Rebuilding ARki for Apple Vision Pro: Two Years of Creating the Future of Architectural Visualisation

After spending the last eight years building ARki for iPhone and iPad, we recently had the opportunity to completely rethink what architectural visualisation could look like on Apple Vision Pro. At first, we assumed this would be a relatively straightforward upgrade. We already had a mature augmented reality application with years of development behind it, so surely it would just be a matter of adapting what already existed. It turned out to be the complete opposite. Instead of porting our existing application, we made the decision to rebuild ARki entirely from scratch using Apple's native RealityKit framework. It wasn't the quickest path, and it certainly wasn't the easiest, but looking back after two years of development, it was absolutely the right decision.

Why We Rebuilt Everything

When a new platform launches, it's always tempting to reuse as much existing code as possible. After all, we'd spent nearly a decade refining ARki for iOS. But Apple Vision Pro isn't simply another Apple device. It's an entirely new way of interacting with digital content. Rather than trying to squeeze a traditional mobile application into a spatial computing environment, we wanted to create an experience that genuinely felt native to Vision Pro. That meant embracing RealityKit, redesigning interactions, and rethinking how architects would actually use augmented reality when they weren't limited by a phone or tablet screen. Of course, that also meant saying goodbye to eight years of code. While that sounds painful—and it definitely was—it allowed us to build a cleaner, more modern application that fully takes advantage of Vision Pro's hardware and software capabilities.

​Designing for Spatial Computing

One of the biggest differences between using AR on a mobile device and using Vision Pro is how natural the experience feels. With a phone or tablet, you're constantly looking through a relatively small display to understand a much larger physical environment. With Vision Pro, you're standing inside the experience.That changes everything. Instead of viewing a building through a screen, you're able to walk around it, judge its scale, understand how it relates to the surrounding environment, and experience the design in a far more intuitive way. For architects, this creates entirely new opportunities during the design process.

Visualising Buildings Before They're Built

One of the first features we wanted to test was placing architectural models directly onto a real construction site. Although Apple doesn't recommend using Vision Pro outdoors for extended periods, the experience becomes incredibly compelling once you're standing on-site. Simply importing a model, positioning it within the environment, and exploring different design options feels remarkably natural. Rather than relying solely on drawings or renders, architects can experience projects at real scale before construction even begins. This creates an opportunity to identify potential issues much earlier in the design process. Sightlines, proportions, relationships between buildings, and overall site context become much easier to understand when you're physically standing where the project will eventually exist.

Building Better Design Tools

Throughout development, one principle guided almost every design decision. The software shouldn't get in the way of the design. Simple interactions such as grabbing a model, moving it, rotating it, or scaling it needed to feel effortless. If users have to think about the interface, they're no longer thinking about architecture. A huge amount of time was spent refining these interactions so that manipulating models feels as intuitive as possible. Our goal was to make the technology almost disappear, allowing architects to focus entirely on their projects.

While rebuilding from scratch required significantly more time than upgrading our existing application, it also gave us a completely new foundation for future development. Performance has improved dramatically. The application is easier to maintain. Adding new features has become significantly faster. Most importantly, ARki is now built specifically for the future of spatial computing rather than the limitations of traditional mobile devices. This foundation will allow us to continue expanding the platform as Apple's ecosystem evolves.

Import Your Own 3D Models

The first release of ARki for Apple Vision Pro includes support for importing custom USDZ files, making it easy to visualise your own architectural models in augmented reality. Support for additional formats, including FBX and GLB, is already in development and will be arriving in a future update. Whether you're working with concept designs, planning applications, client presentations, or construction reviews, ARki aims to make experiencing architecture in the real world as simple as possible.

Rebuilding ARki for Apple Vision Pro has been one of the biggest technical challenges we've undertaken as a company.
It required rethinking almost every aspect of the application, from the underlying architecture to the way users interact with 3D models. But after two years of development, the result feels like much more than an upgraded version of our existing app. It feels like the beginning of a completely new chapter for architectural visualisation. As spatial computing continues to evolve, we're excited to keep pushing what's possible for architects, designers, and developers. ARki for Apple Vision Pro launches on the App Store this August, and we can't wait to see the projects our community creates with it.

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