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How to Configure angularLimitInYZ for PhysicsSphericalJoint in RealityKit (Pendulum/Swing Behavior)
Hello RealityKit developers, I'm currently working on physics simulations in my visionOS app and am trying to adapt the concepts from the official sample Simulating physics joints in your RealityKit app. In the sample, a sphere is connected to the ceiling using a PhysicsRevoluteJoint to create a hinge-like simulation. I've successfully modified this setup to use a PhysicsSphericalJoint instead. The basic replacement works as expected: pin1 (attached to the sphere) rotates freely around pin0 (attached to the ceiling), much like a ball-and-socket joint should, removing all translational degrees of freedom. My challenge lies with the PhysicsSphericalJoint's angularLimitInYZ property. The documentation mentions that this property allows limiting the rotation around the Y and Z axes, defining an "elliptical cone shape around the x-axis of pin0." However, I'm struggling to understand how to specify these values to achieve a desired rotational limit. If I have a sphere that is currently capable of rotating 360 degrees around pin0 (like a free-spinning ball on a string), how would I use angularLimitInYZ to restrict its rotation to a certain height or angular range, preventing it from completing a full circle? Specifically, I'm trying to achieve a "swing" like behavior where the sphere oscillates back and forth but cannot rotate completely overhead or underfoot. What values or approach should I use for the angularLimitInYZ tuple to define such a restricted pendulum-like motion? Any insights, code examples, or explanations on how to properly configure angularLimitInYZ for this kind of behavior would be incredibly helpful! The following code is modified from the sample. extension MainView { func addPinsTo(ballEntity: Entity, attachmentEntity: Entity) throws { let hingeOrientation = simd_quatf(from: [1, 0, 0], to: [0, 0, 1]) let attachmentPin = attachmentEntity.pins.set( named: "attachment_hinge", position: .zero, orientation: hingeOrientation ) let relativeJointLocation = attachmentEntity.position( relativeTo: ballEntity ) let ballPin = ballEntity.pins.set( named: "ball_hinge", position: relativeJointLocation, orientation: hingeOrientation ) // Create a PhysicsSphericalJoint between the two pins. let revoluteJoint = PhysicsSphericalJoint(pin0: attachmentPin, pin1: ballPin) try revoluteJoint.addToSimulation() } } The following image is a screenshot of the operation when changing to PhysicsSphericalJoint. Thank you in advance for your assistance.
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270
Jul ’25
Spatial Scene API for iOS Apps
As part of the WWDC25 Keynote, a technology was announced that can present 2D images as 3D spatial scenes. This announcement is supported by a Press Release. ...developers can use the Spatial Scene API to make their app experience even more immersive. Zillow is taking advantage of the API for their Zillow Immersive app, allowing users to see images of homes and apartments with the rich depth and dimension that spatial scenes offer. The feature also appears in the Photos App on iOS 26 Developer Beta 1. Tapping "Spatial Scene" on any photo opens a view of that photo with a parallax effect. I've searched the WWDC sessions and new documentation and have come up short. Reaching out here for help. Is there any documentation for Spatial Scene API? Or any guidance on how to implement the spatial scene in iOS?
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338
Jun ’25
3D Skeletal animation in metal-cpp?
Hey all! I'm got my hands on a refurbished mac mini m1 and already diving into metal. At the moment, i'm currently studying graphics programming with opengl and got to a point where I can almost create a 3d cube. However, I noticed there aren't many tutorials for metal cpp but rather demos. One thing I love about graphic programming, is skinning/skeletal animation. At the moment, I can't find any sources or tutorials on how to load skeletal animations into metal-cpp. So, if I create my character in blender and had all types of animations all loaded into a .FBX or maybe .DAE and load this into metal api with metal-cpp, how can I go on about how this works?
