As of March 26, 2024, the Drafts iPad version is available for use on Vision Pro. I have not tested this configuration myself, and have minimal feedback from testers on hardware, but it seems that it works without significant issues – so I’m making it broadly available as an option.
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Thanks again for doing this. I have been using Vision Pro since launch (and have been an avid Drafts user across iOS/MacOS since 2013) and let me tell you—Drafts is still the best app for Vision Pro, even without being a native app. It just works, exactly as I would expect it to, just like I was using it on any other platform, and I’ve been using it every day since you made it available.
I found this post as I was looking to adapt some actions for use with Obsidian, but the Obsidian Vision Pro experience presented a contrast that left me looking for a more Drafts-centric workflow. Obsidian, like many VisionOS apps at the moment, is slow to load, has difficult tap targets for an eyesight-based interface, and often quits or reloads unexpectedly.
—I digress. I’m not here to complain, I’m here to express my gratitude and share a couple of wishes. Drafts continues to be just so dependable that I hadn’t even thought about telling anyone. It just gets out of the way and lets me do my work, so I appreciate that.
The perfect VisionOS app for me—the wish that almost drives me to learn to code and write it myself—is basically Drafts with the MacOS ability to pop a draft out into another window and the option to use the native VisionOS frosted glass interface background for the editor and menus. It would be great if I could “pin” the primary editor to my keyboard, but I bet Apple keeps that capability reserved for their proprietary predictive text window.
When I sit down to write, I prefer to engage the fully immersive mode with the Lake Vrangla environment, and as the screenshot below illustrates, it’s perfectly serene. VisionOS recognizes my Magic Keyboard to give me just enough reference to type, and there’s nothing else between me and the text.
Thanks again, and please feel free to reach out if you have questions, suggestions, or would like me to test anything.
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I’m glad it’s a good experience for you on Vision Pro.
Can you not open multiple windows on VisionOS? I do not have one, but assumed the iPad’s multiple window features would work on it. Can you long-press a draft in the list and select “Open in new Window”?
As for any more native experience, it’s probably not something coming in the short term. It’s hard to justify investing in the device and the time to build the native experience, when, per Apple’s analytics, you are one of a very few who use Drafts on a Vision Pro with any regularity (in the order of only 10-12 users per month).
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Thank you for your reply—it turns out that your app does support multiple windows! Greg, I’m so happy right now! I had tried the same trick on so many other apps, but they responded as if they were confined to a singular instance of their iPadOS map.
I imagined I would be on a very slim cusp of the Venn diagram indicating Vision Pro early adopters and plain text enthusiasts, so definitely don’t waste any effort on my wish list. Apple will probably handle the default window texture and “pinning” situation in VisionOS 3. Being able to refer to multiple notes at once makes Drafts the spatial note-taking system I’ve always wanted. Thanks again.
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