Apple's $3,500 face computer launched to a chorus of "who is this for?" and a tumbleweed-soft app library.
Six months in, the killer app remains "looking rich in public," but the software situation is quietly getting strange in the best possible way.
Developers who initially treated visionOS like a radioactive hedge fund are now shipping things nobody asked for, which is historically how platforms actually get interesting.
We're talking apps that let you conduct a symphony with your eyebrows, meditate inside a rotating cube of your own Spotify data, and yes, watch sports on what amounts to seventeen virtual screens.
The enterprise stuff is where it gets genuinely unhinged.
Companies are building training simulators for surgeons, forklift operators, and—I'm not kidding—people who need to practice awkward HR conversations with a photorealistic avatar of their boss.
Nothing says "workplace wellness" like strapping a heat source to your face to rehearse getting fired.
On the consumer side, the most downloaded apps are still basically iPad ports wearing a fancy hat.
Netflix still isn't there, YouTube is a website in a trench coat, and the App Store feels like a mall where three stores are open and one of them sells candles.
But the indie experiments are multiplying, and a few are genuinely clever.
There's a cooking app that overlays timers and steps directly onto your actual kitchen, which sounds great until you remember you're wearing ski goggles near an open flame.
There's a spatial journaling tool that pins your memories to the walls of your real living room, which is either therapeutic or a horror movie depending on your landlord.
The headset itself hasn't gotten cheaper, lighter, or less likely to smudge your foundation.
But the app ecosystem crossing from "tech demo" to "weird little guy energy" is the actual signal that matters.
Platforms don't die from bad hardware; they die from boring software, and visionOS is finally getting weird enough to be worth watching.
My take: this is the most Apple-underdog story in years, and the weird apps are doing more for the platform than any keynote ever could.
Final Thoughts
You still shouldn't buy one, but you should absolutely keep an eye on whatever a sleep-deprived developer in Ohio ships next.