Matias Gelos

Matias Gelos

CTO
5 MIN READ
Apple has always been at the forefront of innovation. Its efforts to consistently push the boundaries of technology to redefine user experiences have grown a step further. The spatial design capabilities of Apple Vision Pro allow developers to create exceptional sensory experiences. In this article, we will discuss the incredible spatial design elements of Apple Vision Pro in detail.

Understanding Spatial Design of Vision Pro

Apple Vision Pro opens up an unlimited 3D space for you to explore and play with. You can redesign your experience in a whole new way. Users can interact with your app while still being aware of what’s around them, or they can dive fully into a world you’ve created. Your experiences can flow smoothly—begin in a window, add 3D content, switch to a fully immersive scene, and return whenever you want.

If you want to design apps and games for VisionOS, you must start by understanding the fundamental design characteristics. Once you comprehend them, make your design decisions to create a truly immersive experience for users. 

Space

With Apple VisionPro, you get to experience an endless space where you can check out virtual stuff like windows, volumes, and 3D objects. You can even dive deep into immersive experiences that transport you to different places.

Immersion

In the VisionOS app, you can smoothly make a transition between different levels of immersion. It has a Shared Space where multiple apps can run side by side. You can open, close, and move windows around. Alternatively, you have a Full Space where it’s the only one running. In a Full Space app, you can see 3D content mixed with your surroundings, open a portal to view another place, or step into a whole new world.

Passthrough

Passthrough shows live video from the device’s external cameras, letting you interact with virtual content while seeing what’s actually around you. You can control how much of your surroundings you want to see using the Digital Crown.

Spatial Audio

Apple VisionPro uses sound and visual-sensing technology to mimic the sound of the place you’re in, making audio sound natural. When an app gets your permission to know about your surroundings, it can fine-tune Spatial Audio for custom experiences.

Design Principles of Visio Pro Spatial UI

These are the core design principles of Apple Vision Pro.

App Icons

Starting with the basics, Apple places a strong emphasis on app icons. These icons are not only familiar but also take on a realistic 3D effect, expanding when viewed. The use of multiple layers and transparent foregrounds contributes to this captivating visual depth.

Materials

Materials play a crucial role in creating an interface that seamlessly fits into the user’s space. Apple introduced the Glass material, giving users a sense of what might be behind a window and making the overall experience lightweight and engaging.

When designing windows, the choice of materials is key. Glass windows set the foundation, while darker or lighter materials can be strategically employed to guide attention and enhance contrast. Apple advises against stacking lighter materials on top of each other to maintain legibility.

Typography

Typography undergoes modifications to ensure readability against vibrant materials. Font weight is adjusted, and system fonts are recommended for optimized legibility, especially in larger window sizes.

Vibrancy

Vibrancy is a crucial aspect of Apple’s spatial design, brightening foreground content and dynamically adapting to changing backgrounds. This not only maintains legibility but also indicates hierarchy for text, symbols, and fills.

Layout and Ergonomics

Ergonomics takes center stage in Apple’s spatial design philosophy. Recognizing that users primarily interact with their eyes and hands, Apple emphasizes the importance of intentional content placement to avoid eye or neck fatigue. Considering the range of neck motion, Apple suggests designing with a focus on right and left movements rather than placing UI elements too high or low.

Size

Sizing matters in creating an accessible interface. Interactive elements should have a tap target area with at least 60 points of space, promoting ease of selection. Focus feedback, which is represented by a subtle visual brightening or hover effect, helps you identify interactive elements at a glance.

Moving From Screen to Spatial?

Moving from screens to spatial design involves understanding the core structure of an iOS app.
  • Windows has an opaque material that forms the canvas for all elements.
  • Tab bars are placed vertically on the left side for easy access.
  • Ornaments are strategically placed slightly in front of the window, utilizing depth to create a hierarchy. They offer persistent controls that are easily accessible.
  • Menus and popovers can expand outside the window, centered by default, for an intuitive user experience.
  • Sheets, presented as modal views, appear at the center of the app, preventing interactions with the parent view until dismissed.

Some Suggestions for Designers

Here are some great suggestions to ensure an engaging user experience in Vision Pro:

Find a Balance in the Range of Immersion

Consider the full spectrum of immersion when designing distinctive moments in your app. However, not every moment needs to be completely immersive, so set the level of immersion to suit each key aspect of your app.

Use Windows for UI-centric Experiences

Opt for standard windows that act as planes in space, containing familiar controls to assist users in completing regular tasks. In visionOS, users can relocate windows wherever they want, and the system’s dynamic scaling ensures content remains clear, whether it’s nearby or far.

Keep Comfort a Top Priority

Here are some basic principles to ensure users can interact with your app or game comfortably and without strain:
  • Display content within the user’s field of view, aligning it with their head to avoid unnecessary head movements.
  • Avoid jarring motion, excessively fast transitions, or missing a stable frame of reference.
  • Support indirect gestures that allow users to interact with the app with their hands at rest.
  • If direct gestures are supported, ensure the interactive content is within a reasonable distance.

Take Away

Apple Vision Pro offers an expansive canvas designed for crafting immersive digital experiences. When developing apps and games for VisionOS, it’s crucial to grasp the spatial design principles intrinsic to Vision Pro. Besides, consider partnering with cutting-edge app solutions to meet your Apple Vision Pro development requirements for a seamless and innovative journey.

 Need help to get your   app project started?

