Native Apps for the Apple Vision Pro
Vision Teleport for Apple Vision Pro allows you to work with a virtually unlimited number of displays from your Mac computer in spatial workspace.
With Vision Virtual Displays, a free macOS app, you even can create and setup new virtual displays, connected to your Mac. All real connected displays will be available additionally.
I started iOS development with a number of so-called audio units. These are technically spoken app extensions for realtime audio processing, which are shareable across the eco systems. In the meantime most of these audio units are super-universal and available on nearly all Apple platforms, iOS, iPadOS, visionOS and macOS.
The audio unit specific website can be found here.
Note: On visionOS, audio units are (currently?) not supported for native apps. But such app extensions are available in iOS / iPadOS compatibility mode.
This site is about our native apps for the Apple Vision Pro, which are released or scheduled for release to the Apple Appstore.
Please also consider reading my personal development blog at developer.digitster.com
I am about to provide the processing core for a new Vision Pro app, an audio / music visualizer. The prototype (on iOS) can be seen here.
The app will be released as super universal (available on iOS, iPadOS, macOS and natively on visionOS)
With my travel to the development lab Munich, I discovered, that the immersive piano model is located much too high, if you are sitting in front of the immersive space.
This was definitively something I could not see inside the simulator. The visionOS simulator obviously assumes that the user is standing in front of the scene. But possibly most users want to sit in front of the piano model, while listening and watching.
So I will try to resolve this issue as soon as possible, providing an update.
I was able to test CineVision 3D on a real device while visiting a development lab in Munich, Germany. It turned out that the real device had a problem loading files from local storage (for instance also iCloud). This problem was undetected yet, because it actually is working without any problem on the Vision Pro simulator.
So an update for CineVision 3D is in progress, which aims to resolve this problem. Currently only URLs, located on the internet are working. So if you have the possibility for uploading your feeds to a server, this can solve the problem for now.
We occasionally get inquiries for password protected and encrypted streams.
If you want to stream URLs, which require passwords and user name, we suggest to edit the URL feeds (which are literally just simple text files) manually and encode the user name and password directly into the streaming URL with valid URL syntax.
Encrypted streams or exotic streaming formats are still not supported due to the fact that the app is using Apple‘s media streaming frameworks. Only the formats supported by these frameworks are streaming. Others may not stream and without any error reporting.
Many of the publicly available streaming URLs also may be geo-locked by their servers or temporary unavailable. So not everything in the available public demo feed is really working.
A function for saving favourites is in progress too.
How to cast your iPad or iPhone to the Apple Vision Pro with Vision Teleport.
There are possibilities to cast your iPad or iPhone to the Vision Pro but these have some certain limitations (which are house-made by Apple).
If your Mac has connection to your Vision Pro by using Vision Teleport, it is very easy to project the external devices content onto Vision Teleports virtual displays. Just project the iPad or iPhone onto one of your available Mac displays with the inbuilt screen sharing feature by Apple.
Now you will to see the contents of your external device on the Apple Vision Pro via virtual displays of Vision Teleport!
But the (quite stupid) disadvantage is, that Apple has chosen to black out ALL connected displays of your Mac (if an external screen sharing is active) and so you cannot use this approach side by side with your Mac‘s normal display contents. Even all virtual displays will be blacked out this way !!! Now, isn‘t that stupid ??? I am not seeing any justifiable technical reason for doing that. But wait a bit …
A slightly better solution is to connect your mobile Apple device with a Lightning or USB3 cable to your Mac and open Apple‘s QuickTime player. Select ‚record movie‘ and as source your connected device. Do not start the recording, if you do not want to make a video. This will display the contents of your iPad or iPhone as a preview window and you also can resize it as you want. This method is much better and you do not need to purchase extra apps. The only disadvantage here is, that you need to connect the device with a USB cable, wireless connections are not supported by QuickTime player. You also cannot control the projected screens in any way directly. Not with both methods here described.
But if you want to watch the contents of your mobile devices, you could create a virtual display with ‚Vision Displays‘, select this with ‚Vision Teleport‘ as a virtual display on the Vision Pro and project the mobile devices screen onto this virtual display. Voila! You can now watch the contents of your mobile Apple device side by side with others on the Apple Vision Pro and this without blacking out any other displays.
ps: This also will work with the Apple TV box, if connected with a USB C cable to the Mac.
