Apple at WWDC announced visionOS 26, bringing spatial widgets, dramatically improved Personas, and new collaborative experiences to Apple Vision Pro users.
Apple says the update transforms widgets into spatial objects that integrate seamlessly into users' physical environments. These customizable widgets – including Clock, Weather, Music, and Photos –offer unique interactions and persist in space each time users don Vision Pro. Users can decorate their surroundings with panoramas, spatial photos, distinctive clock faces, and quick access to Apple Music playlists. The new Widgets app helps discover compatible widgets from iOS and iPadOS apps, according to Apple.
Elsewhere, Personas receive their most significant upgrade yet, leveraging volumetric rendering and machine learning for striking expressivity and sharpness. The enhanced avatars now display full side profiles with remarkably accurate hair, lashes, and complexion details. Users can preview their Persona spatially during setup and choose from over 1,000 glasses variations.
Apple is touting a standout feature, Spatial Scenes, which uses generative AI and computational depth to transform regular photos into multi-perspective experiences. Users can lean in and look around these enhanced images in Photos, Spatial Gallery, and Safari. Zillow is already implementing the Spatial Scene API in their Immersive app for rich property visualizations.
In a big addition, visionOS 26 enables shared spatial experiences between Vision Pro users in the same room. Multiple users can watch 3D movies together, play spatial games, or collaborate on projects while adding remote participants via FaceTime.
Meanwhile, Safari gains spatial browsing mode, transforming articles and revealing spatial scenes while scrolling. Also, web developers can embed 3D models directly into pages for immersive shopping and browsing experiences.
Gaming expands with PlayStation VR2 Sense controller support, offering high-performance motion tracking, finger touch detection, and vibration feedback. The platform also now supports native playback of 180-degree, 360-degree, and wide field-of-view content from Insta360, GoPro, and Canon cameras.
There are new enterprise capabilities with team device sharing, allowing organizations to manage shared Vision Pro pools. Users can securely save eye data, hand patterns, vision prescriptions, and accessibility settings to iPhone for seamless device switching. The Protected Content API ensures confidential materials remain secure while preventing copying or screen sharing.
Additional updates include Look to Scroll for eye-controlled navigation, iPhone unlocking while wearing Vision Pro, call relaying from iPhone, and Home View folder support. Lastly, Apple Intelligence features expand with Image Playground updates and new language support for French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
visionOS 26 enters developer beta today with general availability planned for fall 2025.
