Hi, I'm trying to use AnchorEntity for horizontal surfaces.
It works when the entity is being created, but I'm looking for a way to snap this entity to the nearest surface, after translating it, for example with a DragGesture.
What would be the best way to achieve this? Using raycast, creating a new anchor, trackingMode to continuous etc.
Do I need to use ARKitSession as I want continuous tracking?
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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I have already add liscene and entitlement for Passthrough in screen capture, but still get black background instaed of real world. Do you have any idea ? I've been stuck with this question for a long time 😢
Hello, I'm struggling trying to interact with a RealityKit entity nested (or at least visually nested) in a second one.
I think I've the same issue as mentioned on this StackOverflow post, but I can't manage to reproduce the solution. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/79244424/how-to-prioritize-a-specific-entity-when-collision-boxes-overlap-in-realitykit
What I'd like to achieve is to translate the red box using a DragGesture, while still be able to interact using a TapGesture on the sphere. Currently, I can only do one at a time.
Does anyone know the solution?
extension CollisionGroup {
static let parent: CollisionGroup = CollisionGroup(rawValue: 1 << 0)
static let child: CollisionGroup = CollisionGroup(rawValue: 1 << 1)
}
struct ImmersiveView: View {
var body: some View {
RealityView { content in
let boxMesh = MeshResource.generateBox(size: 0.35)
let boxMaterial = SimpleMaterial(color: .red.withAlphaComponent(0.25), isMetallic: false)
let boxEntity = ModelEntity(mesh: boxMesh, materials: [boxMaterial])
let sphereMesh = MeshResource.generateSphere(radius: 0.05)
let sphereMaterial = SimpleMaterial(color: .blue, isMetallic: false)
let sphereEntity = ModelEntity(mesh: sphereMesh, materials: [sphereMaterial])
content.add(sphereEntity)
content.add(boxEntity)
boxEntity.components.set(InputTargetComponent())
boxEntity.components.set(
CollisionComponent(
shapes: [ShapeResource.generateBox(size: SIMD3<Float>(repeating: 0.35))],
isStatic: true,
filter: CollisionFilter(
group: .parent,
mask: .parent.subtracting(.child)
)
)
)
sphereEntity.components.set(InputTargetComponent())
sphereEntity.components.set(HoverEffectComponent())
sphereEntity.components.set(
CollisionComponent(
shapes: [ShapeResource.generateSphere(radius: 0.05)],
isStatic: true,
filter: CollisionFilter(
group: .child,
mask: .child.subtracting(.parent)
)
)
)
}
}
}
VideoMaterial Black Screen on Vision Pro Device (Works in Simulator)
App Overview
App Name: Extn Browser
Bundle ID: ai.extn.browser
Purpose: A visionOS web browser that plays 360°/180° VR videos in an immersive sphere environment
Development Environment & SDK Versions
Component
Version
Xcode
26.2
Swift
6.2
visionOS Deployment Target
26.2
Swift Concurrency
MainActor isolation enabled
App is released in the TestFlight.
