At WWDC25 we launched a new type of Lab event for the developer community - Group Labs. A Group Lab is a panel Q&A designed for a large audience of developers. Group Labs are a unique opportunity for the community to submit questions directly to a panel of Apple engineers and designers. Here are the highlights from the WWDC25 Group Lab for visionOS.
I saw that there is a new way to add SwiftUI View attachments in my RealityView, what advantages does this have over the old way?
Attachments can now be added directly to your entities with ViewAttachmentComponent. The removes the need to declare your attachments upfront in your RealityView initializer and then add those attachments as child entities. The new approach provides greater flexibility. Canyon Crosser and Petite Asteroids both utilize the new approach.
ManipulationComponent looks really cool! Right now my app has a series of complicated custom gestures. What gestures does it handle for me exactly, and are there any situations where I should prefer my own custom gestures?
ManipulationComponent provides natural interaction with virtual objects. It seamlessly handles translation and rotation. You can easily add manipulation to a SwiftUI view like Model3D with the manipulable view modifier.
The new Object Manipulation API is great for most apps, and is a breeze to implement, but sometimes you might want a more custom feel, and that’s ok! Custom gestures are still fully supported for that scenario.
I saw that there is a new API to also access the right main camera. What can I do with this?
Correct, in visionOS 26, you can access the left and right main cameras. You can even access them simultaneously as a stereo pair. Camera access still requires a managed entitlement and an enterprise license, see Accessing the main camera for more details about those requirements.
More computer vision and machine learning use-cases are unlocked with access to both cameras, we are excited to see what you will do!
What do I need to do to add spatial accessory input for my app?
First, use the GameController framework to establish a connection with the spatial accessory, and then listen for events from the controller. Then, you can use either RealityKit, ARKit, or a combination of both to track the accessory, anchor virtual content to it, and fine tune the accessory interaction with the content in your app.
For more details, check out Discovering and tracking spatial game controllers and styli.
By far, the most difficulty with implementing visionOS apps is SwiftUI window management…placing, opening, closing, etc. Are there any improvements to window management in visionOS 26?
Yes! We recommend watching Set the scene with SwiftUI in visionOS.
You can use the defaultLaunchBehavior to choose whether a particular window is presented (or suppressed) at launch. You can also prevent a window like a secondary toolbar from launching as the initial window using .restorationBehavior(.disabled). Adopting best practices for persistent UI provides a great overview of SwiftUI window management on visionOS.
As for placing windows, there is still no API for an app to specify the placement of its windows other than relative placement. If that is a feature you are interested in, please file an enhancement request for it using Feedback Assistant!
How to get access to the Enterprise API?
First, request the entitlement and license through your Apple Developer or enterprise account. Once these have been granted, include the license and entitlement in your project. Then you can build, test, and distribute as an in-house app.
