How to enable WebXR support in Apple Vision Pro

WebXR Demo Page [X/michaelgold]

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Apple Vision is disabled by default for now Pro users are still can use WebXR to enjoy browser-based mixed reality experiences using a headset. Here's how to enable this support.

WebXR is an API for web browsers that is used by virtual reality and mixed reality devices to provide augmented and virtual reality experiences. The idea is that it is used as an interface between the headset software needed to operate and the digital experience loaded into the browser rather than loaded by an app.

The API is used to provide data to the headset software rather than display it directly on the display. Instead, it is an intermediary that provides data that can be used to create a mixed reality or augmented reality object or VR scene.

It can also send data in other ways, including information about the posture and orientation of the headset and connected controllers.

WebXR has been around as an API for some time, being used for standalone VR and AR headsets, as well as desktop-tethered versions, and even on a small scale using Google Cardboard with a mobile device such as an iPhone.

You can try out examples of interactions created with WebXR online in many current-generation browsers using a variety of headsets.

Although Apple Vision Pro users can expect to benefit from technologies like WebXR from the start, especially when using a modern browser like Safari. Unfortunately, it is not possible for users to use it right away.

The Safari browser on VisionOS still supports WebXR, but you'll have to change a few settings to make it work.

How to enable WebXR support in VisionOS

As detailed by developer Professor Michael Gold on X, users have to make changes themselves to enable support. When you visit a WebXR-enabled page without support enabled using Safari on Apple Vision Pro, you'll see a message saying it's not enabled.

To make changes, users need to change the switches for Safari's Feature Flags.

Although the settings are a little hard to find, it's likely that Apple will include them as standard in a future VisionOS update.

How to enable WebXR support in Safari for Apple Vision Pro

1. Open Settings.
2. Select Applications.
3. Select Safari.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the window and select Advanced.
5. Scroll to the bottom of the window and select Feature Flags.
6. In the XR Experimental Features section, enable the WebXR Device API and the WebXR Manual Input Module.
7. In the Feature Flags section WebKit” enable the WebXR Augmented Reality Module and the WebXR GamePad Module.
8. Exit Settings.
9. Open Safari or, if it's already open, refresh the WebXR-enabled page to see if it works.

Because Apple Vision Pro does not use controllers, only demos and events that use hand tracking will work with the headset.