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481
Mar ’25
Game Porting Toolkit installation fails: CMake compatibility error in game-porting-toolkit-compiler
I'm encountering a build failure when trying to install the Game Porting Toolkit via Homebrew. The installation fails during the game-porting-toolkit-compiler dependency build phase with a CMake compatibility error. Error Message: CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:3 (cmake_minimum_required): Compatibility with CMake < 3.5 has been removed from CMake. Update the VERSION argument <min> value. Or, use the <min>...<max> syntax to tell CMake that the project requires at least <min> but has been updated to work with policies introduced by <max> or earlier. Or, add -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5 to try configuring anyway. -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred! Environment: macOS: 15.6.1 (Sequoia) Homebrew: 5.0.1 CMake: 3.20.2 Architecture: x86_64 (via Rosetta) Formula: apple/apple/game-porting-toolkit-compiler v0.1 Source: crossover-sources-22.1.1.tar.gz Steps to Reproduce: Install x86_64 Homebrew for Rosetta compatibility Run: arch -x86_64 /usr/local/bin/brew install apple/apple/game-porting-toolkit Build fails during dependency installation Root Cause: The LLVM/Clang sources included in crossover-sources-22.1.1.tar.gz contain a CMakeLists.txt file that specifies a minimum CMake version lower than 3.5. Modern CMake versions (3.5+) have removed backward compatibility with these older version requirements. Potential Solutions: Update the Homebrew formula to patch the CMakeLists.txt with cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5) or higher Update to newer CrossOver sources with updated CMake requirements Add the -DCMAKE_POLICY_VERSION_MINIMUM=3.5 flag to the CMake build command in the formula Is this a known issue? Are there plans to update the formula or the source package to resolve this compatibility problem? Any guidance on a workaround would be appreciated. Full log available at: /Users/kentarovadney/Library/Logs/Homebrew/game-porting-toolkit-compiler/02.cmake.log Thanks for any assistance!
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938
Nov ’25
Subject: Handling Z-Up Blender USDZ Models in RealityKit (visionOS) for Transform Updates
Hello everyone, I'm working on a visionOS application using RealityKit and am encountering a common coordinate system challenge when integrating 3D models created in Blender. My goal is to display and dynamically update the Transform (position, rotation, scale) of models created in Blender within RealityKit. The issue arises because Blender's default coordinate system is Z-up, and while exporting to USD/USDZ, I don't have a reliable "Y-up" export option that correctly reorients the model and its transform data for RealityKit's Y-up convention. This means I'm essentially exporting models with their "up" direction along the Z-axis. When I load these Z-up exported models into RealityKit, they are often oriented incorrectly. To then programmatically update their Transform (e.g., move them, rotate them based on game logic, or apply physics), I need to ensure that the Transform values I set align with RealityKit's Y-up system, even though the original model data was authored in a Z-up context. My questions are: What is the recommended transformation process (e.g., using simd_quatf or simd_float4x4) to convert a Transform that was conceptually defined in a Z-up coordinate system to RealityKit's Y-up coordinate system? Specifically, when I have a Transform (or its translation, rotation, scale components) from a Z-up context, how should I apply this to a RealityKit Entity so it appears and behaves correctly in a Y-up world? Are there any existing convenience APIs or helper functions within RealityKit, simd, or other Apple frameworks that simplify this Z-up to Y-up Transform conversion process? Or is a manual application of a transformation quaternion (e.g., simd_quatf(angle: -.pi / 2, axis: [1, 0, 0])) the standard approach? Any guidance, code examples, or best practices from those who have faced similar challenges would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.
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421
Jul ’25
Race conditions when changing CAMetalLayer.drawableSize?
Is the pseudocode below thread-safe? Imagine that the Main thread sets the CAMetalLayer's drawableSize to a new size meanwhile the rendering thread is in the middle of rendering into an existing MTLDrawable which does still have the old size. Is the change of metalLayer.drawableSize thread-safe in the sense that I can present an old MTLDrawable which has a different resolution than the current value of metalLayer.drawableSize? I assume that setting the drawableSize property informs Metal that the next MTLDrawable offered by the CAMetalLayer should have the new size, right? Is it valid to assume that "metalLayer.drawableSize = newSize" and "metalLayer.nextDrawable()" are internally synchronized, so it cannot happen that metalLayer.nextDrawable() would produce e.g. a MTLDrawable with the old width but with the new height (or a completely invalid resolution due to potential race conditions)? func onWindowResized(newSize: CGSize) { // Called on the Main thread metalLayer.drawableSize = newSize } func onVsync(drawable: MTLDrawable) { // Called on a background rendering thread renderer.renderInto(drawable: drawable) }
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475
Dec ’25
Help Request! How to Render Models with SubMeshes Using Metal 4?
