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How to view 3D models on your phone, in AR or on screen
View 3D models on your phone with Scene Viewer on Android and AR Quick Look on iPhone: which formats each reads and how websites launch them.
3 min read
Quick answer
How do I view a 3D model on my phone?
Android phones open glTF and GLB files in Google's Scene Viewer, which can place the model in your room on ARCore-supported devices. iPhones and iPads open USDZ files in AR Quick Look from Files, Mail, Messages or Safari. A website using model-viewer can hand one model to whichever viewer your phone has.
Two platforms, two formats
The phone in your pocket can already show a 3D model at real scale on your desk. The catch is that the two platforms read different formats:
- Android reads glTF and GLB, through Google's Scene Viewer.
- iPhone and iPad read USDZ, through Apple's AR Quick Look.
If you are sharing a model with people on both, you need both files, or a web page that serves the right one.
On Android: Scene Viewer
Scene Viewer is built into the Google app. Google's documentation lists what it needs:
- a model in glTF 2.0 or GLB, with PBR materials, loaded over HTTPS;
- for AR, an ARCore-supported phone running Android 7.0 or later, with Google Play Services for AR up to date.
You rarely open Scene Viewer directly. A website or app launches it, usually from a "View in your space" button. On phones without ARCore support it still shows the model in 3D, just not in your room.
On iPhone and iPad: AR Quick Look
AR Quick Look opens USDZ files wherever iOS shows a preview: in Files, Mail, Messages and Safari. Tap the file, then switch between Object, to spin it, and AR, to place it.
On the web, Safari opens AR Quick Look when a link carries rel="ar". WebKit's guide to AR in Safari gives the rules: the link must wrap a single img or picture element, and the server must send the USDZ file with the right MIME type, model/vnd.usdz+zip. Safari then adds a small AR badge to the image.
Getting a GLB onto an iPhone
If you only have a GLB, convert it to USDZ first. Two free routes:
- Blender can export USD, including
.usdz, through File › Export › Universal Scene Description. - On a Mac, Preview opens GLB and USDZ, and Apple's Reality Converter turns common 3D formats into USDZ.
Check the result in AR Quick Look before you send it. Materials do not always convert one-for-one.
One page for both phones: model-viewer
Google's model-viewer web component handles the split for you. Give it a GLB as src, add the ar attribute, and add a USDZ as ios-src. By default it tries WebXR, then Scene Viewer, then Quick Look, according to its documentation. The embedding guide has a working snippet.
Why this matters for product pages
AR viewing is most useful when size matters to the buyer: furniture, lamps, decor, shoes. The product design use case and the AR and VR use case cover how teams use it. For AR, model weight matters more than on desktop. Keep polygon counts and texture sizes modest so the model loads quickly on a mobile connection.
Vi3W exports GLB, which Scene Viewer and model-viewer read directly. For iPhone, convert that GLB to USDZ using one of the routes above.
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