We are proud being able to present latest Vision Teleport for the Apple Vision Pro on the Apple Vision Pro AppStore. Release and current TestFlight release version number is 1.5.(326).
Users will require to install Vision Teleport Server version 1.5.(326). This is valid for both releases, final release and the TestFlight release. Both releases are binary identical.
Users can try the TestFlight version, before buying from the Apple AppStore.
Early adopters had the opportunity for purchasing with 5.99 $ special introduction price. The final price was now adjusted to 19,99 $ (USD) for customer lifetime access. We do not plan any subscription pricing in the future. We are now waiting for some numbers. If there is enough interest, we will provide updates with fixes and extensions regularly. The frequency depends on the sales numbers.
A new version for Vision Teleport was compiled and uploaded to the Apple AppStore review teams.
Version 1.5.326 ( significant performance boost, implementing help and user options )
new user options (server app)
The app for the Apple Vision Pro (visionOS) will be available after successfully reviewed in Vision Pro AppStore and the macOS app will be available for direct download on our product website. A new public TestFlight beta for visionOS will available additionally.
Vision Displays, a macOS app is now freely available for direct download.
This app was developed specifically for our “Vision Teleport” release for the Apple Vision Pro. You can create up to 4 temporary virtual displays, connected to your Mac.
Note: macOS 14.0 (Sonoma) is required for operation. Intel Macs are not tested yet.
If you for instance do not have any external displays connected to your Mac, you can create some. These virtual displays will add and work in conjunction with your real connected (hardware) displays.
The advantage of virtual displays is, that these are invisible and will enable to create more private spaces for usage with “Vision Teleport”. You may size, place and arrange loads of virtual displays, together with the real ones, connected to your Mac in spatial workspace of the Apple Vision Pro.
Vision Teleport supports dynamic allocation of any displays. After new virtual displays are created on the Mac, these will be available for selection in Vision Teleport on the Vision Pro.
Note: The maximum number of performant virtual displays on the Apple Vision Pro is very much dependent from the speed of your local network connection and aalso the power of your Mac.
You still need “Vision Teleport Server” installed and running on your Mac for the operation with the Vision Teleport app.
More info about virtual displays can be found on our help pages.
The chaos was nearly perfect. This is caused by the way how the Apple AppStore reviews do work. It is obviously impossible for them to sync a cross-device client + server app for a release to the user, so that is of a use by the user, nor are they able to deliver updates closely in time…
We are very sad and apologize for that.
Vision Teleport is an app package of a client app for the Apple Vision Pro and a companion server app for the Mac. Both apps must have the same version and build number to work correctly. They are always released together by us. The user must install the corresponding correct versions onto both devices, the Mac and the Vision Pro, to get it even working. Unfortunately we are not able to ship Vision Pro (client) apps outside the AppStore, only the server apps for macOS.
This article shall bring some light to all that confusion now.
The following releases are currently officially out:
1. AppStore release version: Vision Teleport visionOS ( version 1.0. (312) )
This app was initial release and accepted for the official visionPro AppStore. However the macOS part was not accepted in appropriate time and we canceled further processing.
But the notarized macOS server app version 1.0. (312) is available for free download here.
2. TestFlight Beta version 1.1. (56)
This was an extended version, where we implemented a very useful additional function for creating a virtual display on the Mac, which extended the possibilities for the user significantly. However, the corresponding macOS server app was rejected therefore, reducing this extended functionality to literally zero.
The (notarized) macOS server app version 1.1. (56) can be downloaded directly here. It enables to create a virtual display (for instance when using a MacBook on the way, or if no extra external display is available.)
3. TestFlight beta version 1.1.256
This is the version with the removed/reversed extended functionality for creating virtual displays (because of the AppStore rejection). We will no longer submit any macOS server apps for further (most probable) rejections to the Mac AppStore!
The notarized server app for this version 1.1. (256) is available and located here for download.
4. Current final and TestFlight beta release version 1.5.326 (LATEST)
The latest notarised macOS server app is available here for direct download.