Frameworks Used
SwiftUI - UI framework
RealityKit - 3D rendering, MeshResource, ModelEntity, VideoMaterial
AVFoundation - AVPlayer, AVAudioSession
WebKit - WKWebView for browser functionality
Network - NWListener for local proxy server
Sphere Video Mechanism
The app creates an immersive 360° video experience using the following approach:
// 1. Create sphere mesh (10 meter radius for immersive viewing)
let mesh = MeshResource.generateSphere(radius: 10.0)
// 2. Create initial transparent material
var material = UnlitMaterial()
material.color = .init(tint: .clear)
// 3. Create entity and invert sphere (negative X scale)
let sphere = ModelEntity(mesh: mesh, materials: [material])
sphere.scale = SIMD3<Float>(-1, 1, 1) // Inverts normals for inside-out viewing
sphere.position = SIMD3<Float>(0, 1.5, 0) // Eye level
// 4. Create AVPlayer with video URL
let player = AVPlayer(url: videoURL)
// 5. Configure audio session for visionOS
let audioSession = AVAudioSession.sharedInstance()
try audioSession.setCategory(.playback, mode: .moviePlayback, options: [.mixWithOthers])
try audioSession.setActive(true)
// 6. Create VideoMaterial and apply to sphere
let videoMaterial = VideoMaterial(avPlayer: player)
if var modelComponent = sphere.components[ModelComponent.self] {
modelComponent.materials = [videoMaterial]
sphere.components.set(modelComponent)
}
// 7. Start playback
player.play()
ImmersiveSpace Configuration
// browserApp.swift
ImmersiveSpace(id: appModel.immersiveSpaceID) {
ImmersiveView()
.environment(appModel)
}
.immersionStyle(selection: .constant(.mixed), in: .mixed)
Entitlements
<!-- browser.entitlements -->
<key>com.apple.security.app-sandbox</key>
<true/>
<key>com.apple.security.network.client</key>
<true/>
<key>com.apple.security.network.server</key>
<true/>
Info.plist Network Configuration
<key>NSAppTransportSecurity</key>
<dict>
<key>NSAllowsArbitraryLoads</key>
<true/>
</dict>
The Issue
Behavior in Simulator: Video plays correctly on the inverted sphere surface - 360° video is visible and wraps around the user as expected.
Behavior on Physical Vision Pro: The sphere displays a black screen. No video content is visible, though the sphere entity itself is present.
Important: Not a DRM/Licensing Issue
This issue is NOT related to Digital Rights Management (DRM) or FairPlay. I have tested with:
Unlicensed raw MP4 video files (no DRM protection)
Self-hosted video content with no copy protection
Direct MP4 URLs from CDN without any licensing requirements
The same black screen behavior occurs with all unprotected video sources, ruling out DRM as the cause.
(Plain H.264 MP4, no DRM)
Screen Recording: Working in Simulator
The following screen recording demonstrates playing a 360° YouTube video in the immersive sphere on the visionOS Simulator:
https://cdn.commenda.kr/screen-001.mov
This confirms that the VideoMaterial and sphere rendering work correctly in the simulator, but the same setup shows a black screen on the physical Vision Pro device.
Observations
AVPlayer status reports .readyToPlay - The video appears to load successfully
VideoMaterial is created without errors - No exceptions thrown
Sphere entity renders - The geometry is visible (black surface)
Audio session is configured - No errors during audio session setup
Network requests succeed - The video URL is accessible from the device
Same result with local/unprotected content - DRM is not a factor
Console Logs (Device)
The logging shows:
Sphere created and added to scene
AVPlayer created with correct URL
VideoMaterial created and applied
Player status transitions to .readyToPlay
player.play() called successfully
Rate shows 1.0 (playing)
Despite all success indicators, the rendered output is black.
Questions for Apple
Are there known differences in VideoMaterial behavior between the visionOS Simulator and physical Vision Pro hardware?
Does VideoMaterial(avPlayer:) require specific video codec/format requirements that differ on device? (The test video is a standard H.264 MP4)
Is there a required Metal capability or GPU feature for VideoMaterial that may not be available in certain contexts on device?
Does the immersion style (.mixed) affect VideoMaterial rendering on hardware?
Are there additional entitlements required for video texture rendering in RealityKit on physical hardware?
Attempted Solutions
Configured AVAudioSession with .playback category
Added delay before player.play() to ensure material is applied
Verified sphere scale inversion (-1, 1, 1)
Tested multiple video URLs (including raw, unlicensed MP4 files)
Confirmed network connectivity on device
Ruled out DRM/FairPlay issues by testing unprotected content
Environment Details
Device: Apple Vision Pro
visionOS Version: 26.2
Xcode Version: 26.2
macOS Version: Darwin 25.2.0
The following sample code project does not seem to work as expected:
https://developer.apple.com/documentation/visionos/implementing-shareplay-for-immersive-spaces-in-visionos
Have tried to get this project working with a client, but while we were able to see nearby users and make facetime calls, the color changing cube experience always remained a single color.
Are there step-by-step instructions that Apple has used to verify this sample code so I can try to recreate this sample code's expected behavior for both nearby participants and those in a Facetime call?
