Discuss spatial computing on Apple platforms and how to design and build an entirely new universe of apps and games for Apple Vision Pro.

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Access UltraWideCamera when ARSession is running
ARSession provides video stream from the wide angle camera. If ARSession uses the ultra wide camera at the same time, ARSession may provide video stream from that camera, otherwise AVCaptureSession with an ultra wide camera should be allowed to launch. It would be very very useful if we can access different cameras while ARSession is running. We'd like to cooperate with you if possible. Steps to reproduce: run an AVCaptureSession and then run an ARSession. The AVCaptureSession stops.
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559
Jan ’26
Loading USDZ asset into Model3D causes visionOS 2.0 beta 5 to crash
We've recently discovered that our app crashes on startup on the latest visionOS 2.0 beta 5 (22N5297g) build. In fact, the entire field of view would dim down and visionOS would then restart, showing the Apple logo. Interestingly, no app crash is reported by Xcode during debug. After investigation, we have isolated the issue to a specific USDZ asset in our app. Loading it in a sample, blank project also causes visionOS to reliably crash, or become extremely unresponsive with rendering artifacts everywhere. This looks like a potentially serious issue. Even if the asset is problematic, loading it should not crash the entire OS. We have filed feedback FB14756285, along with a demo project. Hopefully someone can take a look. Thanks!
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620
Jul ’25
RealityView doesn't free up memory after disappearing
Basically, take just the Xcode 26 AR App template, where we put the ContentView as the detail end of a NavigationStack. Opening app, the app uses < 20MB of memory. Tapping on Open AR the memory usage goes up to ~700MB for the AR Scene. Tapping back, the memory stays up at ~700MB. Checking with Debug memory graph I can still see all the RealityKit classes in the memory, like ARView, ARRenderView, ARSessionManager. Here's the sample app to illustrate the issue. PS: To keep memory pressure on the system low, there should be a way of freeing all the memory the AR uses for apps that only occasionally show AR scenes.
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216
Sep ’25
Photogrammetry Session - new model?
Hi Apple Team, We noticed the following exciting changelog in the latest macOS 26 beta: A new algorithm significantly improves PhotogrammetrySession reconstruction quality of low-texture objects not captured with the ObjectCaptureSession front end. It will be downloaded and cached once in the background when the PhotogrammetrySession is used at runtime. If network isn’t available at that time, the old low quality model will be used until the new one can be downloaded. There is no code change needed to get this improved model. (145220451) However after trying this on the latest beta and running some tests we do not see any differences on objects with low textures such as single coloured surfaces. Is there anything we are missing? the machine is definitely connected to the internet but we have no way of knowing from the logs if the new model is being used? thanks
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693
Jul ’25
ARKit camera transform orientation vector doesn't match physical device heading (despite `.gravityAndHeading`)
Hi all, I'm working on an ARKit-based iOS app where I need to accurately determine the direction the device is facing to localize objects in the real world. I'm using: let config = ARWorldTrackingConfiguration() config.worldAlignment = .gravityAndHeading Thus, I would expect the world alignment to behave as given in the gravityAndHeading page. The AR session is started after verifying that CLLocationManager.headingAccuracy <= 20, and the compass appears to be calibrated. However, I'm seeing a major inconsistency: When the rear camera is physically pointed toward true North, I would expect: cameraTransform.columns.2.z ≈ -1 // (i.e. ARKit's -Z pointing North) But instead, I'm consistently seeing: cameraTransform.columns.2.z ≈ +0.97 // Implies camera is facing South Meanwhile, the translation vector behaves as expected: As I physically move North, cameraTransform.columns.3.z becomes more negative, matching the world’s +Z = South assumption. For example, let's say I have the device in landscapeRight (or landscapeLeft for UIDeviceOrientation). Let's say the device rear camera is pointing towards True North, and I start moving towards True North. I get something like this: Camera Transform = simd_float4x4( [ [0.98446155, -0.030119859, 0.172998, 0.0], [0.023979114, 0.9990097, 0.037477385, 0.0], [-0.17395553, -0.032746706, 0.98420894, 0.0], [0.024039675, -0.037087332, -0.22780673, 0.99999994] ]) As you can see, the cameraTransform.columns.2.z is positive despite the rear camera pointing towards True North, while cameraTransform.columns.3.z is correctly positive as the device is moving towards True North. So here is my question: Why is cameraTransform.columns.2.z positive when the rear camera is physically facing North? Any clarity would be deeply appreciated. I've read the documentation and tested with different heading accuracies and AR session resets, but I keep running into this orientation mismatch. Thanks in advance!
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148
Jun ’25
How to combine Occlusion nodes with soft edges.
At a recent community meeting we were wondering how Apple creates this soft-edge effect around the occlusion cutouts. We see this effect on keyboard cutouts, iPhone cutouts, and in progressive spaces. An example: Notice the soft edged around the occlusion cutout for the keyboard One of our members created some Shader Graph materials to explore soft edges. These work by sending data into the opacity channel of the PreviewSurface node. Unfortunately, the Occlusion Surface nodes lack any sort of input. If you know how to blend these concepts with RealityKit Occlusion, please let us know!
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934
Sep ’25
How to update TextureResource with MTLTexture?
