Integrate iOS device camera and motion features to produce augmented reality experiences in your app or game using ARKit.

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LiDAR Projector Pattern iPhone 15 Pro vs. 12 Pro – Research Project Question
Dear Apple Team, I’m a high school student (vocational upper secondary school) working on my final research project about LiDAR sensors in smartphones, specifically Apple’s iPhone implementation. My current understanding (for context): I understand Apple’s LiDAR uses dToF with SPAD detectors: A VCSEL laser emits pulses, a DOE splits the beam into a dot pattern, and each spot’s return time is measured separately → point cloud generation. My specific questions: How many active projection dots does the LiDAR projector have in the iPhone 15 Pro vs. iPhone 12 Pro? Are the dots static or do they shift/move over time? How many depth measurement points does the system deliver internally (after processing)? What is the ranging accuracy (cm-level precision) of each measurement point? Experimental background: Using an IR night vision camera, I counted approximately 111 dots on the 15 Pro vs. 576 dots on the 12 Pro. Do these match the internal specifications? Photos of my measurements are available if helpful. Contact request: I would be very grateful if you could connect me with an Apple engineer or ARKit specialist who works with LiDAR technology. I would love to ask follow-up questions directly and would be happy to provide my contact details for this purpose. These specifications would be essential for my research paper. Thank you very much in advance! Best regards, Max! Vocational Upper Secondary School Hans-Leipelt-Schule Donauwörth Research Project: “LiDAR Sensor Technology in Smartphones”
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Access UltraWideCamera when ARSession is running
ARSession provides video stream from the wide angle camera. If ARSession uses the ultra wide camera at the same time, ARSession may provide video stream from that camera, otherwise AVCaptureSession with an ultra wide camera should be allowed to launch. It would be very very useful if we can access different cameras while ARSession is running. We'd like to cooperate with you if possible. Steps to reproduce: run an AVCaptureSession and then run an ARSession. The AVCaptureSession stops.
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Technical Inquiry regarding iPhone LiDAR Specifications and ARKit Data Integrity
Hardware Specifications Regarding the LiDAR scanner in the iPhone 13/14/15/16/17 Pro series, could you please provide the following technical details for academic verification: Point Cloud Density / Resolution: The effective resolution of the depth map. Sampling Frequency: The sensor's refresh rate. Accuracy Metrics: Official tolerance levels regarding depth accuracy relative to distance (specifically within 0.5m – 2m range). Data Acquisition Methodology For a scientific thesis requiring high data integrity: Does Apple recommend a custom ARKit implementation over third-party applications (e.g., Polycam) to access raw depth data? I need to confirm if third-party apps typically apply smoothing or post-processing that would obscure the sensor's native performance, which must be avoided for my error analysis.
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The AccessoryAnchor transform does not match any of the Accessory.LocationName options.
I am using AccessoryTrackingProvider from ARKit to get the transform of the PSVR2 controller via originFromAnchorTransform of the AccessoryAnchor. I also am trying to use AnchorEntity on the controller using RealityKit However, none of the three options for Accessory.LocationName, which should be used to define the AnchorEntity target, seem to match the position on the controller which is being sent from ARKit. The picture attached is showing two transforms: RealityKit - using .gripSurface to define the AnchoringComponent.Target.accesssory location. ARKit - using originFromAnchorTransform for AccessoryTrackingProvider. They are not aligned at the same point. As for the other options of Accessory.LocationName, using .aim is located at the tip of the controller and .grip is the same position as .gripSurface but with a different orientation. I am wondering why there is not an option for Accessory.LocationName that actually matches the transform captured by ARKit?
