NOTE: No generative AI has been used in the creation of this blogpost.
Last Friday, a new social networking app for the Apple Vision Pro was launched! It is called AuraTap, a project developed by Phil Traut and Artur Sychov, according to the About page on the visionOS app:
Even more interesting is that they make use of the sometimes-terrifyingly accurate spatial Personas feature in the visionOS operating system native to the AVP, as shown in this promotion YouTube video:
Justin Ryan, a fellow AVP enthusiast, posted this video to LinkedIn with the following comment:
You meet someone new on Apple Vision Pro. Face to face. 2 minutes. That’s the idea behind AuraTap, a new app.
If there’s a mutual vibe, you keep going. If not, you’re on to the next.
I love how quickly you can meet people, make connections, and explore each other’s profiles.
It also features one of the most beautiful UX designs I’ve tried on visionOS. Everything feels incredibly polished.
The app launches this Friday, March 27.
They’re hosting an in app launch party this Friday at 1PM PDT. Hope you can make it.
Here’s a few more screen captures I took this morning, to show you what the app looks like. Now, obviously, this is a brand-new app, and the target audience of Apple Vision Pro users is, well, let’s be honest, still rather small, but even so, to already get 238 users signed up since last Friday is kinda impressive (and yes, I set up my own profile too, why not?).
In fact, AuraTap is so new that I really didn’t have an opportunity to do more than set up a profile and browse through other users’ profiles! The idea is that you can connect with other AVP users who are also online, and have a brief chat (at least, that’s what I think it does). I mean, it’s obviously intended for professional networking, but it’s also giving me speed dating vibes, LOL! So maybe it’s going to be like so many social networking sites before it, where the users decide what it’s going to be used for.
And if the name of the one of the developers, Artur Sychov, rings a bell to my regular readers, it’s because he was one of the developers of a social VR program I wrote about on my blog, called Somnium Space (you can see all my blogposts about Somnium Space here). One thing that I can say about Artur is that he seems to be involved in many different projects! In addition to Somnium Space and now AuraTap, he’s also been working on his own virtual reality headset, called the Somnium VR1.
Interesting development, and along with InSpaze (which I have written about before many times on my blog), I look forward to testing it out and meeting some new people! The product is so new that it doesn’t even appear to have a website yet, but if I find one, I will update this blogpost to add it. And, if you already own an Apple Vision Pro, just search for “AuraTap” in the App Store, and you’ll find this free program.
UPDATE 3:25 p.m.: And the AuraTap website is now up! According to the description on the website, it works as follows:
MEET A PERSONA: Never met one before? Here’s your chance. We’ll randomly connect you with someone new — and you’ve got 5 minutes to decide if it’s a match. If you both Tap to Connect, the timer disappears, and you’ll be permanently linked, ready to find each other anytime in your contacts.
CROSS YOUR FINGERS: Here’s the catch: the other person won’t know you’ve tapped to connect. So bring your best behaviour, hope they want to stay in touch too — and in the meantime, keep your fingers crossed!STAY IN TOUCH WITH YOUR CONNECTIONS: This is the address book you’ve always wished for — a place to rediscover past connections and spark new ones. See who’s online, invite them for a quick chat, or browse their business card with socials and more. It’s not just networking — it’s the future of networking.
This, to me, sounds a little weird, and more like a dating app than a professional networking app. But then, it also sounds kinda fun. The big difference between AuraTap and InSpaze, as far as I can tell, is that all connections are one-on-one, as opposed to meetings of groups up to eight people (and, of course, the random aspect of AuraTap). Who knows, maybe Artur and Phil are on to something. I’d dearly love to know what inspired this particular app design!
UPDATE April 2nd, 2026: Well, I finally connected with my first person using AuraTap! We chatted for about two and half minutes (sorry, but I forgot to take a screenshot!). He was from the Philippines and worked in IT. It was the first chat for both of us!
I clearly do not know what I am doing, because I couldn’t see anywhere where I could actually add him to my Connect Book to talk to later if I wanted to. When that 2-1/2-minute chat abruptly ended, while I was waiting for somebody new to chat with, you are presented with a carousel of other potential people to chat with (if they were online), like FriedGuy here:
Again, while I’m not completely sold on the random interaction model, it is kinda fascinating to see who you might connect with. So I will continue to pop in over the coming Easter long weekend, just to see who I will chat with.
Oh! And I did find a podcast episode where the developers of AuraTap were interviewed (but I haven’t had an opportunity to listen to it yet). I’m curious to listen to this to learn more about their design choices for this app.
UPDATE 12:19 p.m.: Okay, so AuraTap is basically ChatRoulette, but with Apple Personas rather than using your webcam. Apparently, they used GenAI to generate ideas for a Personas-based app. and this was the one that Artur and Phil decided to run with.