Hi I have a monitoring app, that will take input video from uvc and process it using Metal, and eventually get a MTLTexture. The problem I'm facing is I have to convert MTLTexture to CGImage then call TextureResource.replace, which is super slow. Metal processing speed is same as input frame rate(50pfs), but MTLTexture -> CGImage -> TextureResource only got 7fps... Is there any way I can make it faster?
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539
Oct ’25
Can developers use spatial image in third App's Spatial widget
Spatial widget is a new feature of visionos 26. I notice The system’s Photo app can add a Spatial Image in the widget. I wonder if third apps can use spatial image or any 3D content in it's widget? I try to use RealityView in widget and it run with a crash. So does spatial Image in widget only supported by the system Photo app, and not available to developers now?
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747
Jul ’25
Bouncy ball in RealityKit - game
I'm developing a VisionOS app with bouncing ball physics and struggling to achieve natural bouncing behavior using RealityKit's physics system. Despite following Apple's recommended parameters, the ball loses significant energy on each bounce and doesn't behave like a real basketball, tennis ball, or football would. With identical physics parameters (restitution = 1.0), RealityKit shows significant energy loss. I've had to implement a custom physics system to compensate, but I want to use native RealityKit physics. It's impossible to make it work by applying custom impulses. Ball Physics Setup (Following Apple Forum Recommendations) // From PhysicsManager.swift private func createBallEntityRealityKit() -> Entity { let ballRadius: Float = 0.05 let ballEntity = Entity() ballEntity.name = "bouncingBall" // Mesh and material let mesh = MeshResource.generateSphere(radius: ballRadius) var material = PhysicallyBasedMaterial() material.baseColor = .init(tint: .cyan) material.roughness = .float(0.3) material.metallic = .float(0.8) ballEntity.components.set(ModelComponent(mesh: mesh, materials: [material])) // Physics setup from Apple Developer Forums let physics = PhysicsBodyComponent( massProperties: .init(mass: 0.624), // Seems too heavy for 5cm ball material: PhysicsMaterialResource.generate( staticFriction: 0.8, dynamicFriction: 0.6, restitution: 1.0 // Perfect elasticity, yet still loses energy ), mode: .dynamic ) ballEntity.components.set(physics) ballEntity.components.set(PhysicsMotionComponent()) // Collision setup let collisionShape = ShapeResource.generateSphere(radius: ballRadius) ballEntity.components.set(CollisionComponent(shapes: [collisionShape])) return ballEntity } Ground Plane Physics // From GroundPlaneView.swift let groundPhysics = PhysicsBodyComponent( massProperties: .init(mass: 1000), material: PhysicsMaterialResource.generate( staticFriction: 0.7, dynamicFriction: 0.6, restitution: 1.0 // Perfect bounce ), mode: .static ) entity.components.set(groundPhysics) Wall Physics // From WalledBoxManager.swift let wallPhysics = PhysicsBodyComponent( massProperties: .init(mass: 1000), material: PhysicsMaterialResource.generate( staticFriction: 0.7, dynamicFriction: 0.6, restitution: 0.85 // Slightly less than ground ), mode: .static ) wall.components.set(wallPhysics) Collision Detection // From GroundPlaneView.swift content.subscribe(to: CollisionEvents.Began.self) { event in guard physicsMode == .realityKit else { return } let currentTime = Date().timeIntervalSince1970 guard currentTime - lastCollisionTime > 0.1 else { return } if event.entityA.name == "bouncingBall" || event.entityB.name == "bouncingBall" { let normal = event.collision.normal // Distinguish between wall and ground collisions if abs(normal.y) < 0.3 { // Wall bounce print("Wall collision detected") } else if normal.y > 0.7 { // Ground bounce print("Ground collision detected") } lastCollisionTime = currentTime } } Issues Observed Energy Loss: Despite restitution = 1.0 (perfect elasticity), the ball loses ~20-30% energy per bounce Wall Sliding: Ball tends to slide down walls instead of bouncing naturally No Damping Control: Comments mention damping values but they don't seem to affect the physics Change in mass also doesn't do much. Custom Physics System (Workaround) I've implemented a custom physics system that manually calculates velocities and applies more realistic restitution values: // From BouncingBallComponent.swift struct BouncingBallComponent: Component { var velocity: SIMD3<Float> = .zero var angularVelocity: SIMD3<Float> = .zero var bounceState: BounceState = .idle var lastBounceTime: TimeInterval = 0 var bounceCount: Int = 0 var peakHeight: Float = 0 var totalFallDistance: Float = 0 enum BounceState { case idle case falling case justBounced case bouncing case settled } } Is this energy loss expected behavior in RealityKit, even with perfect restitution (1.0)? Are there additional physics parameters (damping, solver iterations, etc.) that could improve bounce behavior? Would switching to Unity be necessary for more realistic ball physics, or am I missing something in RealityKit? Even in the last video here: https://stepinto.vision/example-code/collisions-physics-physics-material/ bounce of the ball is very unnatural - stops after 3-4 bounces. I apply custom impulses, but then if I have walls around the ball, it's almost impossible to make it look natural. I also saw this post https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/759422 and ball is still not bouncing naturally.