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Dec ’25
When running Unity applications in the shared space of visionOS, the Mask/RectMask2D of ScrollView does not function properly
Problem Description: I am developing an application that runs in the Shared Space on Apple Vision Pro using Unity. When using the UI ScrollView (Scroll View) component, I found that the Mask / RectMask2D does not function in the Shared Space. Scrolling content is not masked or cropped; it extends beyond the view boundary and is displayed directly. The same UI works correctly across platforms such as Unity Editor, iOS, and macOS, but the issue only occurs in the shared space of Vision Pro. Reproduction steps: Create a ScrollView in Unity. Add a Mask or RectMask2D to the viewport. Deploy the application to Apple Vision Pro and run it in Shared Space mode. Sliding content will not be clipped by the mask, and the masked area is entirely ineffective. Expected behavior: The content of ScrollView should be properly clipped by Mask / RectMask2D and should not render outside the mask boundary. Actual results: In the shared space of Vision Pro, the mask is ineffective, causing scrolling content to extend beyond the designated area and resulting in severe UI distortion. Environmental Information: Device: Apple Vision Pro Mode: Shared Space Unity Version: 6000.0.40f1 visionOS version: visionOS 26.0 Unity PolySpatial Version: 2.0.4 Impact This issue causes Unity UI to fail to display correctly on Vision Pro, preventing ScrollView from properly clipping content, which impacts the UI experience and interaction effects in practical applications. Expected Result: When running a Unity app in the shared space of visionOS, the Mask / RectMask2D of ScrollView functions correctly
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Dec ’25
Access a DepthMap while RoomCaptureSession
I'm capturing a room via RoomPlan API and would like to access the DepthMap(sceneDepth) or SmoothDepthMap(smoothedSceneDepth) from my own provided ARSession for RoomCaptureSession. But both depth maps are empty when handling the delegates. I have not found a solution yet. So is it even possible? Because i have not found any documentation of what RoomCaptureSession overwrites in the ARSession if I provide my own ARSession instance. Here is a example code snippet of what i'm trying to do: private let arSession = ARSession() private lazy var roomPlanCaptureSession = RoomCaptureSession(arSession: arSession) let arConfig = ARWorldTrackingConfiguration() //Create semantics for ARconfig which is used for ARSession var semantics: ARWorldTrackingConfiguration.FrameSemantics = [] if ARWorldTrackingConfiguration.supportsFrameSemantics(.sceneDepth) { semantics.insert(.sceneDepth) } if ARWorldTrackingConfiguration.supportsFrameSemantics(.smoothedSceneDepth) { semantics.insert(.smoothedSceneDepth) } arConfig.frameSemantics = semantics //set delegates roomPlanCaptureSession.delegate = self arSession.delegate = self //Check if device support for depthMap if ARWorldTrackingConfiguration.supportsFrameSemantics(.sceneDepth){ arSession.run(arConfig) } else{ print(".sceneDepth is unsupported.") } //run roomcapture scan config let captureConfig = RoomCaptureSession.Configuration() roomPlanCaptureSession.run(configuration: captureConfig) //trying to get sceneDepth public func session(_ session: ARSession, didUpdate frame: ARFrame) { print("session delegate capture: sceneDepth: \(String(describing: frame.sceneDepth))") //prints: session delegate capture: sceneDepth: nil also in this video from 2023 it is say that i can pass custom ARSession to my RoomPlan. Explore enhancements to RoomPlan - Video Quote 3:00: Here is the init and stop function in previous RoomPlan. And here is how you pass over a custom ARSession to init function. Any custom ARSession with ARWorldTrackingConfiguration will be honored inside RoomCaptureSession. anyway I welcome any input. maybe im doing something wrong. :)
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Dec ’25
ARView environment.lighting IBL from HDR file
I have an iOS app that can display a USDZ model downloaded from the Internet (and cached locally) via an ARView. I would like to light that model with an image based light (IBL) also downloaded from the Internet. However, as far as I can tell, ARView can only create an IBL from a resource that has been compiled into the Xcode project and loaded with EnvironmentResource(named:in:) or EnvironmentResource.load(named:in:). Is there a way to create an EnvironmentResource from an HDRI via a file URL to use in ARView in iOS?
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Nov ’25
ARFrame.sceneDepth not correctly registered with ARFrame.capturedImage for iPad Pro (6th Gen) for high resolution capture.
Hi team, I believe I’ve found a registration issue between ARFrame.sceneDepth and ARFrame.capturedImage when using high-resolution frame capture on a 2022 iPad Pro (6th gen). When enabling high-resolution capture: if let highResFormat = ARWorldTrackingConfiguration.recommendedVideoFormatForHighResolutionFrameCapturing { config.videoFormat = highResFormat } … arView.session.captureHighResolutionFrame { ... } the depth map provided by ARFrame.sceneDepth no longer aligns correctly with the corresponding high-resolution capturedImage. This misalignment results in consistently over-estimated distance measurements in my app (which relies on mapping depth to 2D pixel coordinates). iPad Pro (6th gen): misalignment occurs only when capturing high-resolution frames. iPhone 16 Pro: depth is correctly registered for both standard and high-resolution captures. It appears the camera intrinsics, specifically the FOV, change between the “regular” resolution stream and the high-resolution capture on the iPad. My suspicion is that the depth data continues using the intrinsics of the lower resolution stream, resulting in an unregistered depth-to-RGB mapping. Once I have the iPad in hand again, I will confirm whether camera.intrinsics or FOV differ between the low-res and high-res frames. Is this a known issue with high-resolution frame capture on the 2022 iPad Pro? If not, I’m happy to provide some more thorough sample code. Thanks for your time!
