The next major update to visionOS could include eye scrolling, for navigating long lists and webpages entirely hands-free. The Vision Pro already uses eye- and hand-tracking for navigating its interface; if true, this would take it to the next level.
Scrolling is one of the most fundamental interactions with a smartphone. But it hasn’t translated as well to the Vision Pro, where you need to pinch two fingers together and move your hand.
If visionOS 3 lets you scroll simply by looking at the bottom of a window, that could be a powerful new feature of the headset.
Vision Pro may add eye scrolling
Image: Apple
The Vision Pro is Apple’s premium mixed-reality headset, unveiled in 2023 as “the most advanced personal electronics device ever.” Inside the headset, you see your surroundings exactly as they are, with high-resolution passthrough video — with apps floating in your environment. Its advanced eye- and hand-tracking lets you control apps and buttons by looking at them, pinching your fingers to select.
The Vision Pro’s operating system, visionOS, already uses hand gestures for interaction. Tap your finger and thumb to select something. Look at your hand and tap to open the Home View, where you can launch apps. Pinch your fingers and move your hand to scroll through a list.
Look ma, no hands!
Photo: Apple
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, visionOS 3 will “leverage the Vision Pro’s existing eye-tracking hardware and software to take the system a step further.” The new feature “lets users scroll through software with their eyes.” Additionally, “the eye-scrolling feature will work across all of Apple’s built-in apps.”
Presumably, this means that focusing your eyes at the bottom or the top of a window will scroll the contents in that direction. This would be a welcome change, as users have said that using your whole hand to scroll is more tiring than flicking your thumb, like on the iPhone. If hands-free scrolling with eye tracking works reliably, it may surpass the iPhone in its ease-of-use.
visionOS 3 coming soon
Apple will introduce visionOS 3, along with iOS and iPadOS 19, macOS 16, watchOS 12 and tvOS 19 in a few weeks’ time. On Monday, June 9, Apple will kick off WWDC25, its annual developer conference. WWDC will begin with a livestreamed keynote that will outline the major features coming to all its operating systems. The updates are expected to be released in September.