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
General
I first started using the SwiftUI pushWindow API in visionOS 26.2, and I've reported several bugs I discovered, listed below.
Under certain circumstances, pushed window relationships may break, and this behavior affects all other apps, not just the app that caused the problem, until the next device reboot. In other cases, the system may crash and restart.
(FB21287011) When a window presented with pushWindow is dismissed, its parent window reappears in the wrong location
(FB21294645) Pinning a pushed window to a wall breaks pushWindow for all other apps on the system
(FB21594646) pushWindow interacts poorly with the window bar close app option
(FB21652261) If a window locked to a wall calls pushWindow, the original window becomes unlocked
(FB21652271) If a window locked in place calls pushWindow and the pushed window is closed, the system freezes
(FB21828413) pushWindow, UIApplication.open, and a dismissed immersive space result in multiple failures that require a device reboot
(FB21840747) visionOS randomly foregrounds a backgrounded immersive space app with a pushed window's parent window visible instead of the pushed window
(FB21864652) When a running app is selected in the visionOS home view, windows presented with pushWindow spontaneously close
(FB21873482) Pushed windows use the fixed scaling behavior instead of the dynamic scaling behavior
I'm posting the issues here in case this information is helpful to other developers. I'd also like to hear about other pushWindow issues developers have encountered, so I can watch out for them.
Questions:
I've discovered that some of the issues above can be partially worked around by applying the defaultLaunchBehavior and restorationBehavior scene modifiers to suppress window restoration and locking, which pushWindow appears to interact poorly with. Are there other recommended workarounds?
I've observed that the Photos and Settings apps, which predate the pushWindow API, are not affected by the issues I reported. Are there other more reliable ways I could achieve the same behavior as pushWindow without relying on that API?
I'd appreciate any guidance Apple engineers could provide. Thank you.
Hello,
I am experiencing an issue where lighting is disabled within a Portal Component specifically when using Progressive or Full Immersion styles in visionOS 26.2.
[Steps to Reproduce]
Create a scene in Reality Composer Pro with custom lighting (Directional Light, IBL, etc.) and load it as an Entity.
Add a PortalComponent to this Entity.
Observe the Entity in an ImmersiveSpace under different Immersion Styles.
[Observed Behavior]
Mixed Immersion: Lighting works as expected.Progressive / Full Immersion: Lighting is disabled, causing the content to render incorrectly.
[Additional Context]
Without PortalComponent: The same Reality Composer Pro scene renders lighting correctly across all Immersion Styles (Mixed, Progressive, and Full).Regression: In applications built with Xcode 16.4 / visionOS 2.5, lighting inside the Portal functioned correctly. This issue appears to have emerged with Xcode 26.2 and visionOS 26.2.
[Questions]
Is the disabling of lighting inside Portals during Full/Progressive Immersion an intended architectural change or optimization in visionOS 26.2?
Are there any workarounds, such as specific PortalComponent configurations or new API flags, to re-enable lighting in these immersion modes?
Thank you.
Topic:
Spatial Computing
SubTopic:
Reality Composer Pro
Tags:
AR / VR
RealityKit
Reality Composer Pro
I'm developing a visionOS panorama viewer app where I need to implement an auto-hiding floating menu in immersive space. The menu should:
Show for 3 seconds when entering immersive mode
Auto-hide after 3 seconds,
Reappear when user taps anywhere (using SpatialTapGesture).
Buttons should respond to gaze + pinch interaction
The Problem:
When I add .windowStyle(.plain) to achieve transparent window background for the auto-hide effect, all buttons in the menu become completely unresponsive to gaze + pinch interaction. The buttons only respond to direct finger touch (poking).
Without .windowStyle(.plain): Buttons work correctly with gaze + pinch, but I cannot achieve transparent window background for hiding.
With .windowStyle(.plain): Window can be transparent, but buttons lose gaze + pinch interaction.