Hi, I'm Beginner with Metal 4 and Model I/O 🥺. I can render simple models with just one mesh, but when I try to render models with SubMeshes, nothing shows up on screen. Can anyone help me figure out how to properly render models with multiple submeshes? I think I'm not iterating through them correctly or maybe missing some buffers setup. Here's what I have so far: https://www.icloud.com.cn/iclouddrive/0a6x_NLwlWy-herPocExZ8g3Q#LoadModel
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267
Nov ’25
GKLeaderboard.LoadLeaderboards() return empty when testing on Xcode with local gamekit file (Unity)
var allLeaderboards = await GKLeaderboard.LoadLeaderboards(); Log(allLeaderboards.Count); // returns 0 What am I missing?? What doesn’t work: await GKGameActivityDefinition.LoadGameActivityDefinitions() → count = 0 await GKLeaderboard.LoadLeaderboards() (no args) → 0 leaderboards await GKLeaderboard.LoadLeaderboards("MY ID") → returns 0 GkGameActivity.SetScoreOnLeaderboard(Leaderboard, score, context); returns an error since my Leaderboard is null. Activities and leaderboards are defined in GameCenterResources.gamekit in Xcode. Achievements that I add locally in the .gamekit file do not appear at runtime either; only ASC live ones show. ** What works:** xcode- debug- Gamekit- Manage Game progress- I can submit new scores with the plus button and see the notification on my device. await GKLocalPlayer.Authenticate() succeeds. await GKAchievement.LoadAchievements() returns the list of achievements configured in App Store Connect- but not any new local achievements created in Xcode in GameCenterResources.gamekit Environment Device/OS: iPhone on iOS 26.0 beta (Game Center sandbox) Xcode: 26.0 beta 6 Unity: 2022.3.21 Apple GameKit Unity plugin: 2025-beta1 (GameKit package) Signing: Game Center capability enabled; using development provisioning profile GameKit resources: GameCenterResources.gamekit in project (Target: Unity-iPhone), appears under Build Phases → Copy Bundle Resources
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760
Sep ’25
Firebase not initializing in iOS Unreal Engine 5.6 app (using MetaHuman + FirebaseFeatures)
Hi everyone, I'm building a native iOS app using Unreal Engine 5.6 with Firebase for authentication and Firestore. The app uses a MetaHuman avatar and is meant to run as a standalone UE app on iPhone. I'm using this Firebase wrapper: 👉 https://pandoa.github.io/FirebaseFeatures/ I've followed all the steps, including: Adding GoogleService-Info.plist to the Xcode project and ensuring it’s in the correct target Calling FIRApp.configure() in AppDelegate Verifying the plist is bundled correctly However, the app crashes on launch, and Firebase does not initialize properly. Crash log shows: [FirebaseCore][I-COR000005] No app has been configured yet. Setup details: Unreal Engine: 5.6 (source build, macOS) iOS Deployment: 17.5 MetaHuman character packaged correctly and app launches fine without Firebase Has anyone here managed to get Firebase working inside a native Unreal Engine iOS app with this setup? I'd love to hear if there’s something I’m missing — maybe something with initialization timing or module loading? Thanks so much in advance 🙏
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752
Jul ’25
EntityAction for MaterialBaseTint - incorrect colours
Hello, I'm writing an EntityAction that animates a material base tint between two different colours. However, the colour that is being actually set differs in RGB values from that requested. For example, trying to set an end target of R0.5, G0.5, B0.5, results in a value of R0.735357, G0.735357, B0.735357. I can also see during the animation cycle that intermediate actual tint values are also incorrect, versus those being set. My understanding is the the values of material base colour are passed as a SIMD4. Therefore I have a couple of helper extensions to convert a UIColor into this format and mix between two colours. Note however, I don't think the issue is with this functions - even if their outputs are wrong, the final value of the base tint doesn't match the value being set. I wondered if this was a colour space issue? import simd import RealityKit import UIKit typealias Float4 = SIMD4<Float> extension Float4 { func mixedWith(_ value: Float4, by mix: Float) -> Float4 { Float4( simd_mix(x, value.x, mix), simd_mix(y, value.y, mix), simd_mix(z, value.z, mix), simd_mix(w, value.w, mix) ) } } extension UIColor { var float4: Float4 { var r: CGFloat = 0.0 var g: CGFloat = 0.0 var b: CGFloat = 0.0 var a: CGFloat = 0.0 getRed(&r, green: &g, blue: &b, alpha: &a) return Float4(Float(r), Float(g), Float(b), Float(a)) } } struct ColourAction: EntityAction { let startColour: SIMD4<Float> let targetColour: SIMD4<Float> var animatedValueType: (any AnimatableData.Type)? { SIMD4<Float>.self } init(startColour: UIColor, targetColour: UIColor) { self.startColour = startColour.float4 self.targetColour = targetColour.float4 } static func registerEntityAction() { ColourAction.subscribe(to: .updated) { event in guard let animationState = event.animationState else { return } let interpolatedColour = event.action.startColour.mixedWith(event.action.targetColour, by: Float(animationState.normalizedTime)) animationState.storeAnimatedValue(interpolatedColour) } } } extension Entity { func updateColour(from currentColour: UIColor, to targetColour: UIColor, duration: Double, endAction: @escaping (Entity) -> Void = { _ in }) { let colourAction = ColourAction(startColour: currentColour, targetColour: targetColour, endedAction: endAction) if let colourAnimation = try? AnimationResource.makeActionAnimation(for: colourAction, duration: duration, bindTarget: .material(0).baseColorTint) { playAnimation(colourAnimation) } } } The EntityAction can only be applied to an entity with a ModelComponent (because of the material), so it can be called like so: guard let modelComponent = entity.components[ModelComponent.self], let material = modelComponent.materials.first as? PhysicallyBasedMaterial else { return } let currentColour = material.baseColor.tint let targetColour = UIColor(_colorLiteralRed: 0.5, green: 0.5, blue: 0.5, alpha: 1.0) entity.updateColour(from:currentColour, to: targetColour, duration: 2)
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598
Feb ’25
Request low-latency streaming for iOS/iPadOS
Just found out this key available for visionOS https://developer.apple.com/documentation/bundleresources/entitlements/com.apple.developer.low-latency-streaming It seems to keep video streaming from being interrupted by AWDL, our community needs it badly for self-hosted game streaming (PC to iPhone / iPad). Related apps: Moonlight / VoidLink / SteamLink. Can we expect this on iOS/iPadOS 26, or even iOS/iPadOS 18 ?
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374
Nov ’25
MTLCaptureManager.sharedCaptureManager generates corrupted .gputrace files (0KB, invalid internal structure)
Hello, I am experiencing an issue with programmatically capturing a GPU trace using MTLCaptureManager. The .gputrace file that is generated appears to be corrupted, and I'm looking for guidance or a solution. Description of the Problem: I am using MTLCaptureManager.sharedCaptureManager to capture a Metal frame and save it to disk. The generated .gputrace file is consistently reported as 0 bytes in size by the file system. Crucially, when I compress this 0-byte .gputrace file into a .zip archive, the resulting archive contains the full, expected data. After unzipping, the file can be opened and viewed correctly in Xcode. However,When inspecting the file's contents using NSFileManager in Objective-C (treating it as a directory), the internal structure is different from a .gputrace file captured directly from Xcode's Metal Debugger. capture in xcode capture in file Finally,When capturing multiple frames programmatically, the first captured frame contains valid buffer data. However, for subsequent frames (starting from the second frame), the corresponding buffer contents are all zero-filled. Frame 1: All MTLBuffer data is correctly captured and populated. Frame 2 and onward: The same MTLBuffer objects are present in the trace, but their contents are entirely 0 (i.e., the data is not captured or is corrupted). In this case, the on-screen display is normal, but the captured frame is incorrect. The frame captured directly in Xcode is also correct. Only the frame captured to a file is abnormal.
