The Apple Vision Pro is about to arrive for the first wave of buyers, after years of anticipation. It’s probably one of the most hyped Apple releases that we can remember in recent memory, and some companies have been hard at work to optimize their apps for the headsert’s “visionOS” operating system. Microsoft has now revealed its first wave of applications for the Vision Pro headset, including optimized versions of classic Office apps and the Microsoft Teams communication platform.
Microsoft has announed several of its applications will have optimized visionOS versions starting on February 2, 2024, starting with the core Office apps: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Teams. There will also be versions of OneNote, Loop, and Outlook, allowing you to stay on top of your workflow while you’re using the headset. It’s not clear at the moment if Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps will require a paid Microsoft 365 subscription like the macOS versions.
The new applications closely match the iPad versions (visionOS is based heavily on iOS and iPadOS), so they won’t be completely unfamiliar, but there are a few changes. There’s still a ribbon toolbar for switching between tools and and throughout different settings for documents, tables, and presentations. The Word, PowerPoint, and Excel apps will likely have the same limitations as the iPad apps.
Microsoft Teams will support the Apple Vision Pro’s virtual persona feature, which will create an authentic representation of yourself that other people will see during the call. Since it has no front facing camera that can point at you, it needs to come up with something to show for other people in the call. All Microsoft 365 apps on the Apple Vision Pro also have access to Copilot, Microsoft’s generative AI solution, so it can help you get around and organize your work.
The apps will become available starting February 2, and you’ll be able to download them from the App Store in your headset. It’s definitely good to see more and more apps make their way to the headset, especially as apps like Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube seem to be snubbing it.
Source: Microsoft 365 Blog
