And gestures should surely play a role in window management.

A Better Headstrap and Thinner Light Shield

Ok, this one obviously can’t come as a software update, but with the intentional modularity of the headset’s strap, it’s something that Apple could easily add.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Vision Pro isn’t uncomfortable because of its weight… it’s uncomfortable because of its strap. Apple clearly didn’t want a bulky strap like we see on many other headsets, but this form-over-function approach has hampered the headset’s ergonomics.
We’re glad they at least included the dual-loop strap with every headset as a more comfortable option, but there’s still big wins to be had from a rigid strap that also includes some counterbalance. And if you’re adding weight anyway, a great way to do it is with some extra battery back there! Oh and suddenly that would mean the tethered battery could be hot-swappable… the benefits are adding up.
And further, Vision Pro could use a thinner Light Shield. That’s what Apple calls the case gasket that holds the headset against your face around your eyes. This is a bit different for everyone, but when I use the headset with the Light Shield completely removed, it noticeably increases the headset’s field of view. Leaving your peripheral vision open also exposes the
A rigid strap with a battery counterbalance and an eye-relief adjustment stands to drastically improve Vision Pro’s ergonomics.

There’s no telling if or when any of these features might reach the headset, but in the meantime Vision Pro has a ton of useful tricks and settings that you’ll definitely want to know about.
What improvements do you want to see that don’t need to wait until Vision Pro 2? Please rewrite this sentence.

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