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Nov ’25
Does Apple Spatial Audio Format documentation exist
The WWDC25 video and notes titled “Learn About Apple Immersive Video Technologies” introduced the Apple Spatial Audio Format (ASAF) and codec (APAC). However, despite references throughout on using immersive video, there is scant information on ASAF/APAC (including no code examples and no framework references), and I’ve found no documentation in Apple’s APIs/Frameworks about its implementation and use months on. I want to leverage ambisonic audio in my app. I don’t want to write a custom AU if APAC will be opened up to developers. If you read the notes below along with the iPhone 17 advertising (“Video is captured with Spatial Audio for immersive listening”), it sounds like this is very much a live feature in iOS26. Anyone know the state of play? I’m across how the PHASE engine works, which is unrelated to what I’m asking about here. Original quote from video referenced above: “ASAF enables truly externalized audio experiences by ensuring acoustic cues are used to render the audio. It’s composed of new metadata coupled with linear PCM, and a powerful new spatial renderer that’s built into Apple platforms. It produces high resolution Spatial Audio through numerous point sources and high resolution sound scenes, or higher order ambisonics.” ”ASAF is carried inside of broadcast Wave files with linear PCM signals and metadata. You typically use ASAF in production, and to stream ASAF audio, you will need to encode that audio as an mp4 APAC file.” ”APAC efficiently distributes ASAF, and APAC is required for any Apple immersive video experience. APAC playback is available on all Apple platforms except watchOS, and supports Channels, Objects, Higher Order Ambisonics, Dialogue, Binaural audio, interactive elements, as well as provisioning for extendable metadata.”
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Sep ’25
How to use defaultSize with visionOS window restoration?
One of the most common ways to provide a window size in visionOS is to use the defaultSize scene modifier. WindowGroup(id: "someID") { SomeView() } .defaultSize(CGSize(width: 600, height: 600)) Starting in visionOS 26, using this has a side effect. visionOS 26 will restore windows that have been locked in place or snapped to surfaces. If a user has manually adjusted the size of a locked/snapped window, the users size is only restore in some cases. Manual resize respected Leaving a room and returning later Taking the headset off and putting it back on later Manual resize NOT respected Device restart. In this case, the window is reopened where it was locked, but the size is set back to the values passed to defaultSize. The manual resizing adjustments the user has made are lost. This is counter to how all other windows and widgets work. I reported this last month (FB18429638), but haven't heard back if this is a bug or intended behavior. Questions What is the best way to provide a default window size that will only be used when opening new windows–and not used during scene restoration? Should we try to keep track of window size after users adjust them and save that somewhere? If this is intended behavior, can someone please update the docs accordingly?
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473
Jul ’25
VisionOS26 PresentationComponent not working
I am trying to get the new PresentationComponent working in VisionOS26 as seen in this WWDC video: https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/274/?time=962 (18:29 minutes into video) Here is some other example code but it doesn't work either: https://stepinto.vision/devlogs/project-graveyard-devlog-002/ My simple Text view (that I am adding as a PresentationComponent) does not appear in my RealityView even though the entity is found. Here is a simple example built from an Xcode immersive view default project: struct ImmersiveView: View { @Environment(AppModel.self) var appModel var body: some View { RealityView { content in // Add the initial RealityKit content if let immersiveContentEntity = try? await Entity(named: "Immersive", in: realityKitContentBundle) { content.add(immersiveContentEntity) if let materializedImmersiveContentEntity = try? await Entity(named: "Test", in: realityKitContentBundle) { content.add(materializedImmersiveContentEntity) var presentation = PresentationComponent( configuration: .popover(arrowEdge: .bottom), content: Text("Hello, World!") .foregroundColor(.red) ) presentation.isPresented = true materializedImmersiveContentEntity.components.set(presentation) } } } } } Here is the Apple reference: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/realitykit/presentationcomponent
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Jul ’25
Look to Scroll
Hello! I’m excited to see that Look to Scroll has been included in visionOS 26 Beta. I’m aiming to achieve a feature where the user’s gaze at a specific edge automatically scrolls to that position. However, I’ve experimented with ScrollView and haven’t been able to trigger this functionality. Could you advise if additional API modifiers are necessary? Thank you!
