TL;DR
CONNECTOME, an immersive art app, is now available on both Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro. Developers encountered significant technical challenges adapting it for Vision Pro, revealing broader issues in XR platform support.
CONNECTOME, an immersive art experience, is now available on Apple Vision Pro alongside Meta Quest, marking a significant step in cross-platform XR development. However, developers faced unexpected technical hurdles adapting the app to Vision Pro’s unique hardware and software environment, highlighting broader challenges in building for new XR platforms. This development matters because it underscores the technical complexity and resource demands involved in bringing consistent experiences to emerging headsets.
Developed by Grant Hinkson, CONNECTOME utilizes hand tracking on both Meta Quest and Vision Pro, with eye tracking on the latter. When porting the app to Vision Pro, Hinkson encountered compatibility issues with Unity’s toolkits. Specifically, the Shapes library used for rendering was incompatible with PolySpatial, Unity’s default toolkit for visionOS, requiring a switch to Metal rendering. This switch, however, eliminated eye-based hover effects, a key feature of Vision Pro’s user interface. To address this, Hinkson built custom bridges at the native level, which involved developing post-build patchers to maintain functionality across app updates.
Hinkson’s experience illustrates the broader difficulties developers face when adapting applications to new hardware platforms with limited SDK support. Unity has acknowledged that it will not support certain features like eye hover effects on Metal, leaving developers to create their own solutions. These hurdles result in increased development time and resource allocation, delaying the deployment of polished XR experiences.
Implications for XR Platform Development
This situation exposes the technical gaps in current XR development ecosystems, especially for emerging hardware like Apple Vision Pro. Developers must often create custom solutions, which extends development timelines and increases costs. The challenges faced by Hinkson highlight why app availability on new headsets can lag behind device launches and why platform support remains uneven. As XR adoption grows, resolving these technical barriers will be crucial for delivering seamless, consistent experiences across devices, influencing the pace of innovation and user adoption in the industry.
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Challenges in Developing for New XR Hardware
Apple Vision Pro, released in early 2025, introduced a new spatial computing paradigm with features like eye tracking and advanced rendering APIs. While Apple provided some developer tools, many SDKs and engine integrations, notably with Unity, remain incomplete or unsupported. Developers like Hinkson have publicly documented the need for workarounds, including building custom bridges and post-build patchers, to enable core functionalities such as eye hover effects and color management. Similar issues have been observed with other XR platforms, but the level of support varies, often leading to prolonged development cycles. These obstacles are typical for new hardware platforms where SDKs and engine support are still evolving.
“Building for visionOS requires custom solutions due to incomplete engine support, which significantly complicates development.”
— an anonymous researcher
Unresolved Technical Support Gaps for Developers
It is not yet clear when or if Unity and other engine providers will fully support features like eye hover effects on visionOS. Unity has confirmed it will not implement support for certain APIs, leaving developers to maintain custom solutions. The long-term impact of these gaps on app development timelines and the broader XR ecosystem remains uncertain, as the industry waits for more comprehensive SDK support from major engine providers.
Future Steps for Cross-Platform XR Development
Developers will likely continue creating custom tools and patches to bridge SDK gaps, with some sharing solutions publicly or commercially. Meanwhile, engine providers like Unity may update their support, but delays are expected until platform support becomes more mature. Apple and other hardware manufacturers are expected to improve developer support and SDK integration in upcoming updates, which could streamline future app development. The industry anticipates that these technical hurdles will gradually diminish as SDKs evolve and more developers contribute to shared toolsets.
Key Questions
What are the main technical challenges in developing for Apple Vision Pro?
The primary challenges involve SDK support limitations, such as lack of support for eye hover effects and incompatibility of certain rendering libraries with visionOS, requiring developers to build custom solutions.
Why does porting apps like CONNECTOME take longer on Vision Pro than on Quest?
Because of platform-specific SDK gaps, developers face additional workarounds, custom bridging, and patching, which extend development timelines compared to more mature ecosystems like Meta Quest.
Will these development hurdles be resolved soon?
It is uncertain. While some SDK improvements are expected, current support gaps suggest that developers will continue to face challenges until engine providers fully integrate platform features.
How does this impact the adoption of XR applications on new headsets?
Technical hurdles can delay the release of polished, feature-complete applications, potentially slowing user adoption until platform support stabilizes and developers can deploy more seamless experiences.
Source: UploadVR