Code:
App.swift:
@main
struct MyApp: App {
@StateObject private var model = AppModel()
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup(id: "MainWindow") {
ContentView()
.environmentObject(model)
}
.defaultSize(width: 900, height: 700)
.windowResizability(.contentSize)
.windowStyle(.plain) // <-- This causes the interaction issue
ImmersiveSpace(id: "ImmersiveSpace") {
ImmersiveView()
.environmentObject(model)
}
}
}
ContentView.swift (simplified):
struct ContentView: View {
@EnvironmentObject var model: AppModel
@State private var isMenuVisible: Bool = true
var body: some View {
VStack {
if model.isImmersiveViewActive {
if isMenuVisible {
// This menu's buttons don't respond to gaze+pinch
immersiveControlMenu
}
} else {
mainMenuButtons
}
}
.glassBackgroundEffect()
}
private var immersiveControlMenu: some View {
HStack {
Button("Exit") {
exitImmersiveSpace()
}
.buttonStyle(.bordered) // Also tried .plain, same issue
}
.padding()
.glassBackgroundEffect()
}
}
ImmersiveView.swift:
struct ImmersiveView: View {
@EnvironmentObject var model: AppModel
var body: some View {
RealityView { content in
// Panorama sphere
let sphere = ModelEntity(mesh: .generateSphere(radius: 1000), materials: [material])
content.add(sphere)
// Tap detector for menu toggle
let tapDetector = Entity()
tapDetector.components.set(CollisionComponent(shapes: [.generateSphere(radius: 900)]))
tapDetector.components.set(InputTargetComponent())
content.add(tapDetector)
}
.gesture(
SpatialTapGesture()
.targetedToAnyEntity()
.onEnded { _ in
model.shouldShowMenu = true
}
)
}
}
Environment:
Xcode 26.2
visionOS 26.3
Vision Pro device
Questions:
Is .windowStyle(.plain) expected to affect button interaction behavior?
What is the recommended approach to achieve a transparent/hidden window in immersive mode while maintaining button interactivity?
Is there an alternative to .windowStyle(.plain) for hiding window chrome in visionOS?
Thank you for any guidance!
Hi everyone,
I’m working with RealityKit on visionOS and I’m seeing unexpected behavior when the user long-presses the Digital Crown, which recenters the world.
Observed behavior:
When the world is recentered via long-pressing the Crown, the models remain visually in the correct place (as expected).
However, if I query the model’s position or transform immediately after recentering (e.g. entity.position or similar), I still get the old values from before recenter.
As soon as I interact with the model using a gesture (drag/rotate/scale), the position updates and then querying it returns the correct, updated values.
So effectively:
Recenter happens
Visual position is correct
Programmatic position remains stale
First gesture causes the position to “snap” to the correct updated value
Questions:
Is there any event, notification, or callback that fires when the world is recentered due to a long press of the Crown button?
Is there a recommended way to get the updated world-space transform immediately after recenter, without waiting for a gesture?
Is this expected behavior due to deferred/lazy transform updates in RealityKit?
Right now it feels like recentering updates the coordinate system but doesn’t immediately commit new transform values to entities until some interaction occurs.
Any guidance or best-practice patterns for handling this would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Hello,
I am building a kiosk-style app for VisionOS which will be used in Guided Access mode, to be given to various visitors. So each of them will do hands + eyes setup, standard Guided Access thing.
I want my experience to auto-start playing content when setup is done. I looked everywhere, but found no way do detect whether setup is complete? Also adding any kind of interface to start the app manually is risky, since buttons etc remain visible an interactable WHILE setup takes place. Delay-based approach also wont work, since setup can be skipped, or failed, or be done quickly, slowly... So it takes between 10 seconds and a few minutes.
So the question is - is there any way to get notification, or check some bool or something that will tell me that Hands + Eyes setup in Guided mode is complete (or skipped)?
Thanks in advance!
So with the new ManipulationComponent, we can choose "stay" and then if you drag it out of your volume, once you let go it will instantly disappear.
We can "animate" it back to inside the volume, eg.:
content.subscribe(to: ManipulationEvents.WillRelease.self) { event in
Entity.animate(
.easeInOut(duration: 1),
body: { event.entity.position = [0, 0.2, 0] },
completion: {}
)
},
Howeve,r for the duration that it travels outside of the volume it's invisible the whole time.
