Device compatibility for 3D & AR experiences
Thridify experiences run in the browser — no app to install. What each shopper gets depends on their device, and Thridify adapts automatically: full quality where the hardware allows it, a lighter mode where it doesn’t, and augmented reality wherever the operating system supports it.
The four experience tiers
Every device lands in exactly one of these. Selection is automatic — shoppers never configure anything.
Full 3D + instant AR
Complete 3D viewer with the customizer, full-resolution textures, and AR that places the product almost instantly using the device’s LiDAR scanner.
Full 3D + guided AR
The same full 3D experience. AR placement takes a guided moment: the camera needs a little movement and good light to find the floor — that’s how camera-only AR works on every platform.
Lite 3D
On devices with limited graphics memory, Thridify serves reduced-resolution textures and trims extras so the experience stays smooth instead of straining the device.
3D viewer, AR by phone
Desktops and laptops get the full 3D viewer and customizer. Choosing “View in your space” shows a QR code that hands the AR session to the shopper’s phone.
iPhone & iPad
Requires iOS/iPadOS 15 or later with Safari (or any iOS browser — they all use Safari’s engine). AR uses Apple’s built-in AR Quick Look; nothing to install.
| Device | 3D viewer | Augmented reality | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| iPhone 12 Pro & later Pro models iPhone 12 Pro / 13 Pro / 14 Pro / 15 Pro / 16 Pro and Pro Max variants — all carry LiDAR | Full quality | Instant placement (LiDAR) | Full |
| iPad Pro (2020) & later All iPad Pro models with LiDAR | Full quality | Instant placement (LiDAR) | Full |
| iPhone 13 & later (non-Pro) iPhone 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 and SE (2022), plus iPad (2022+), iPad Air (2022+) and iPad mini (2021+) — the recommended floor for full-quality scenes | Full quality | Guided placement — see what to expect | Guided AR |
| iPhone 11 / 12 / SE (2020) & 2019–2021 iPads Fully supported; the heaviest scenes may automatically step down to Lite quality | Full quality, auto-Lite on heavy scenes | Guided placement | Guided AR |
| Older iPads & iPhones Devices with 2 GB memory or less — e.g. iPad Air 2, iPad 5th/6th gen, iPad mini 4, iPhone 7/8/X | Lite mode — lighter textures, smooth browsing | Guided placement; larger scenes may fall back to 3D | Lite |
Android
Requires Android 8 or later with Chrome (or another modern browser) and Google Play Services for AR, which is preinstalled on most phones from the last five years and free on the Play Store otherwise. Google maintains the authoritative list of ARCore-supported devices.
| Device | 3D viewer | Augmented reality | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recent Android phones & tablets Roughly 2019 and later, on Google’s certified list — Samsung Galaxy S/A series, Pixel, OnePlus, Xiaomi and most other majors | Full quality | Guided placement via Google Scene Viewer | Guided AR |
| Budget or older Android devices Not on the certified list, or 2 GB memory or less | Full or Lite depending on memory | Not available — 3D viewer works normally | Lite |
Desktop & laptop
Any modern browser from the last few years: Chrome, Edge, Safari 15+, or Firefox.
| Platform | 3D viewer | Augmented reality | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Windows, macOS, Linux, ChromeOS | Full quality, including the customizer | Hand-off by QR code — “View in your space” opens the AR session on the shopper’s phone | 3D only |
What makes AR “instant” vs. “guided”?
Instant — LiDAR devices
iPhone Pro models and recent iPad Pros carry a LiDAR scanner that measures the room directly. The product appears on the floor almost the moment the camera opens.
Guided — everything else
Without LiDAR, the device finds the floor by watching how the image shifts as the camera moves. This is a property of camera-based AR on every platform — not something any vendor can engineer away. Thridify keeps the wait short with lightweight AR models and in-experience coaching.
What to expect on non-Pro iPhones and iPads
- A short “preparing” moment — a few seconds while the device converts the scene into Apple’s AR format before the camera opens. Larger scenes take a little longer.
- On-screen coaching — the system asks you to point at the floor and move the device slowly in a small sweep. This is normal, not an error.
- 5–15 seconds of scanning in typical conditions before the product appears. Dim rooms, plain or glossy floors, and standing still all stretch this; good light and a floor with visible texture (wood grain, rugs, tiles) shorten it.
- Placement then behaves identically to LiDAR devices — walk around the product, scale it, and see it anchored in place.
Performance, handled automatically
Thridify tunes what it delivers to each device, so integrators don’t have to.
- GPU-compressed textures — materials and finishes are delivered in a GPU-native compressed format on supported devices, using a fraction of the graphics memory of standard images, with automatic fallback everywhere else.
- Progressive loading — a preview image appears first, then the interactive 3D scene; finishes apply at low resolution instantly and sharpen in place.
- Lite mode — devices under memory pressure automatically get reduced-resolution textures and skip non-essential extras.
- Memory hygiene — switching between finishes or scenes releases what’s no longer on screen, so long browsing sessions stay stable.
- AR-ready exports — AR models are prepared with capped texture sizes so the jump into AR starts in seconds, not minutes.
Connection speed
Comfortable from 10–15 Mbps. On a typical 15 Mbps connection a preview appears in under a second and the scene becomes interactive within a few seconds. Slower connections still work — loading is staged, so shoppers always see progress rather than a blank screen. After the first visit, assets are cached and repeat views load much faster.
Troubleshooting
The 3D view doesn’t appear at all
Check that the browser is up to date — the viewer needs a browser from roughly the last four years (Safari 15+, or current Chrome, Edge, or Firefox). Private-browsing content blockers and some corporate networks can also block the 3D assets; try a normal window or another network.
The AR button doesn’t show on my Android phone
Install or update Google Play Services for AR from the Play Store. If the Play Store says the app isn’t available for your device, the phone isn’t on Google’s ARCore-supported list — the 3D viewer still works fully.
AR takes a while to find the floor
On devices without LiDAR this is normal — see what to expect. Move the phone slowly in a small sweep, aim at a floor area with some visible texture (rugs, wood grain, tiles), and add light if the room is dim. Plain, glossy, or dark floors take the longest.
The page reloaded while I was browsing finishes on an older iPad
Older devices have limited graphics memory, and the operating system can interrupt heavy 3D pages. Thridify detects this and reopens the experience in Lite mode automatically — a tap on the preview resumes where you left off. Fewer open browser tabs also helps.
The screen looked blank after coming back from AR
Thridify detects this and restores the 3D view automatically within a moment. If it ever persists, pull down to refresh the page — the scene reloads from cache.
For integrators
A shorter version of the same story, in technical terms.
| Capability | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 3D viewer | WebGL 2 — Safari 15+, Chrome 79+, Edge 79+, Firefox 90+ (in practice: any evergreen browser) |
| AR on iOS | AR Quick Look (USDZ), iOS/iPadOS 15+ — LiDAR devices place instantly, others use guided plane detection |
| AR on Android | Scene Viewer (glTF) via ARCore — Android 8+, ARCore-supported device, Google Play Services for AR |
| Textures | KTX2/Basis GPU compression with automatic JPEG/PNG fallback; per-device texture caps in Lite mode |
| Loading | Poster-first render, staged asset loading, optional preload mount strategy to warm assets before the shopper clicks |
Still have a question?
If your device isn’t covered here, or an experience isn’t behaving the way this page describes, we’d like to know.
See also the AR Viewer, the 3D Product Configurator, the Help Center, and our FAQs.
