Apple on Tuesday seeded the fifth beta of its visionOS software for its upcoming Vision Pro headset. The fifth beta release comes nearly one month after the last beta.
A select number of developers currently have access to Vision Pro headsets and they are being used for app testing purposes. Most developers will not have access to the visionOS beta outside of Xcode, and Apple doesn’t announce what it is adding in each visionOS beta update.
Apple has said that an App Store will be coming to visionOS soon, and it appears that it may be present in this fifth beta.
It looks like visionOS Beta 5 has the App Store! pic.twitter.com/RIL9u9sBQB
— Aaron (@aaronp613) October 31, 2023
Apple says that Apple Vision Pro headsets are Apple-owned development devices. Developers are required to keep the headsets where they are shipped in a private, secure workspace that is accessible only by the developers who were approved to work with one.
Apple is also allowing developers to attend Vision Pro labs around the globe. A report in early August said the developer labs have been “under-filled with small amounts of developers.” Apparently, one of the factors behind the less-than-exciting attendance numbers is that Apple is not offering U.S. developer labs outside of Cupertino, meaning any developer that wants to give the Vision Pro a try must travel to Apple’s headquarters in California.
Apple says the developer labs offer self-directed coding and design labs, where developers can test and optimize your apps on visionOS. Developers can bring their Mac, code, and everything they need to modify, build, run, and test their apps on Apple Vision Pro. Apple experts are available to help developers with setup and troubleshooting.
The Vision Pro headset is not expected to be released until early 2024.