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Nov ’25
VisionOS Enterprise API Not Working
My development team admin requested the Enterprise API for camera access on the vision pro. We got that granted, got a license for usage, and got instructions for integrating it with next steps. We did the following: Even when I try to download and run the sample project for "Accessing the Main Camera", and follow all the exact instructions mentioned here: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/visionos/accessing-the-main-camera I am just unable to receive camera frames. I added the capabilities, created a new provisioning profile with this access, added the entitlements to info.plist and entitlements, replaced the dummy license file with the one we were sent, and also have a matching bundle identifier and development certificate, but it is still not showing camera access for some reason. "Main Camera Access" shows up in our Signing & Capabilities tab, and we also added the NSMainCameraDescription in the Info.plist and allow access while opening the app. None of this works. Not on my app, and not on the sample app that I just downloaded and tried to run on the Vision Pro after replacing the dummy license file.
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Nov ’25
Object tracking capability not available
Hi there, I received an enterprise license file to include enhanced object tracking configuration for the Vision Pro. My account is part of the team which got the allowance from Apple to use this capability. Unfortunately, although I followed the guide, I do not find the Object Tracking capability when I try to add it to my project. There are other capabilities like Main Camera on the Vision Pro, but not for Object Tracking. I am using Xcode 26.1 and visionOS 26.1. What am I missing here? Thanks in advance, Matthias
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Nov ’25
Access Main Camera not working in VisionOS 26.1
I downloaded the official sample project “Accessing the Main Camera”, but I found that it’s not able to retrieve the camera feed on visionOS 26.1. After checking the debug logs, it seems the issue is caused by the system being unable to find the expected format. I tested on a device running visionOS 2, and the camera feed worked correctly — but only when using the sample code from the visionOS 2 version, not the current one. I also noticed that some of the APIs have changed between versions. Has anyone managed to successfully access the camera feed on visionOS 26.1?
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Nov ’25
ARKit / visionOS - handtracking with 3D objects attached on hand
I use ARKit's hand tracking to attach a 3D model of a remote control to the left hand. The user is supposed to press buttons on the remote control. In the Vision Pro settings, I have removed the left hand from Hands & Eye Tracking. Only the right hand is used. The problem now is that the left hand appears and the 3D model of the remote control fades out. I want the remote control to be completely visible. The user should feel like they really have the remote control in their hand. Can I prevent the fading out?
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Nov ’25
visionOS 3d interactions like the native keyboard when no longer observed in passthrough
While using apple's vision pro, we noticed that we can continue to use the visionOS keyboard when we no longer actually see it in passthrough. In other words, when we focus on a field to type, visionOS displays the keyboard for us in such a way that we actually see it. Then, we noticed if we look away a little bit, either up, or down, or left, or right, in such a way that the keyboard is no longer visible by us in the passthrough, the keyboard still remains responsive to taps from our fingers at the location where it is. It seems the keyboard remains functional and responsive to taps even though we can no longer observe/see it. We are trying to figure out how to implement similar functionality in our app whereby the user can continue to manipulate a 3d entity when the user can no longer actually observe it in passthrough (like the visionOS keyboard appears to allow). I assume the visionOS keyboard has this functionality thanks to the downward facing sensors on the hardware that allow hand tracking even though the hands can no longer be observed by the user. That is likely how we can rest our hands on our lap is still be able to interact with visionOS. How can we implement a similar functionality for 3D entities? Is there a way to tap in, or to allow hand tracking, from those toward facing cameras? Is it possible to manipulate a 3D entity when it is no longer observed by the user for example when they shift their attention somewhere else in the field of vision? How does the visionOS keyboard achieve this?
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Nov ’25
Best approach for high-quality textured room reconstruction using ARKit / RoomPlan / Object Capture?
I am developing an IOS App that allow users to scan rooms, view the scans on device, and add notes. I need to preserve actual geometry (odd angles, chamfers, fixtures), not simplified RoomPlan boxes. Are there any easy ways to incorporate high quality texture mapping or PBR? Where is the documentation for scene reconstruction?
