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Setup
The Setup page in the app shows what is still missing. A green tick means: checked and fine. An orange triangle is a note (for example: free Apple account). An empty circle means: still missing.
Your Mac always needs four things: Xcode, the Vision Pro, an Apple developer team and the toolchain. You only need the Meta account and the Steam account for games from those stores.
After each change you can click Check Again – the button is at the bottom of the sidebar, right under the Vision Pro (or press ⌘R).
Xcode is Apple's free app for developers. AVP Play needs it to build the games for the Vision Pro. You don't have to use Xcode yourself – it just has to be installed.
- Open the App Store on your Mac and search for Xcode. Download and install it (it takes a while, Xcode is big).
- Open Xcode once. Confirm whatever it asks on first launch.
- If Setup says the visionOS platform is missing: in Xcode open Settings › Components and download visionOS.
- Xcode 27 or newer. With an older Xcode, building a game can stop with a compiler error, and Setup shows a warning. AVP Play builds with the Xcode chosen on your Mac, even if a newer one is installed next to it (for example Xcode-beta). Setup then shows a command: click Copy Command, paste it into Terminal, press Return and type your Mac password. Then click Check Again.
- In Xcode: Settings › Accounts.
- Click + at the bottom left, choose Apple ID and sign in with your Apple ID.
- Back in AVP Play, click Check Again. Your name appears under Apple Developer Team. If you have several teams, choose one in the Signed In to Xcode menu.
Both work.
| Free account (your normal Apple ID) | Paid membership (Apple Developer Program) | |
|---|---|---|
| How long does a game open? | 7 days, then it has to be signed again | 1 year |
| Apps on the Vision Pro at the same time | At most 3 | no limit |
| New games per week | at most 10 | no limit |
| Cost | none | yearly fee to Apple |
With a free account, the app shows a small "Free Apple account" box at the bottom of the sidebar, for example "2 of 3 apps · 7 days each".
Tip for the free account: Turn on Settings › Renew signatures. The app then signs your games again by itself before the 7 days are up – as long as the Vision Pro is on and on the same Wi-Fi. Saved games stay.
Needed once with a free account: Trust the developer on the Vision Pro: Settings › General › VPN & Device Management, choose your Apple account and tap Trust.
A membership that has run out: your team then counts as a free account again. If Xcode still lists it as paid, AVP Play notices this from Apple's answer the first time it builds a game. It builds the game again the way it does for a free account, and treats the team as free from then on. After you renew the membership, click Treat as Paid Again under Apple Developer Team.
- Put the Vision Pro and the Mac on the same Wi-Fi.
- On the Vision Pro: open Settings › General › Remote Devices. Leave that page open.
- On the Mac, in Xcode: open Window › Devices and Simulators, select the Vision Pro, click Pair and enter the code shown in the headset.
- On the Vision Pro: turn on Settings › Privacy & Security › Developer Mode and restart when asked.
Afterwards the Vision Pro only has to be on, unlocked and on the same Wi-Fi. The bottom of the app's sidebar shows whether it is connected and how ("connected over Wi-Fi" or "connected over cable"). The app checks by itself every 10 seconds and whenever you come back to its window – plug in the cable or put the Vision Pro on, and it shows a moment later.
Faster copying: With the Developer Strap and a USB cable, copying big games is much faster. The app uses the cable by itself.
Signing in uses a small tool from Meta called ovr-platform-util. It is free, but Meta only offers it on its own page. So it takes two clicks:
- In Setup, click 1 Open Meta's Download Page and download the macOS version there.
- AVP Play finds the file in your Downloads folder by itself (or click 2 Find the Download). You don't have to move the file.
- Click Sign In … and answer the questions in the window (e-mail, password, maybe a code).
Your access key is only stored in your Mac's keychain and only sent to Meta.
If macOS blocks the tool: Open System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway next to ovr-platform-util. Then choose Try Again in the app.
Only needed for games you bought on Steam – for example Half-Life: Alyx, Doom 3, Counter-Strike, or if you bought Walkabout Mini Golf or Moss on Steam.
- Get SteamCMD from Valve – Valve's own sign-in tool.
- If shown: Install Rosetta. Valve only makes SteamCMD for Intel Macs; Rosetta lets it run on your Mac.
- Sign In …: enter your Steam account name (the name you sign in with – not your profile name), then your password. If Steam Guard is on, type the code or confirm in the Steam app on your phone.
Your password only goes to SteamCMD. The app only stores your account name.
The toolchain is the part that translates a Quest game into a Vision Pro app. It comes with the app and installs itself. Normally there is nothing to do here.