Apple Vision Pro is controlled by just five simple gestures you do with your hands. The Vision Pro gestures even work in the dark!
If you’re going to try on someone’s Vision Pro, or you’re lucky enough to buy one yourself, here’s how to use what Apple calls “the most advanced personal electronics device ever.”
While Vision Pro takes a physical form resembling ski goggles, the whole idea is that, unlike with a MacBook or iPhone, you don’t have a screen, keyboard, mouse or trackpad to interact with. It’s an invisible computer. Apple has a bunch of breakthrough gestures to make it work — here’s how to use them.
How to use Apple Vision Pro gestures
1. Look with your eyes and tap your fingers
On a computer, you move an on-screen cursor to point and click a button to select. On a phone or tablet, you touch the screen with your fingers. But on Apple Vision Pro, the computer follows your eyes. Just look at a button or UI element and tap your fingers to select. You just tap your index finger against your thumb. You don’t have to hold your hands out in front of you — cameras on the bottom of Vision Pro will watch your hands even if they’re sitting comfortably in your lap or on a chair’s armrest.
2. Pinch and drag to move items in Vision Pro
To move things around, you look at an item, pinch your fingers, then move your hand in the air as though pulling a piece of invisible string. To move a window, for example, look at the window bar below an app, pinch and drag to move it around in 3D space. You can push it farther away, bring it close, move it left or right, up on the ceiling or down on the floor. You can even pinch your fingers and take it for a walk into a different room with you. Pinch-and-drag can be used to move app windows, resize windows, scroll through content or drag things from one app to another.
3. Pinch and flick to scroll
This gesture is pretty similar. To scroll through a web page or text conversation, just look at the contents of the window, pinch your fingers and flick your hand up or down. Go faster to scroll faster. Pinch-and-flick is good for flicking through photos, navigating apps in Home View, and scrolling long web pages.
4. Pinch and hold for more options
Similar to how you can tap and hold on iPhone to see more options or right-click on a Mac, you can pinch and hold on Vision Pro.
- Pinch and hold on a link in Safari to preview the page.
- Pinch and hold in a message list to see the conversation.
- Pinch and hold on the close button below an app to hide other apps.
5. Reach out and touch
Some elements can be interacted with by touching them directly, like the floating keyboard, or the passcode screen. Touching also works for many apps when they are brought close up; it feels like having a virtual iPad you can control with your fingertips. It also works in apps or games that create 3D objects in your space, like Super Fruit Ninja or Exploring Mars.
Troubleshoot Vision Pro gestures
Vision Pro gestures work in the dark, just as Face ID works in the dark to unlock your iPhone. Both systems use infrared lights to see in the dark. However, Vision Pro works best in good light.
In addition:
- Make sure your hands and fingers are clearly visible and not obscured by long sleeves, jewelry, blankets, a desk, or gloves.
- Make sure Vision Pros cameras are clean and free from dirt or smudges.
- Vision Pro gestures work fine if your hands are in your lap: there’s no need to lift your arm.
- If gestures aren’t working with one hand, try the other. Or try moving your hands to a different position.