In this apple video, it seems to be visible when dragging and when letting go, but perhaps that's not a volume they're dragging it out of?
https://youtu.be/VtenPKrvPOU?si=y1zoZOs2IMyDzOm6&t=1748
Does anyone know how to keep the entity visible even when after letting the entity go while you animate it back towards inside of your volume?
I am using AccessoryTrackingProvider from ARKit to get the transform of the PSVR2 controller via originFromAnchorTransform of the AccessoryAnchor. I also am trying to use AnchorEntity on the controller using RealityKit
However, none of the three options for Accessory.LocationName, which should be used to define the AnchorEntity target, seem to match the position on the controller which is being sent from ARKit.
The picture attached is showing two transforms:
RealityKit - using .gripSurface to define the AnchoringComponent.Target.accesssory location.
ARKit - using originFromAnchorTransform for AccessoryTrackingProvider.
They are not aligned at the same point.
As for the other options of Accessory.LocationName, using .aim is located at the tip of the controller and .grip is the same position as .gripSurface but with a different orientation.
I am wondering why there is not an option for Accessory.LocationName that actually matches the transform captured by ARKit?
Hi,
we've developed an app for Vision Pro that utilises the GroupActivitites SDK to provide shared experiences for our users.
Remote Participation works great, but we can't get nearby sharing to work.
The behaviour we're observing:
User 1 engages share sheet from Volume, 2nd Vision Pro is visible.
User 1 starts nearby sharing
Session initialisation runs for approx. 30 seconds, then fails
Sometimes, the nearby participant doesn't show up at all after the initialisation has failed once.
As stated in the Configure your visionOS app for sharing with people nearby article, we didn't make any changes to our implementation to support nearby sharing.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
David
When using the new RealityKit Manipulation Component on Entities, indirect input will never translate the entity - no matter what settings are applied. Direct manipulation works as expected for both translation and rotation.
Is this intended behaviour? This is different from how indirect manipulation works on Model3D. How else can we get translation from this component?
visionOS 26 Beta 2
Build from macOS 26 Beta 2 and Xcode 26 Beta 2
Attached is replicable sample code, I have tried this in other projects with the same results.
var body: some View {
RealityView { content in
// Add the initial RealityKit content
if let immersiveContentEntity = try? await Entity(named: "MovieFilmReel", in: reelRCPBundle) {
ManipulationComponent.configureEntity(immersiveContentEntity, allowedInputTypes: .all, collisionShapes: [ShapeResource.generateBox(width: 0.2, height: 0.2, depth: 0.2)])
immersiveContentEntity.position.y = 1
immersiveContentEntity.position.z = -0.5
var mc = ManipulationComponent()
mc.releaseBehavior = .stay
immersiveContentEntity.components.set(mc)
content.add(immersiveContentEntity)
}
}
}
I got more than 1 TB Immersive videos, and I want to play from them. Is there a way I can connect a ssd to Vision Pro via developer strap? Or is it possible to connect to a 10G Ethernet ad, and then using Ethernet to connect to a disk/NAS and attach the drive via ip?
This post documents an issue I reported in feedback FB19610114 and see if anyone knows of a workaround. Here is a copy of the feedback.
Short version
Manipulation (SwiftUI OR RealityKit) fails to translate entities after changing rooms. By changing rooms, I mean a human wearing an Apple Vision Pro leaving one room and entering another room. Once this issue occurs, it impacts all apps that use these features. A device restart is the only solution I have to fix it.
Feedback FB19610114
This is an odd one. I'm using the new Manipulation Component in visionOS 26. Most of the time this works well. Sometime it stops working and when it does the only way to get it working again is to reboot the headset.
When this happens, I can continue to rotate and scale items, but translation no longer works. It is as if the item is stuck to a fixed point in the parent scene (window, volume, etc). When this bug occurs, it affects every app across the entire operating system that is using manipulation, including the RealityKit component AND the SwiftUI version. This is not limited to one app and is not limited to apps that I am working on. Once this error occurs, it affects literally any application across the operating system that is using this API, including apps from Apple.
