A new headset has barely reached the hands of its first buyers before they begin discovering what it can quietly do, and one small discovery is changing how a person might bring software onto it. An iPhone can now send a Vision Pro app to the headset without the owner ever putting it on, a convenience long familiar to Android users and never announced by the company that made the device. Whether this small door stays open, widens into other devices, or was never meant to be found at all is a question that will likely be answered in the months ahead, when the company next speaks about its plans
Apple Vision Pro Adds Remote App Installs From iPhone, a Feature Android Users Have Had for Years
The prompt appears even if you don't own a Vision Pro
Mark
So what actually changed here? Someone can install apps on a headset from their phone?
Mimi
Right. On an iPhone's App Store page for a Vision Pro app, you tap Get and the app goes to the headset, no need to wear it. Developer Adam Watters showed it in a video on X.
Mark
Why does that matter for a device people wear on their faces?
Mimi
Putting a headset on just to start a download is friction. Doing it from the phone you're already holding is the kind of small convenience people notice.
Luke
Worth saying how this was found, though. It surfaced through a developer's post, not an Apple announcement. Apple hasn't documented it in its support pages.
Mark
And it has limits?
Mimi
Yes. It seems to work only for apps with a native Vision Pro version. If the page also offers iPhone or iPad versions, you still download on the headset.
Luke
And that's what it "appears" to do. The behavior is observed, not confirmed by Apple, so the rules could be different from what we think.
Mark
The article compares it to Android. Fair?
Mimi
Android users have installed apps on other devices through the Google Play Store website for about a decade, and the App Store's web pages don't allow downloads. So the comparison holds.
Luke
The bigger claim is that this hints at iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 bringing it to phones and tablets. That's the writer's hope, not reporting. Nothing in the piece says Apple plans it.
Mark
So what's solid?
Mimi
The feature works now, it's limited to native Vision Pro apps, and the headset starts at $3,499. WWDC will show whether it grows.
Der Puls
- Vision Pro owners are discovering, almost by accident, that apps can be sent to their headset straight from an iPhone's App Store page.
- The surprise has spread quickly through early buyers, yet Apple's own support documents remain silent on the feature.
- The shortcut only works for apps built natively for the headset, leaving iPhone and iPad apps to be downloaded on the device itself.
- Attention is turning toward WWDC 2024, where users hope Apple will formalize remote installs and extend them to iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
A new headset has barely reached the hands of its first buyers before they begin discovering what it can quietly do, and one small discovery is changing how a person might bring software onto it. An iPhone can now send a Vision Pro app to the headset without the owner ever putting it on, a convenience long familiar to Android users and never announced by the company that made the device. Whether this small door stays open, widens into other devices, or was never meant to be found at all is a question that will likely be answered in the months ahead, when the company next speaks about its plans.
Apple's Vision Pro went on sale on February 2, and within hours of the first units reaching customers, owners began uncovering things the headset can do that Apple never showed in its previews. One of the first discoveries came from developer Adam Watters, who posted a short video to X showing that apps can be bought and sent to the Vision Pro directly from an iPhone.
The process is simple. On an iPhone, a user opens the App Store page for a Vision Pro app, taps Get, and the app is delivered to the headset without the owner having to wear it. The prompt appears even for people who don't own a Vision Pro, and it works in countries where the headset isn't sold.
There is a limit. Remote install seems to work only for apps with a native Vision Pro version. Apps that also offer iPhone or iPad versions still have to be downloaded on the headset. The feature will feel familiar to Android users, who have been installing apps remotely through the Google Play website for about a decade, and it raises the question of whether Apple might one day allow the same across its devices.
Apple has said nothing about it. The feature appears in no support document, and the company's guide to downloading apps does not mention it. For now, it is something users found rather than something Apple promised. For those still hoping to buy the headset, which starts at $3,499 and is often hard to find in stock, the next thing to watch is whether Apple documents the feature and whether WWDC in June brings it to other devices.
Apple's Vision Pro went on sale on February 2, and within hours of the first units reaching customers, people began finding out what the headset can do beyond what Apple showed in its previews. One of the first small discoveries came from a developer, Adam Watters, who posted a short video to X showing that apps can be bought and downloaded for the Vision Pro straight from an iPhone.
The headset had been a long time coming. Apple first previewed it at its WWDC event in June 2023, then spent months sharing only pieces of information about how it works. Now that buyers have it on their heads, the details are surfacing in public rather than from the company's stage.
The feature itself is simple. On an iPhone, a user opens the App Store page for a Vision Pro app and taps the Get button. A remote installation message appears, and the app is sent to the headset without the owner having to put it on. iMore notes that you can try it yourself by following a link and tapping Get. The prompt shows up even if you don't own a Vision Pro, and it works in countries where the headset isn't on sale.
There is a catch. The remote install appears to work only for apps that have a native Vision Pro version. If an app's App Store page also offers iPhone or iPad versions, it still has to be downloaded on the headset itself. iMore suggests that restriction could change later.
The feature will sound familiar to Android users, who have been able to install apps on other devices for roughly a decade, specifically through the Google Play Store website. Apple's App Store has web pages for apps, but apps can't be downloaded from them. That raises the question iMore poses: could iPhone owners one day install an iPad app remotely from their iPhone, or push apps to other devices from a webpage?
Apple hasn't said anything on the subject. The remote download feature doesn't appear in any of its support documents, and the support page explaining how Vision Pro owners download apps makes no mention of it. That leaves the behavior as something users have found rather than something Apple has announced or promised to expand.
IMore's writer speculates that the timing may matter. WWDC 2024 is only a few months off, and the writer thinks iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 could bring a similar capability to a much wider audience, a change that would give iPhone, iPad and Mac owners a convenience the writer says they should have had years ago. That is a hope and a guess, not a confirmed plan.
For anyone hoping to try the headset itself, the Vision Pro starts at $3,499 for the 256GB model, with 512GB and 1TB versions for people who want more room for apps and media. Stock is limited, so finding one is harder than the price alone suggests. What to watch next is whether Apple documents the remote install and whether June's WWDC extends it beyond the headset.
Bemerkenswerte Zitate
You can purchase and download Vision Pro apps from your iPhone.— Adam Watters, developer, in a post on X (paraphrased)
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte?
Das Original lesen bei iMore ↗
Technology