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FAQs About App Development

Crafting and bringing a Vision Pro app to life can often feel like a daunting endeavor. However, with our wealth of knowledge and seasoned expertise, we’re equipped to address all your questions and navigate you through the app creation journey with unparalleled smoothness and simplicity.

At Frame 60, our software development journey began with a focus on mobile iOS and Android applications developed using Objective C and Java. As technology advanced, we made a seamless transition to modern programming languages like Swift, Swift UI, and Kotlin.

When it comes to creating AR/VR experiences and games, our primary choice is Unity for Native applications, and for Web-based projects, we leverage 8thwall, A-Frame and WebXR. With the recent introduction of Apple Vision Pro, we are actively involved in the process of migrating existing AR/VR Unity apps to Vision Pro and exploring new possibilities through Swift UI.

For web development, we excel in crafting dynamic websites using React and Node, along with expertise in building platforms on WordPress. In addition to these, we are well-versed in various other frameworks and programming languages such as Firebase, Golang, Python, and PHP, ensuring our ability to tackle a wide range of projects with versatility and proficiency.

At our software development company, we initiate the process with an introductory video conference meeting. During this session, we take the opportunity to establish a strong working relationship and delve into discussions about your project's key features, timelines, dependencies, and other essential aspects. If there is mutual interest and compatibility, you can confidently share any project documentation you may have, and rest assured, we are open to signing NDAs to ensure confidentiality.

In case the project specifications require further refinement, we are happy to offer a ballpark estimate to give you a rough idea of the overall cost. Subsequently, if you find it beneficial, we can continue with additional meetings to meticulously fine-tune the requirements and provide you with an accurate and detailed estimate. Our aim is to foster clear communication and transparency throughout the entire collaboration to ensure the success of your project.

Absolutely! We understand that launching an app can be a challenging process. With our vast experience of submitting hundreds of apps, we are well aware of the intricacies involved, including the occasional feedback from Apple store reviewers. Rest assured, we have a thorough understanding of the approval process, and we are fully equipped to assist you in achieving a swift and successful approval for your app. Our goal is to make the entire process as seamless and efficient as possible, so you can focus on realizing your app's full potential without unnecessary delays or complications.

Absolutely! At our custom mobile app development company, staying in close communication with our clients is a top priority.

We believe that regular updates are essential for ensuring that your expectations align seamlessly with our work. To achieve this, we encourage prompt feedback from you. To facilitate effective communication, we often break down the project into manageable phases and deliver new features every week or two. For day-to-day interactions, we are proficient in using platforms like Slack and Discord, providing a quick and efficient way to stay connected.

Moreover, we conduct weekly video conference calls, where we can discuss requirements and showcase the progress made on your project. However, we also understand that some clients prefer a more traditional approach, and we are happy to accommodate that as well, offering communication via good old-fashioned email if that's more comfortable for you.

By adopting this communication strategy, we ensure that you are well-informed about the development progress and that your valuable input is incorporated seamlessly into the project, fostering a collaborative and successful partnership.

Certainly! At our software development company, we firmly believe in granting our clients full ownership and control of their applications.

Once the development process is completed, you become the sole owner of the application and its source code. This means you have the freedom to submit the application to the relevant app stores or deploy the website as you see fit. The source code is included as a part of the final deliverable, ensuring that you have complete access and authority over it.

To further empower you, we provide detailed documentation along with the deliverable. This documentation serves as a valuable resource for any future developers who may need to work on the project. It contains all the essential information, enabling them to understand precisely what we have implemented and how the application functions.

Our commitment to granting you ownership of the code and providing comprehensive documentation is aimed at ensuring your long-term success and independence with your software solution.

Yes. We regularly build proof-of-concept apps and MVPs to help clients validate ideas, secure funding, or pitch to internal stakeholders.

Absolutely. We've built medical-grade prototypes, including brain scan visualization tools, and can tailor AR/VR development for healthcare use cases.

For initial development, we use Apple’s visionOS simulator. However, full testing requires access to the Vision Pro device, which we support internally.

Yes. We can migrate existing Unity projects to visionOS using Unity PolySpatial and Apple's APIs, while optimizing for performance and UI/UX standards.

Some components can extend to iPad or iPhone, but immersive spatial features are exclusive to Vision Pro. We can advise on cross-device strategy as part of your AR/VR development roadmap.

Yes. Our AR/VR development team specializes in Quest’s MR capabilities using color passthrough, depth APIs, and environment blending.

Absolutely. We can integrate Photon, Normcore, or custom networking stacks to enable social, collaborative, or multiplayer AR/VR apps.

While all support core features, Quest 3 and Pro offer better passthrough, depth sensing, and hand tracking. We help tailor AR/VR development to the hardware's strengths.

Yes, we implement Quest’s hand tracking APIs for natural gesture-based input, ideal for immersive experiences and accessibility.

Yes. We primarily use Unity for Meta Quest apps but can also develop in Unreal depending on the visual or technical requirements.

Yes. Our team handles the full spectrum—from mobile AR on iOS/Android to fully immersive VR for headsets like Quest and Vision Pro.

Yes. We frequently develop custom graphics pipelines, shaders, and input systems to create high-fidelity AR/VR experiences.

Definitely. Many of our clients engage us early to help shape the product vision, build prototypes, and outline a go-to-market plan.

Yes. We offer ongoing support, feature expansions, and performance optimizations after your AR/VR app is live.

Yes. We’ve integrated AI-based assistants, object tracking, and spatial awareness features into AR/VR projects for smarter interactions.

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