I won't speculate on the cause of this, but I do know of one way where I can always get it to happen.
Here is how to reproduce it:
Make an Xcode project with a single entity that uses the Manipulation Component. There is no need to customize the configuration of this component. The default implementation will work.
Build and run this app on device. You can keep running from device or quit and launch the app like normal on device.
Open the app and manipulate the entity - it should work as expected.
Physically walk into another room. It is vital that you leave the current room that you are in and enter a different room entirely.
Use the digital crown to recenter your view and bring your window or volume to you.
Test the manipulation on the entity again - it should still be working as expected at this point.
Physically, move yourself and your headset into the original room where you started.
Use the digital crown to recenter your view and bring your window or volume to you.
Test the manipulation on the entity again - you should now see the issue.
When I follow the steps above, then 100% of the time manipulation translation stops working at this point. It will impact any application using this API. The only way to fix it is to restart my headset.
A few points to keep in mind
It does not matter if an app is actively being run from Xcode.
When this occurs, it impacts every single app, not just one.
When this occurs, rotation and scaling continue to work, but the entity/view cannot be translated.
This impacts BOTH the SwiftUI version and the RealityKit version.
When this occurs, the only way to "fix" it is to reboot the device.
I have a ModelEntity with GroundingShadowComponent
entity.enumerateHierarchy { child, stop in
child.components.set(GroundingShadowComponent(castsShadow: true))
}
When I set it on the table, I can see the shadow on the table, even if I disable plane detection. However, when I enable plane detection, and the plane's material is OcclusionMaterial. I can not see the shadow on the table. As far as I know, receivesDynamicLighting is not usable in VisionOS. So how can I cast shadow on OcclusionMaterial in VisionOS? Or rather, is it possible to have the shadow properly displayed on the tabletop while ensuring that I cannot see objects beneath the table through it?
I’m currently developing an app for visionOS and working with an ImmersiveSpace. I’ve noticed that the system automatically enforces a safety boundary at approximately 1.5 meters. If the user moves beyond this limit, the content fades out or the system reverts to Passthrough.
Is there any way to disable this boundary or extend its radius?
This app is currently in the experimental/verification phase, and it is intended to be run on a Vision Pro in Developer Mode. Since the primary goal is to test large-scale spatial interactions during development, I am looking for any way—including developer-specific settings or configurations—to bypass or expand this limit.
If there isn't a direct API to change the boundary size, are there any recommended workarounds for testing movement within large environments?
Any insights would be greatly appreciated!
Hi I’m using Vision Pro m5 and developer strap 2. When I connect it to my Mac, it still shows 480M… all systems are using latest firmware…
Anyone knows why?
Dear Apple Team,
I’m a high school student (vocational upper secondary school) working on my final research project about LiDAR sensors in smartphones, specifically Apple’s iPhone implementation.
My current understanding (for context):
I understand Apple’s LiDAR uses dToF with SPAD detectors: A VCSEL laser emits pulses, a DOE splits the beam into a dot pattern, and each spot’s return time is measured separately → point cloud generation.
My specific questions:
How many active projection dots does the LiDAR projector have in the iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 12 Pro?
Are the dots static or do they shift/move over time?
How many depth measurement points does the system deliver internally (after processing)?
What is the ranging accuracy (cm-level precision) of each measurement point?
Experimental background: Using an IR night vision camera, I counted approximately 111 dots on the 15 Pro vs. 576 dots on the 12 Pro. Do these match the internal specifications?
Photos of my measurements are available if helpful.
Contact request: I would be very grateful if you could connect me with an Apple engineer or ARKit specialist who works with LiDAR technology. I would love to ask follow-up questions directly and would be happy to provide my contact details for this purpose.
These specifications would be essential for my research paper. Thank you very much in advance!
Best regards,
Max!
Vocational Upper Secondary School Hans-Leipelt-Schule Donauwörth
Research Project: “LiDAR Sensor Technology in Smartphones”