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Jul ’25
How To Move Camera with PS5 Game Controller
Hello again! So, I am trying my best to figure out how to get a simple, fully Immersive scene that is navigable via the PS5 controller to work on Vision Pro. I am even using ChatGPT (both externally AND in Xcode when it makes fix recommendations) however, I seem to be moving around in circles, having to constantly send error messages back to ChatGPT, then try the new "confirmed to work" fixed code, only to have more errors. I also have explicitly let the AI know that I'm using all the current betas, only to learn there has been lots of stuff deprecated (of course!). This is my initial query to ChatGPT: "How can I create a fully immersive VR experience for Apple Vision Pro, using a PS5 game controller to navigate the user via first person view through a 3d scene?" And then down the rabbit hole the past few days. Seriously, I thought AI was supposed to be helpful! LOL Per Xcode logs, I'm seeing thumbstick movement, but simply cannot get the camera to move. Is this even possible?! Is it a camera defined in Reality Composer Pro? Or, does it need to be defined outside. I'm trying to follow along with the AI, but it seems to go back and forth with different solutions. Here is the latest it's spitting out: __ Thanks for this super clear log — and you’re absolutely right: the gamepad input is working, CameraRoot is moving as expected… but your actual camera view is not changing. This strongly suggests the issue is that RealityKit is not using your custom camera (PerspectiveCameraComponent) for rendering the view. ⸻ 🔍 What’s happening Even though CameraRoot is moving (with correct logs), RealityKit will default to its own internal camera unless: 1. You explicitly assign your camera entity to be the one used, or 2. Your camera is the only one and RealityKit picks it up automatically. But in visionOS 2.0 / Xcode 26, there seems to be a bug or behavior change where RealityKit no longer auto-uses your custom PerspectiveCameraComponent in RealityView unless it’s: • properly set with content.camera, or • part of a .usda/Reality Composer camera hierarchy that’s already active. Unfortunately: 🟥 RealityView.camera = .entity(cameraRoot) ❌ Is no longer allowed (we confirmed this breaks with a type error) ⸻ ✅ The Reliable Workaround: Attach your camera to the Immersive scene itself Since we’re loading a .usda scene (Reality Composer Pro), here’s the most reliable path forward: ✔️ Option A: Embed your camera into the Reality Composer Pro scene 1. Open your Reality Composer Pro scene 2. Add a Camera entity directly in your Immersive.usda scene 3. Name it something like "PlayerCamera" 4. Position it at [0, 1.6, 0] 5. Leave it selected as the default camera Then in your Swift code: • Find the camera entity with .findEntity(named:) • Move that entity instead of creating a new one. ⸻ ✔️ Option B: Force RealityKit to use your custom camera (via transform parenting) Since direct camera assignment is unavailable, we can use a trick: Move the whole RealityView scene via a parent entity with a camera. But let’s go with Option A, since you’ve already got a Reality Composer Pro scene. __ Can any developer over there can make a suggestion on how to move forward? I JUST want to create a sandbox template so I can start exploring 3d scenes created in Maya and sent over to headset. I'll deal with animation next, but come on, why is this so difficult to get working? I'm not a programmer, but have been trying to wrap my head around Xcode and SwiftUI. This needs to be much simpler. Or, you need to provide us creatives with better sample templates and non programmer speak on how to set this up properly. Ideally, you HIRE us 3d professionals to work side by side with the programmers to help make these tools useable - especially Reality Composer Pro. Seriously, I am making a concerted effort to use the native tools, even though I would love to be porting Unreal Engine scenes over. If anyone can help point me in the right direction, coming from a 3D Creator/Animator/Modeler perspective, I, and my fellow peers in the XR/AR/VR community would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
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Jul ’25
Transparent Material Turning into Occlusion Material
I am trying to create an object in immersive space that is partially transparent (~50% opacity). I have implemented this in a few different ways including creating a model entity and setting its opacity component to 0.5, and creating a custom material with blending set to a transparent opacity of 0.5. These both work partially, as they behaved as intended for many cases, but seemingly randomly would act like occlusion material and block any other immersive content behind them, showing the real world instead. Some notes: I am using RealityKit to render the semi-transparent object and an opaque object that is behind the semi-transparent object. I am using VisionOS 2.1, and am updating the location of the semi-transparent object often. Both objects are ModelEntities. I would appreciate any guidance on how to implement this. Please let me know if there are any other questions.
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May ’25
Tapping once with both hands only works sometimes in visionOS
Hello! I have an iOS app where I am looking into support for visionOS. I have a whole bunch of gestures set up using UIGestureRecognizer and so far most of them work great in visionOS! But I do see something odd that I am not sure can be fixed on my end. I have a UITapGestureRecognizer which is set up with numberOfTouchesRequired = 2 which I am assuming translates in visionOS to when you tap your thumb and index finger on both hands. When I tap with both hands sometimes this tap gesture gets kicked off and other times it doesn't and it says it only received one touch when it should be two. Interestingly, I see this behavior in Apple Maps where tapping once with both hands should zoom out the map, which only works sometimes. Can anyone explain this or am I missing something?
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1w
Portal crossing causes inconsistent lighting and visual artifacts between virtual and real spaces (visionOS 2.0)
Hello, I'm working with the new PortalComponent introduced in visionOS 2.0, and I've encountered some issues when transitioning entities between virtual and real-world spaces using crossingMode. Specifically: Lighting inconsistency: When CG content (ModelEntities with PhysicallyBasedMaterial) crosses the portal from virtual space into the real environment, the way light reflects on the objects changes noticeably. This causes a jarring visual effect, as the same material appears differently depending on the space it's in. Unnatural transition visuals: During the transition, the CG models often appear to "emerge from the wall," especially when crossing from virtual to real. This ruins the immersive illusion and feels visually unnatural. IBL adjustment attempts: I’ve tried adding an ImageBasedLightComponent to the world entity, and while it slightly improves the lighting consistency, the issue still remains to a noticeable degree. My goal is to create a seamless visual experience when CG entities cross between spaces, without sudden lighting shifts or immersion-breaking geometry reveals. Has anyone else experienced similar issues? Is there a recommended setup or workaround to better control lighting and visual fidelity when using crossingMode with portals in visionOS 2.0? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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Jul ’25
Spatial Web and Safari
Is there any interest in this forum for those developing for the spatial web and safari. I can't seem to find any posts that are relevant here.
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0
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1
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237
Activity
Dec ’25
How do you incorporate SharePlay into an Immersive scene in VisionOS?
I've got an Immersive scene that I want to be able to bring additional users into via SharePlay where each user would be able to see (and hopefully interact) with the Immersive scene. How does one implement that?
