10 Hacks Every Apple Vision Pro User Should Know

The Apple Vision Pro is a beast of a machine. By putting an M5 chip under the hood—a 3-nanometer processor with a 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, and 16-core Neural Engine— Apple leapfrogged the M3 and M4 entirely, putting more raw power on your face than most people have on their desks. But like any high-performance machine, you have to tune it up and drive it right to get the most out of what's under the hood. Whether you've had yours since launch or just unboxed it, these ten hacks will help you get more out of your Apple Vision Pro. Some are simple adjustments, some are deeper dives, but all of them are worth your time.

Access the Vision Pro's "hidden" settings

Apple's going for a specific aesthetic with the Vision Pro UI, so there aren't as many things to customize in the "settings" menu as you might like, but there are a lot of useful adjustments buried in the Accessibility menu. These settings are designed for users with dexterity, visual, or hearing impairments, but anyone might prefer a zoom feature or an modification to the click speed of the digital crown.

Here's what I've changed in my Vision Pro's via the accessibility menu:

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- Bold Text

- Increase Contrast

- Reduced Motion (Reduces the movement of user interface elements)

- Set it so saying "shh" turns down the volume.

You might be interested in the same settings, or others presented here, so take a peek into the Accessibility menu to see what works for you. Pro tip: You can triple-click the digital crown to toggle accessibility features on and off instantly.

Control your smart home with spatial widgets

The latest update to VisionOS added spatial widgets so you can pin information in places it makes the most sense—e.g. put a timer next to your stove for cooking, or the weather and news right by the front door. But if you have any Matter-compatible smart home devices, you can take widgets to the next level with Apple Home. This app lets you pin controls for things like your air conditioner and lighting wherever you like, so you can stick the "night mode" button above your bed and turn everything off with a click when the day is over. If you want to take it further, download Widgetsmith and customize the appearance of smart home controls. Once you pin a widget, it will stay there until you move it or delete it, even when you restart.

Use "connect to server" for unlimited storage

With visionOS, you can connect to a local server on your network, like your PC or Mac, or cloud storage providers, and access files without saving them to your headset. It's a great way to work with large files without filling up your Vision Pro's storage—especially if you opted for the base 256GB. To set it up, you need to allow sharing on the remote computer, then go to "Files" within the Vision Pro, enter your server's host name or network address, then choose "Connect." Depending on the server, you can connect as a guest, or you can enter your username and password, and you're good to go.

Use settings and mirroring to securely share the Vision Pro experience

One of the biggest downsides to AR and VR is the inability to say "take a look at this!" and show your friend. The Apple Vision Pro's Guest User mode isn't quite that, but it's at least an easy and quick way to hand around your headset. Here's how it works:

- Go to Control Center.

- Pinch "Guest User."

- Hand your headset over and the Vision Pro will run a quick set-up and calibration, then open on what you were looking at, while protecting your private data.

- When you put the headset back on, your original calibration will return.

If you don't want to fully share your headset, you can still share your view. AirPlay Mirroring lets others see what you're seeing on their phones or other devices. You can beam your view to any nearby iPad, Mac, or AirPlay-compatible TV that shares a wifi network with your Vision Pro. Here's how it works:

- On your headset, go to Control Center and select the "Mirror My View" icon (it looks like two overlapping squares).

- You should see a list of any compatible devices on your network. Choose the one you want to stream to.

- If you don't see a device, you may need to turn on AirPlay Receiver (found in System Settings > General > AirDrop & Handoff on macOS and within the Apple Vision Pro app on iOS).

Use "Gaussian splats" to create 3D virtual spaces you can walk around in

One of the standout features of the Vision Pro is the device's ability to instantly upscale and alter existing 2D photos into spatial 3D images. You just open the photo gallery, select a picture, and click the "spatial" and/or immersion icons and it instantly gives your pics depth. But that's only the first level of the 3D you can achieve.

Third-party apps like Spatial Media Toolkit and Spatial Video Studio let you control parameters like depth intensity, crop for the best 3D effect, and save in formats that can be viewed outside of the Vision Pro. That in