Apple Vision Pro Sticky Notes App Overview
StickOns is an Apple Vision Pro sticky notes app designed for spatial computing. Built with SwiftUI, visionOS, and RealityKit, the app lets users place, move, resize, and organize colorful sticky notes directly in their real-world environment.
The project was my first Vision Pro app and helped me explore how familiar productivity tools can become more natural, immersive, and useful in mixed reality.
It brings the familiar joy of physical sticky notes into spatial computing, allowing users to place, resize, move, and organize colorful notes directly in their real-world environment: whether at their desk, in the living room, or during a brainstorming session.
Why I Built StickOns for Apple Vision Pro
I built StickOns to explore how simple productivity tools could feel in spatial computing. Instead of recreating a traditional notes app on a floating screen, I wanted to design something that felt native to Apple Vision Pro: lightweight, visual, and connected to the user’s physical space.
The goal was to turn a familiar real-world object into a spatial experience without making it feel complicated. Sticky notes already belong on walls, desks, and workspaces, which made them a natural fit for experimenting with visionOS.
The Problem
Traditional sticky notes are incredibly useful for quick ideas, reminders, and brainstorming, but they have clear limitations: they run out, get lost, create physical clutter, and can’t easily be rearranged in 3D space.
In spatial computing with Vision Pro, there was no simple, natural way to replicate that lightweight, tactile note-taking experience in a mixed-reality environment.
The Spatial Sticky Notes Solution
StickOns lets users place sticky notes anywhere in their physical space using hand gestures. Notes can be freely moved, resized, rotated, and organized in true 3D space. The goal was to keep the experience as simple and delightful as real-world sticky notes while taking full advantage of spatial computing.
My Role & Process
StickOns was my first Vision Pro app and my introduction to visionOS development. I built the entire project myself: from concept and spatial UI design to implementation and polishing the interactions.
This project was a complete learning experience. I had to rethink how interfaces should behave when they exist in the user’s real environment rather than on a flat screen.
Challenges
As my first dive into visionOS, I faced several new technical and design challenges:
- Learning the visionOS SDK and spatial design principles from scratch.
- Creating natural and intuitive interactions using hand tracking
- Designing UI elements that feel comfortable and non-intrusive in a mixed-reality environment
- Balancing simplicity with the new capabilities of spatial computing; making sure the app still felt like “sticky notes” and not a complex 3D tool.
Key Features
- Place sticky notes anywhere in your real-world environment
- Natural hand gestures to move, resize, and rotate notes
- Colorful, customizable sticky notes
- Persistent notes that stay in their spatial location
- Clean, minimal spatial interface designed for comfort
Technologies Used
- SwiftUI
- visionOS SDK
- RealityKit
Outcome & Learnings
StickOns was a deeply rewarding first project on Apple’s Vision Pro platform. It gave me a strong foundation in spatial computing, hand tracking, gaze-based interactions, and designing for mixed reality.
Most importantly, it taught me how to translate familiar real-world experiences into immersive spatial apps without overcomplicating them. The project reinforced my belief that the best spatial experiences often feel like natural extensions of physical objects rather than completely new inventions.
This early exploration of visionOS continues to influence how I think about future interfaces and immersive experiences.