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2
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1
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890
Activity
Jan ’26
Access UltraWideCamera when ARSession is running
ARSession provides video stream from the wide angle camera. If ARSession uses the ultra wide camera at the same time, ARSession may provide video stream from that camera, otherwise AVCaptureSession with an ultra wide camera should be allowed to launch. It would be very very useful if we can access different cameras while ARSession is running. We'd like to cooperate with you if possible. Steps to reproduce: run an AVCaptureSession and then run an ARSession. The AVCaptureSession stops.
Replies
1
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0
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559
Activity
Jan ’26
Loading USDZ asset into Model3D causes visionOS 2.0 beta 5 to crash
We've recently discovered that our app crashes on startup on the latest visionOS 2.0 beta 5 (22N5297g) build. In fact, the entire field of view would dim down and visionOS would then restart, showing the Apple logo. Interestingly, no app crash is reported by Xcode during debug. After investigation, we have isolated the issue to a specific USDZ asset in our app. Loading it in a sample, blank project also causes visionOS to reliably crash, or become extremely unresponsive with rendering artifacts everywhere. This looks like a potentially serious issue. Even if the asset is problematic, loading it should not crash the entire OS. We have filed feedback FB14756285, along with a demo project. Hopefully someone can take a look. Thanks!
Replies
3
Boosts
1
Views
620
Activity
Jul ’25
RealityView doesn't free up memory after disappearing
Basically, take just the Xcode 26 AR App template, where we put the ContentView as the detail end of a NavigationStack. Opening app, the app uses < 20MB of memory. Tapping on Open AR the memory usage goes up to ~700MB for the AR Scene. Tapping back, the memory stays up at ~700MB. Checking with Debug memory graph I can still see all the RealityKit classes in the memory, like ARView, ARRenderView, ARSessionManager. Here's the sample app to illustrate the issue. PS: To keep memory pressure on the system low, there should be a way of freeing all the memory the AR uses for apps that only occasionally show AR scenes.
Replies
0
Boosts
1
Views
216
Activity
Sep ’25
Photogrammetry Session - new model?
Hi Apple Team, We noticed the following exciting changelog in the latest macOS 26 beta: A new algorithm significantly improves PhotogrammetrySession reconstruction quality of low-texture objects not captured with the ObjectCaptureSession front end. It will be downloaded and cached once in the background when the PhotogrammetrySession is used at runtime. If network isn’t available at that time, the old low quality model will be used until the new one can be downloaded. There is no code change needed to get this improved model. (145220451) However after trying this on the latest beta and running some tests we do not see any differences on objects with low textures such as single coloured surfaces. Is there anything we are missing? the machine is definitely connected to the internet but we have no way of knowing from the logs if the new model is being used? thanks
Replies
5
Boosts
1
Views
693
Activity
Jul ’25
ARKit camera transform orientation vector doesn't match physical device heading (despite `.gravityAndHeading`)
Hi all, I'm working on an ARKit-based iOS app where I need to accurately determine the direction the device is facing to localize objects in the real world. I'm using: let config = ARWorldTrackingConfiguration() config.worldAlignment = .gravityAndHeading Thus, I would expect the world alignment to behave as given in the gravityAndHeading page. The AR session is started after verifying that CLLocationManager.headingAccuracy <= 20, and the compass appears to be calibrated. However, I'm seeing a major inconsistency: When the rear camera is physically pointed toward true North, I would expect: cameraTransform.columns.2.z ≈ -1 // (i.e. ARKit's -Z pointing North) But instead, I'm consistently seeing: cameraTransform.columns.2.z ≈ +0.97 // Implies camera is facing South Meanwhile, the translation vector behaves as expected: As I physically move North, cameraTransform.columns.3.z becomes more negative, matching the world’s +Z = South assumption. For example, let's say I have the device in landscapeRight (or landscapeLeft for UIDeviceOrientation). Let's say the device rear camera is pointing towards True North, and I start moving towards True North. I get something like this: Camera Transform = simd_float4x4( [ [0.98446155, -0.030119859, 0.172998, 0.0], [0.023979114, 0.9990097, 0.037477385, 0.0], [-0.17395553, -0.032746706, 0.98420894, 0.0], [0.024039675, -0.037087332, -0.22780673, 0.99999994] ]) As you can see, the cameraTransform.columns.2.z is positive despite the rear camera pointing towards True North, while cameraTransform.columns.3.z is correctly positive as the device is moving towards True North. So here is my question: Why is cameraTransform.columns.2.z positive when the rear camera is physically facing North? Any clarity would be deeply appreciated. I've read the documentation and tested with different heading accuracies and AR session resets, but I keep running into this orientation mismatch. Thanks in advance!
Replies
1
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0
Views
148
Activity
Jun ’25
How to combine Occlusion nodes with soft edges.
At a recent community meeting we were wondering how Apple creates this soft-edge effect around the occlusion cutouts. We see this effect on keyboard cutouts, iPhone cutouts, and in progressive spaces. An example: Notice the soft edged around the occlusion cutout for the keyboard One of our members created some Shader Graph materials to explore soft edges. These work by sending data into the opacity channel of the PreviewSurface node. Unfortunately, the Occlusion Surface nodes lack any sort of input. If you know how to blend these concepts with RealityKit Occlusion, please let us know!
Replies
0
Boosts
1
Views
934
Activity
Sep ’25
How to update TextureResource with MTLTexture?
