Xbox Elite controller and Apple Vision Pro
In relatively recent days, two projects to stream Steam VR games from your high-end gaming PC have arrived on the Apple Vision Pro App Store, and they’re both pretty good.
We discussed ALVR in February when the project launched. There is also another project to stream Steam VR games to Apple Vision Pro, called iVRy. And now, both are on the App Store.
The first one available, iVRY, is a free download, with an in-app purchase or a purchase on Steam required for full functionality after a few minutes. It integrates into Steam natively with a driver download and install required on the Windows PC, so there’s no “helper” application required to install.
Importantly, if the $9 Premium in-app purchase is made on the Apple Vision Pro headset, the iVRY driver does not need to be purchased through Steam.
It supports both Wi-Fi connections to Apple Vision Pro, with the developer saying that USB-C connections are possible, but we haven’t tried that yet and that may be boilerplate text for other platforms copied over. Additionally, it is compatible with what the developer says is “most” HTC Vive and Oculus Rift titles with a third-party add-on.
There is also an iVRy driver to use SteamVR titles on an iPhone. This requires an apparatus like Google Cardboard, or other inexpensive headsets that allow you to slot in your iPhone.
ALVR is recently available too
The most recent addition to the App Store for SteamVR streaming, hitting it late on Monday night, is ALVR. It requires a computer running the OpenVR runtime.
On Twitter/X, the developer said that the contained version is a bit behind. We’re expecting updates to arrive with the improvements the developer has made fairly soon.
We’ve tried both at varying points in development with a 12th generation Intel i7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and a Nvidia RTX 3080 video card. Controllers used were Nintendo JoyCons for games that require controller tracking, and joystick input for titles that do not. Wireless streaming is pretty good given the vast amounts of data being passed, but both projects essentially demand a 5GHz router in close proximity to both the Apple Vision Pro and the gaming PC.
Neither are particularly tolerant of congested Wi-Fi. If this is something you’re planning on using extensively, we recommend use late at night when the rest of the inhabitants of your house are asleep, or a more custom configuration with the PC and the Apple Vision Pro headset on its own dedicated router.
Going forward, we will be testing both with a Developer’s Strap, and will report back. Apple Vision Pro coverage is not what we’d call “in high demand,” so let us know if further and deeper evaluation of either method is warranted.
We recommend a strong gaming PC to use both.