Again: Sorry for all the inconvenience!
From now, we will ship macOS apps (mainly the server apps for usage with the Vision Pro apps) directly to the user via direct downloads. We (kind of) finished active cooperation with the Apple AppStore Review for the Mac side.
The main reason is, that the user experience will mostly become drastically reduced by the app review process and also the amount of usability and functionality of apps, if gone thru this awful process. Furthermore, the Apple Mac AppStore is also obviously not able to guarantee a synced delivery of client / server apps (which is a strict requirement) and proceed in an appropriate time span.
For instance: If we delivered the visionOS app to the AppStore (and users want updates always as fast as possible) the server apps usually will hang in macOS app store processing for days and most likely get multiple rejections for various unacceptable reasons. This is similar to a boycott-alike behaviour, which is just awful. For users and for developers.
Further information can be found in my personal development blog.
( please also consider reading my personal blog regarding this issue here )
The latest beta version of our client/server pair of apps for the Vision Pro and macOS (Vision Teleport) went crazy. The Apple review teams did accept the client app for visionOS … but did reject the server app on the macOS!
Obviously it is much above their horizons, that a client app requires its server app. Otherwise this does not make any sense. I explicitly stated this requirement in my submissions to the AppStore(s).
I fear, we are forced to leave the Mac AppStore hassle now and in the future and must distribute the server apps (macOS apps) generally outside the Apple Appstore. It is also the entire drama of this reviewing process that makes me ill.
They claim danger of ‚poor user experience‘. But that it is not possible to release a pair of a client and server app with Apple due to such things is indeed what? … well, a quite poor user and (at all) developer experience. ^^
This kind of a nightmare is following me since I started Apple development 5 years ago. And it still continues without an end in sight…
If it is of an interest, what the reason was: some deprecated and/or private frameworks for the virtual display functionality we implanted into the last beta version, for improving what? … user experience!
It is also so inconsistent with all the reviewing process in Apples AppStores. I just bought a mac app for analysis and comparison, that exactly implements this kind of functionality with even the exact same private frameworks used (creating virtual displays) from the official macOS Appstore. So I do not understand, why my app was rejected and other obviously went thru…
So I will now remove this (very useful) functionality from the beta app again. The user will no longer be able to create virtual displays with „Vision Teleport Server“ on the Mac for projection onto the Apple Vision Pro‘s spatial space, which is really very sad.
Apple Appstore Link: apps.apple.com/de/app/vision-teleport-screencast/id6477599227
Download Vision Teleport
But merely partially. The visionOS version (v.1.0) of the app was accepted by the review teams. But the required macOS part, the server app not yet. So we provided an extra download for the early adopters here on our website, which is kind of suboptimal. Apologies for that. For the current release version, please download server app v.1.0.
Note: The new beta versions (v1.1.56) are submitted too. You may download the apps via TestFlight and try before buy. But you cannot mix the beta with the release version. Mac beta version is not accepted yet, so please download the server app 1.1 below if you want to use the beta.
A requirement for this client/server app pair is, that both OS versions must match the version and build number. Otherwise it won‘t work. The visionOS apps always must be loaded and installed from the official AppStore directly onto the Vision Pro.
The downloadable macOS server apps are Apple-notarized and made available below. You need only select one of these links (either *.zip or *.dmg):
macOS app download: Vision Teleport Server v. 1.0 (zip file)
( current release version )
or alternatively: Vision Teleport Server v. 1.0 (disk image file)
The setup manual can be found here.
macOS app download: Vision Teleport Server v. 1.1 (zip file)
( current beta version )
or alternatively: Vision Teleport Server v. 1.1 (disk image file)
A new version for TestFlight beta testing (v.1.1.56) has been transmitted to the app review instances, while even the latest version of the app is awaiting an official release on the AppStore. The apps are still waiting for approval for some days now.
The new version 1.1 (56) adds a feature for creating one virtual display, additionally to all connected hardware displays. This function is a key feature for our next release, the “Vision Virtual Displays”, where users can create up to 4 virtual screens for exclusive usage with the Apple Vision Pro.