Hi I have a monitoring app, that will take input video from uvc and process it using Metal, and eventually get a MTLTexture. The problem I'm facing is I have to convert MTLTexture to CGImage then call TextureResource.replace, which is super slow. Metal processing speed is same as input frame rate(50pfs), but MTLTexture -> CGImage -> TextureResource only got 7fps... Is there any way I can make it faster?
Replies
2
Boosts
0
Views
539
Activity
Oct ’25
Can developers use spatial image in third App's Spatial widget
Spatial widget is a new feature of visionos 26. I notice The system’s Photo app can add a Spatial Image in the widget. I wonder if third apps can use spatial image or any 3D content in it's widget? I try to use RealityView in widget and it run with a crash. So does spatial Image in widget only supported by the system Photo app, and not available to developers now?
Replies
1
Boosts
1
Views
747
Activity
Jul ’25
Bouncy ball in RealityKit - game
I'm developing a VisionOS app with bouncing ball physics and struggling to achieve natural bouncing behavior using RealityKit's physics system. Despite following Apple's recommended parameters, the ball loses significant energy on each bounce and doesn't behave like a real basketball, tennis ball, or football would. With identical physics parameters (restitution = 1.0), RealityKit shows significant energy loss. I've had to implement a custom physics system to compensate, but I want to use native RealityKit physics. It's impossible to make it work by applying custom impulses. Ball Physics Setup (Following Apple Forum Recommendations) // From PhysicsManager.swift private func createBallEntityRealityKit() -> Entity { let ballRadius: Float = 0.05 let ballEntity = Entity() ballEntity.name = "bouncingBall" // Mesh and material let mesh = MeshResource.generateSphere(radius: ballRadius) var material = PhysicallyBasedMaterial() material.baseColor = .init(tint: .cyan) material.roughness = .float(0.3) material.metallic = .float(0.8) ballEntity.components.set(ModelComponent(mesh: mesh, materials: [material])) // Physics setup from Apple Developer Forums let physics = PhysicsBodyComponent( massProperties: .init(mass: 0.624), // Seems too heavy for 5cm ball material: PhysicsMaterialResource.generate( staticFriction: 0.8, dynamicFriction: 0.6, restitution: 1.0 // Perfect elasticity, yet still loses energy ), mode: .dynamic ) ballEntity.components.set(physics) ballEntity.components.set(PhysicsMotionComponent()) // Collision setup let collisionShape = ShapeResource.generateSphere(radius: ballRadius) ballEntity.components.set(CollisionComponent(shapes: [collisionShape])) return ballEntity } Ground Plane Physics // From GroundPlaneView.swift let groundPhysics = PhysicsBodyComponent( massProperties: .init(mass: 1000), material: PhysicsMaterialResource.generate( staticFriction: 0.7, dynamicFriction: 0.6, restitution: 1.0 // Perfect bounce ), mode: .static ) entity.components.set(groundPhysics) Wall Physics // From WalledBoxManager.swift let wallPhysics = PhysicsBodyComponent( massProperties: .init(mass: 1000), material: PhysicsMaterialResource.generate( staticFriction: 0.7, dynamicFriction: 0.6, restitution: 0.85 // Slightly less than ground ), mode: .static ) wall.components.set(wallPhysics) Collision Detection // From GroundPlaneView.swift content.subscribe(to: CollisionEvents.Began.self) { event in guard physicsMode == .realityKit else { return } let currentTime = Date().timeIntervalSince1970 guard currentTime - lastCollisionTime > 0.1 else { return } if event.entityA.name == "bouncingBall" || event.entityB.name == "bouncingBall" { let normal = event.collision.normal // Distinguish between wall and ground collisions if abs(normal.y) < 0.3 { // Wall bounce print("Wall collision detected") } else if normal.y > 0.7 { // Ground bounce print("Ground collision detected") } lastCollisionTime = currentTime } } Issues Observed Energy Loss: Despite restitution = 1.0 (perfect elasticity), the ball loses ~20-30% energy per bounce Wall Sliding: Ball tends to slide down walls instead of bouncing naturally No Damping Control: Comments mention damping values but they don't seem to affect the physics Change in mass also doesn't do much. Custom Physics System (Workaround) I've implemented a custom physics system that manually calculates velocities and applies more realistic restitution values: // From BouncingBallComponent.swift struct BouncingBallComponent: Component { var velocity: SIMD3<Float> = .zero var angularVelocity: SIMD3<Float> = .zero var bounceState: BounceState = .idle var lastBounceTime: TimeInterval = 0 var bounceCount: Int = 0 var peakHeight: Float = 0 var totalFallDistance: Float = 0 enum BounceState { case idle case falling case justBounced case bouncing case settled } } Is this energy loss expected behavior in RealityKit, even with perfect restitution (1.0)? Are there additional physics parameters (damping, solver iterations, etc.) that could improve bounce behavior? Would switching to Unity be necessary for more realistic ball physics, or am I missing something in RealityKit? Even in the last video here: https://stepinto.vision/example-code/collisions-physics-physics-material/ bounce of the ball is very unnatural - stops after 3-4 bounces. I apply custom impulses, but then if I have walls around the ball, it's almost impossible to make it look natural. I also saw this post https://developer.apple.com/forums/thread/759422 and ball is still not bouncing naturally.
