Why AR Clip
Here is what the engine does for you, so you can focus on what you are building.
One scene everywhere
Your project looks and works the same in the editor, in the browser and in the app. There is nothing to export and nothing to build separately.
And if something breaks in the browser, you will see it in the editor too — and fix it there.
Graphs run as fast as code
A patch you build from nodes runs just as fast as code written by hand.
- The Code panel shows your graph as code.
- A graph can call a script, and a script can call a graph.
When a graph is no longer enough, you do not have to rewrite anything — just add a script next to it.
Your materials are as good as the built-in ones
The material you built yourself runs just as fast as a ready-made one — in the browser and in the app.
Settings you have not touched do not slow anything down. Even if a material has lots of options, the ones that are off cost nothing.
Only what changed is updated
When you change something, the engine updates only what depends on it.
Say you change an object's colour:
colour changed
├─ the object is repainted on screen
├─ the colour field in the inspector updates
├─ your collaborators see the new colour
└─ nothing else is recalculated
What you get:
- A still scene barely uses the phone.
- Big projects stay fast. A timeline with 20,000 keyframes stays responsive when you move one of them.
- Everyone sees the same thing. The screen, the inspector, undo, your collaborators, scripts and physics always show the same scene.
Smooth, even when busy
- Even a slow script will not freeze the screen.
- Physics will not freeze it either.
Fast loading
- Physics loads only when needed. If nothing in the scene falls or collides, visitors do not wait for it.
- A thousand copies cost about as much as one. Grass, crowds, debris and particles stay fast, and they barely add to the size of your project.
- Effects do not load the network. In multiplayer, everyone sees the same particles, and they add no network traffic.
The same triggers everywhere
on-click and the other triggers work the same way in events, patches and scripts.
Start with a simple event. Need a condition? Move it to a patch. Need real logic? Move it to a script. There is nothing new to learn along the way.
Work together
You can work on a space together: everyone's changes appear for everyone right away, and each person has their own undo.
Where your project opens
A published project opens from a link, right in the browser. There is nothing to install — visitors see your content straight away.
The same project works on other devices too, with no changes:
| Where | How it opens |
|---|---|
| Phone browser | from a link or a QR code |
| iOS App Clip | from a link, a QR code or an NFC tag — no App Store |
| AR Clip app | with richer graphics — see below |
| Meta Quest browser | from the same link, in beta — see Meta Quest |
| Glasses via Unity | Unity SDK: Rokid Max / Max Pro and XREAL One |
Someone points their camera at the code and your project opens — no App Store, no sign-up. App Clips have a size limit, so keep the first scene light and load the rest after it starts.
Phones work out of the box. Builds for specific headsets are enabled per account. → Supported platforms
Richer graphics in the app
The browser limits how much graphics a page can use. The app does not run in a browser, so it can do more: real-time shadows, heavier materials, more objects on screen. You do not need a separate version of your project.
Use the browser to reach more people. Use the app for projects with heavy graphics.
Make it your own
- Register your own steps and triggers from your app.
- Install plugins: they add panels, generate scenes and bring new kinds of components.
- Missing a node? Write a line of JavaScript in an expression or action node. → Patches
The tables of components, triggers, steps and nodes on this site always match the engine. When a node is added, it appears in the reference.
Next: Objects and scenes — what a project is made of.