This feature is quite useful, if you are for instance underway with your Macbook and do not have the ability for transporting huge external displays. It is also useful for Macs, not having the ability to even connect loads of displays (like the smallest MacBook Pro). The Mac is at the moment the most important companion for productivity with the Apple Vision Pro.
“Vision Virtual Displays” was announced today and will be released very soon.
You may know, that we released ‚Vision Teleport‘, an app that lets you get productive by mirroring ALL the Mac‘s connected (hardware) displays to the Apple Vision Pro. It also works with HDMI dongles to emulate hardware (headless) displays on your Mac.
Now we are going a step further and will make an app for the Vision Pro, that can perform something similar based on software with purely virtual displays on the Mac. If you for instance do not have multiple physical displays connected to your Mac but want to work with multiple displays in spatial space, this will be the solution for you.
Virtual displays, like also hardware display dongles, are per default invisible on the Mac. But projection or screen sharing technologies can make them usable. The additional advantage of this is, that these hidden displays are only visible to you when working with the Vision Pro”s spatial space (or VNC and other screen sharing mechanisms).
So the Apple Vision Pro can be used to build up a complete virtual production environment with up to 4 virtual displays, if your Mac is connected. You just will control this hidden place virtual power studio with the Mac‘s native input controls, like mouse, touchpad and keyboard.
This would be like your Mac had connected 3 additional hardware displays with no wight. These displays are manageable like usually with the macOS system preferences panel, can be adjusted in resolution and virtually arranged (placed) where you want them for making sense for the interaction with the singleton mouse pointer.
We posted an update for CineVision 3D to the official AppStore and also a new TestFlight beta version. Latest version is now 1.02 (338).
There was an URL string corruption issue, that crashed the app if one tried to load URL feeds from local disk or the clouds. We changed the loading mechanism to work around this strange issue with the URL() class in Swift. We currently do not even understand entirely why this happens and have to put further research on this.
However, for now it does work again, as expected. You can load single media file URLs and feed URLs with either the textfield or the load button. There is a demo *.m3u feed on our server at http://midi.digitster.com/cinevision/example.m3u with 10.000 streaming providers that you can try.
ps: The app has currently ‚Alzheimer‘, and does forget everything, if closed. This is a feature not a fault. ^^ Possibly we will change that with the next update.
Remarks for this release:
The AppStore review process has made a kind of ‘bare bone’ app out of this release. Initially we released the app with usable content. But the Apple App Review asked us to remove all 3rd party content and ‘possibly copyrighted’ stuff. Otherwise they would permanently reject.
Now, an IPTV app uses 100% of stuff that is copyright by 3rd parties. That’s just the nature of things. So if you want to blame someone for insufficiency, please do that on the Apple side.
We transmitted the latest build of the Vision Teleport Server (version 1.0.312) to the Mac AppStore. This will simplify installation and usage of our spatial client / server display screen cast system drastically.
Up to now the server companion app for macOS was necessary to be downloaded separately. It is still available for direct download and was updated too (there is a running TestFlight public beta active currently).
But in future, Both apps, the client app for the Vision Pro and the server app for the Mac can be downloaded directly from the official AppStores. The version and build numbers of both apps always must match.
Vision Teleport is a productivity app for the Apple Vision Pro and requires a small Mac companion app (server) to work. It allows to share up to 3 connected displays (even headless ghost displays) from your Mac.
The macOS companion app can be downloaded here. This app is approved and notarized by Apple. The actual macOS (Sonoma) is currently required on the Mac.
macOS app download: Vision Teleport Server v.1.0.312 (zip file)
Download Vision Teleport Server (beta)
Vision Teleport Server v.1.0.312 (disk image file)
Vision Teleport requires certain permissions
Waiting for productive connection via Apple Vision Pro
A more detailed PDF document, describing the installation and setup process can be found here: Vision Teleport Server Manual
Vision Teleport is available for beta testing via Apple TestFlight. Please note, that TestFlight releases have a maximal time span of 90 days.
Please also note, that a macOS companion app is required for operation: The macOS Vision Teleport Server (zip file) or as Mac disk image here.
Apple TestFlight Link: https://testflight.apple.com/join/AUplJgRZ
Vision Teleport Open Beta Test
Preview, working with Logic Pro X and Windows 11 on an Apple Vision Pro.