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520
Aug ’25
How to Apple Unity Plugins
When running my game in the Unity Editor on Windows platform I get an error: DllNotFoundException: GameKitWrapper assembly:<unknown assembly> type:<unknown type> member:(null) Apple.GameKit.DefaultNSErrorHandler.Init () (at ./Library/PackageCache/com.apple.unityplugin.gamekit@0abcad546f73/Source/DefaultHandlers.cs:35) This is because GameKitWrapper dynamically linked library is not available under Windows platform. Besides, "Apple Build Settings" are declared under UNITY_EDITOR_OSX and also not available under Windows platform. Does anyone managed to solve this?
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498
Jul ’25
ShaderGraphMaterial.getParameter(handle:) always return nil, is this expected behavior?
I've loaded a ShaderGraphMaterial from a RealityKit content bundle and I'm attempting to access the initial values of its parameters using getParameter(handle:), but this method appears to always return nil: let shaderGraphMaterial = try await ShaderGraphMaterial(named: "MyMaterial", from: "MyFile") let namedParameterValue = shaderGraphMaterial.getParameter(name: "myParameter") // This prints the value of the `myParameter` parameter, as expected. print("namedParameterValue = \(namedParameterValue)") let handle = ShaderGraphMaterial.parameterHandle(name: "myParameter") let handleParameterValue = shaderGraphMaterial.getParameter(handle: handle) // Expected behavior: prints the value of the `myParameter` parameter, as above. // Observed behavior: prints `nil`. print("handleParameterValue = \(handleParameterValue)") Is this expected behavior? Based on the documentation at https://developer.apple.com/documentation/realitykit/shadergraphmaterial/getparameter(handle:) I'd expect getParameter(handle:) to return the value of the parameter, just as getParameter(name:) does. I've tested this on iOS 18.5 and iOS 26.0 beta 2. Assuming this getParameter(handle:) works as designed, is the following ShaderGraphMaterial extension an appropriate workaround, or can you recommend a better approach? Thank you. public extension ShaderGraphMaterial { /// Reassigns the values of all named material parameters using the handle-based API. /// /// This works around an issue where, at least as of RealityKit 26.0 beta 2 and /// earlier, `getParameter(handle:)` will always return `nil` when used to read the /// initial value of a shader graph material parameter read using /// `ShaderGraphMaterial(named:from:in:)`, whereas `getParameter(name:)` will work /// as expected. private mutating func copyNamedParametersToHandles() { for parameterName in self.parameterNames { if let value = self.getParameter(name: parameterName) { let handle = ShaderGraphMaterial.parameterHandle(name: parameterName) do { try self.setParameter(handle: handle, value: value) } catch { assertionFailure("Cannot set parameter value") } } } } }
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405
Jun ’25
How can I simultaneously apply the drag gesture to multiple entities?
I wanted to drag EntityA while also dragging EntityB independently. I've tried to separate them by entity but it only recognizes the latest drag gesture RealityView { content, attachments in ... } .gesture( DragGesture() .targetedToEntity(EntityA) .onChanged { value in ... } ) .gesture( DragGesture() .targetedToEntity(EntityB) .onChanged { value in ... } ) also tried using the simultaneously but didn't work too, maybe i'm missing something .gesture( DragGesture() .targetedToEntity(EntityA) .onChanged { value in ... } .simultaneously(with: DragGesture() .targetedToEntity(EntityB) .onChanged { value in ... } )
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709
Mar ’25
Testing Gamecenter Accounts
HI all, I'm in the early stages of testing a game that will have real-time device-to-device communication using GameCenter. I've read something about setting up GameCenter "sandbox" accounts to test prior to the game's release, but I can't find anything reliable about how to do so. I've found lots of web pages which purport to describe how to do this task, but what they describe seems to be outdated, as the steps don't appear to be available in modern versions of iOS. I'm testing on iOS 18 and 26. Document search isn't helping--I mostly find information on how to set up StoreKit sandbox accounts, which I assume are different things altogether--so if you could point me towards an article that allows me to test a new, unreleased GameKit app between devices, I'd appreciate it. People are developing GameCenter apps, so I know it's possible... advTHANKSance
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389
Sep ’25