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949
Activity
Nov ’25
Does Apple Spatial Audio Format documentation exist
The WWDC25 video and notes titled “Learn About Apple Immersive Video Technologies” introduced the Apple Spatial Audio Format (ASAF) and codec (APAC). However, despite references throughout on using immersive video, there is scant information on ASAF/APAC (including no code examples and no framework references), and I’ve found no documentation in Apple’s APIs/Frameworks about its implementation and use months on. I want to leverage ambisonic audio in my app. I don’t want to write a custom AU if APAC will be opened up to developers. If you read the notes below along with the iPhone 17 advertising (“Video is captured with Spatial Audio for immersive listening”), it sounds like this is very much a live feature in iOS26. Anyone know the state of play? I’m across how the PHASE engine works, which is unrelated to what I’m asking about here. Original quote from video referenced above: “ASAF enables truly externalized audio experiences by ensuring acoustic cues are used to render the audio. It’s composed of new metadata coupled with linear PCM, and a powerful new spatial renderer that’s built into Apple platforms. It produces high resolution Spatial Audio through numerous point sources and high resolution sound scenes, or higher order ambisonics.” ”ASAF is carried inside of broadcast Wave files with linear PCM signals and metadata. You typically use ASAF in production, and to stream ASAF audio, you will need to encode that audio as an mp4 APAC file.” ”APAC efficiently distributes ASAF, and APAC is required for any Apple immersive video experience. APAC playback is available on all Apple platforms except watchOS, and supports Channels, Objects, Higher Order Ambisonics, Dialogue, Binaural audio, interactive elements, as well as provisioning for extendable metadata.”
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4
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729
Activity
Sep ’25
VisionPro 的内存限制
是对原本VisionPro每个App的内存限制做了扩展嘛?放宽了内存限制么?
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1
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325
Activity
Sep ’25
How to use defaultSize with visionOS window restoration?
One of the most common ways to provide a window size in visionOS is to use the defaultSize scene modifier. WindowGroup(id: "someID") { SomeView() } .defaultSize(CGSize(width: 600, height: 600)) Starting in visionOS 26, using this has a side effect. visionOS 26 will restore windows that have been locked in place or snapped to surfaces. If a user has manually adjusted the size of a locked/snapped window, the users size is only restore in some cases. Manual resize respected Leaving a room and returning later Taking the headset off and putting it back on later Manual resize NOT respected Device restart. In this case, the window is reopened where it was locked, but the size is set back to the values passed to defaultSize. The manual resizing adjustments the user has made are lost. This is counter to how all other windows and widgets work. I reported this last month (FB18429638), but haven't heard back if this is a bug or intended behavior. Questions What is the best way to provide a default window size that will only be used when opening new windows–and not used during scene restoration? Should we try to keep track of window size after users adjust them and save that somewhere? If this is intended behavior, can someone please update the docs accordingly?
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1
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473
Activity
Jul ’25
VisionOS26 PresentationComponent not working
I am trying to get the new PresentationComponent working in VisionOS26 as seen in this WWDC video: https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2025/274/?time=962 (18:29 minutes into video) Here is some other example code but it doesn't work either: https://stepinto.vision/devlogs/project-graveyard-devlog-002/ My simple Text view (that I am adding as a PresentationComponent) does not appear in my RealityView even though the entity is found. Here is a simple example built from an Xcode immersive view default project: struct ImmersiveView: View { @Environment(AppModel.self) var appModel var body: some View { RealityView { content in // Add the initial RealityKit content if let immersiveContentEntity = try? await Entity(named: "Immersive", in: realityKitContentBundle) { content.add(immersiveContentEntity) if let materializedImmersiveContentEntity = try? await Entity(named: "Test", in: realityKitContentBundle) { content.add(materializedImmersiveContentEntity) var presentation = PresentationComponent( configuration: .popover(arrowEdge: .bottom), content: Text("Hello, World!") .foregroundColor(.red) ) presentation.isPresented = true materializedImmersiveContentEntity.components.set(presentation) } } } } } Here is the Apple reference: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/realitykit/presentationcomponent
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595
Activity
Jul ’25
Look to Scroll
Hello! I’m excited to see that Look to Scroll has been included in visionOS 26 Beta. I’m aiming to achieve a feature where the user’s gaze at a specific edge automatically scrolls to that position. However, I’ve experimented with ScrollView and haven’t been able to trigger this functionality. Could you advise if additional API modifiers are necessary? Thank you!