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Nov ’25
How to best manage ARKitSession in concurrent code
I have a visionOS app where I instantiate ARKitSession and various providers (HandTrackingProvider and WorldTrackingProvider) in my appModel. That way, I can pass these providers to a Task which runs a gRPC server for sending the data from these providers to a client. When the users enters the immersive space of the app, the ARKitSession will run the providers if they are not running already. I am now trying to implement the AccessoryTrackingProvider with the PSVR sense controllers but it does not fit with my current framework because the controllers may not be connected when the ARKitSession.run function is called. So I need to find a new place to start the session. My question is, if I already have a session which is running the hand and world tracking providers, can I start another session to run the accessory tracking? Should they all be running on the same session? Is there a way to stop the session and restart it when the controllers are connected? When I tried this, I get an error that says "It is not possible to re-run a stopped data provider (<ar_hand_tracking_provider_t: " but if I instantiate a new HandTrackingProvider, then the one that got passed to the gRPC task would no longer be the one running in the new session. Any advice on how best to manage the various providers and ARKit sessions would be greatly appreciated.
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Nov ’25
ARKit Body Tracking not detecting ARBodyAnchor on iOS 26.x (FB15128723)
Since updating to iOS 26.0 (and confirmed on 26.1), ARBodyTrackingConfiguration no longer detects a valid ARBodyAnchor on devices with LiDAR (e.g., iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max). This issue reproduces in custom projects and Apple’s official sample “Capturing Body Motion in 3D”. The AR session runs normally, but the delegate call: func session(_ session: ARSession, didUpdate anchors: [ARAnchor]) never yields an ARBodyAnchor with valid joint transforms. All joints return nil when calling: body.skeleton.modelTransform(for: jointName) resulting in 0 valid joints per frame. Environment • Device: iPhone 17 Pro Max (LiDAR) • iOS: 26.0 / 26.1 • Xcode: 16.0 (stable) • Framework: ARKit + RealityKit • Configuration used: config.worldAlignment = .gravityAndHeading config.isAutoFocusEnabled = true config.environmentTexturing = .none session.run(config) Also tested: with and without frameSemantics = .bodyDetection Expected Behavior ARBodyAnchor should be detected and body.skeleton should contain ~89 valid joints with continuous updates.
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Oct ’25
RoomPlan CaptureError.exceedSceneSizeLimit on iOS devices
When scanning multiple rooms (10+) in a single structure using ARWorldMap for coordinate space consistency, RoomCaptureSession throws CaptureError.exceedSceneSizeLimit. The instructions here (https://developer.apple.com/documentation/roomplan/scanning-the-rooms-of-a-single-structure) provide exactly what I am doing to keep the underlying ARSession alive (by calling captureSession.stop(pause: false)) and save the results before a user moves to the next room. Scanning 11 or so rooms will cause the user to hit the exceedSceneSizeLimit error. The ARWorldMap is about 58 MB and always is around this size when hitting this issue. No anchors are present and all the data seems to be from tracking data. On iPad devices (where I do not see this issue) the ARWorldMap grows as a significantly slower rate in size. I save the ARWorldMap after each room is scanned and confirmed by the user. If I use the ARMap to initialize the ARSession (as described in the docs) the session will immediately error with "exceedSceneSizeLimit" once the captureSession.run() is executed. Occasionally it will allow me/the user to scan again, but either breaks mid scan or the following. This has been working fine for the past 2 years and users have been able to scan dozens of rooms without issue. It seems only lately that it has been a problem. I would expect the ARWorldMap to be allowed for much bigger sizes. At this point I can just about scan more area of my house with a single scan than I can when I use different captureSessions. Few observations: This happens on my iPhone 15 Pro Max, my iPhone 17 Pro, but not my iPad M4 (maybe memory related?). It is possible if scanning many more rooms it would happen on the iPad too. I have tried things such as resetting the ARConfig on the underlying ARSession to reset some, but this doesn't work. I have tried to create a new ARWorldMap and move the origin to the older map to clear out tracking data. This almost works but causes a mess of issues when a user moves at all due to the unshared coordinate space. I believe there are three active issues regarding this: FB14454922, FB15035788, FB20642944 Could we get an update for this issue? It is a production issue and severely limits my user experience in my production application.
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Oct ’25