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583
Activity
Jul ’25
How To Move Camera with PS5 Game Controller
Hello again! So, I am trying my best to figure out how to get a simple, fully Immersive scene that is navigable via the PS5 controller to work on Vision Pro. I am even using ChatGPT (both externally AND in Xcode when it makes fix recommendations) however, I seem to be moving around in circles, having to constantly send error messages back to ChatGPT, then try the new "confirmed to work" fixed code, only to have more errors. I also have explicitly let the AI know that I'm using all the current betas, only to learn there has been lots of stuff deprecated (of course!). This is my initial query to ChatGPT: "How can I create a fully immersive VR experience for Apple Vision Pro, using a PS5 game controller to navigate the user via first person view through a 3d scene?" And then down the rabbit hole the past few days. Seriously, I thought AI was supposed to be helpful! LOL Per Xcode logs, I'm seeing thumbstick movement, but simply cannot get the camera to move. Is this even possible?! Is it a camera defined in Reality Composer Pro? Or, does it need to be defined outside. I'm trying to follow along with the AI, but it seems to go back and forth with different solutions. Here is the latest it's spitting out: __ Thanks for this super clear log — and you’re absolutely right: the gamepad input is working, CameraRoot is moving as expected… but your actual camera view is not changing. This strongly suggests the issue is that RealityKit is not using your custom camera (PerspectiveCameraComponent) for rendering the view. ⸻ 🔍 What’s happening Even though CameraRoot is moving (with correct logs), RealityKit will default to its own internal camera unless: 1. You explicitly assign your camera entity to be the one used, or 2. Your camera is the only one and RealityKit picks it up automatically. But in visionOS 2.0 / Xcode 26, there seems to be a bug or behavior change where RealityKit no longer auto-uses your custom PerspectiveCameraComponent in RealityView unless it’s: • properly set with content.camera, or • part of a .usda/Reality Composer camera hierarchy that’s already active. Unfortunately: 🟥 RealityView.camera = .entity(cameraRoot) ❌ Is no longer allowed (we confirmed this breaks with a type error) ⸻ ✅ The Reliable Workaround: Attach your camera to the Immersive scene itself Since we’re loading a .usda scene (Reality Composer Pro), here’s the most reliable path forward: ✔️ Option A: Embed your camera into the Reality Composer Pro scene 1. Open your Reality Composer Pro scene 2. Add a Camera entity directly in your Immersive.usda scene 3. Name it something like "PlayerCamera" 4. Position it at [0, 1.6, 0] 5. Leave it selected as the default camera Then in your Swift code: • Find the camera entity with .findEntity(named:) • Move that entity instead of creating a new one. ⸻ ✔️ Option B: Force RealityKit to use your custom camera (via transform parenting) Since direct camera assignment is unavailable, we can use a trick: Move the whole RealityView scene via a parent entity with a camera. But let’s go with Option A, since you’ve already got a Reality Composer Pro scene. __ Can any developer over there can make a suggestion on how to move forward? I JUST want to create a sandbox template so I can start exploring 3d scenes created in Maya and sent over to headset. I'll deal with animation next, but come on, why is this so difficult to get working? I'm not a programmer, but have been trying to wrap my head around Xcode and SwiftUI. This needs to be much simpler. Or, you need to provide us creatives with better sample templates and non programmer speak on how to set this up properly. Ideally, you HIRE us 3d professionals to work side by side with the programmers to help make these tools useable - especially Reality Composer Pro. Seriously, I am making a concerted effort to use the native tools, even though I would love to be porting Unreal Engine scenes over. If anyone can help point me in the right direction, coming from a 3D Creator/Animator/Modeler perspective, I, and my fellow peers in the XR/AR/VR community would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
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834
Activity
Jul ’25
Transparent Material Turning into Occlusion Material
I am trying to create an object in immersive space that is partially transparent (~50% opacity). I have implemented this in a few different ways including creating a model entity and setting its opacity component to 0.5, and creating a custom material with blending set to a transparent opacity of 0.5. These both work partially, as they behaved as intended for many cases, but seemingly randomly would act like occlusion material and block any other immersive content behind them, showing the real world instead. Some notes: I am using RealityKit to render the semi-transparent object and an opaque object that is behind the semi-transparent object. I am using VisionOS 2.1, and am updating the location of the semi-transparent object often. Both objects are ModelEntities. I would appreciate any guidance on how to implement this. Please let me know if there are any other questions.
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3
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182
Activity
May ’25
Tapping once with both hands only works sometimes in visionOS
Hello! I have an iOS app where I am looking into support for visionOS. I have a whole bunch of gestures set up using UIGestureRecognizer and so far most of them work great in visionOS! But I do see something odd that I am not sure can be fixed on my end. I have a UITapGestureRecognizer which is set up with numberOfTouchesRequired = 2 which I am assuming translates in visionOS to when you tap your thumb and index finger on both hands. When I tap with both hands sometimes this tap gesture gets kicked off and other times it doesn't and it says it only received one touch when it should be two. Interestingly, I see this behavior in Apple Maps where tapping once with both hands should zoom out the map, which only works sometimes. Can anyone explain this or am I missing something?
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889
Activity
1w
Portal crossing causes inconsistent lighting and visual artifacts between virtual and real spaces (visionOS 2.0)
Hello, I'm working with the new PortalComponent introduced in visionOS 2.0, and I've encountered some issues when transitioning entities between virtual and real-world spaces using crossingMode. Specifically: Lighting inconsistency: When CG content (ModelEntities with PhysicallyBasedMaterial) crosses the portal from virtual space into the real environment, the way light reflects on the objects changes noticeably. This causes a jarring visual effect, as the same material appears differently depending on the space it's in. Unnatural transition visuals: During the transition, the CG models often appear to "emerge from the wall," especially when crossing from virtual to real. This ruins the immersive illusion and feels visually unnatural. IBL adjustment attempts: I’ve tried adding an ImageBasedLightComponent to the world entity, and while it slightly improves the lighting consistency, the issue still remains to a noticeable degree. My goal is to create a seamless visual experience when CG entities cross between spaces, without sudden lighting shifts or immersion-breaking geometry reveals. Has anyone else experienced similar issues? Is there a recommended setup or workaround to better control lighting and visual fidelity when using crossingMode with portals in visionOS 2.0? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
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5
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345
Activity
Jul ’25