The XR ecosystem has evolved rapidly, with several major platforms offering unique capabilities for developers. Selecting the right one depends on your target audience, hardware requirements, and desired level of immersion. Here's a breakdown of the most prominent platforms:
Apple's entry into spatial computing brings high-fidelity AR and mixed reality to the forefront. visionOS offers seamless integration with SwiftUI, RealityKit, and spatial input, making it ideal for premium experiences. Best suited for developers targeting enterprise use cases or high-end consumer markets.
Use cases:
Meta’s Horizon OS powers the Quest line, including Quest 3 and newer models. Known for its standalone performance and mixed reality passthrough features, it supports Unity, Unreal, and native Meta SDKs. A solid choice for developers focused on gaming, social XR, or interactive learning.
Use cases:
The joint XR platform from Google and Samsung, often referred to as Android XR, offers open development powered by ARCore, OpenXR, and Gemini AI. It’s designed for flexibility and scale, especially on upcoming Samsung headsets and smart glasses.
Use cases:
Though newer to market, Android XR is quickly gaining ground due to its openness, ecosystem integration, and AI-driven capabilities.
For lightweight, browser-based experiences, WebXR allows you to build immersive content without requiring app store installation. Frameworks like A-Frame and Three.js make it possible to deliver AR and VR experiences across devices, including smartphones, headsets, and desktops.
Use cases:
Extended reality (XR) is reshaping industries, from immersive education and healthcare to next-gen retail and gaming. As adoption accelerates in 2025, developers face a growing ecosystem of tools and platforms.
This guide breaks down the essential SDKs, toolkits, and frameworks for building AR, VR, and mixed reality apps, helping you choose the right starting point for your extended reality development project.
Choosing the right development toolkit is key to building responsive, immersive XR experiences. Each toolkit offers distinct strengths—some geared toward visual realism, others toward cross-platform deployment or mobile-first AR. Here’s a breakdown of the most widely used tools in 2025:
Unity is the go-to engine for many XR developers due to its cross-platform support and rich asset ecosystem. With the XR Interaction Toolkit, developers can quickly implement common interaction patterns like teleportation, grabbing, and UI input across AR, VR, and MR devices.
Popular titles like Job Simulator and Wanderer VR were built using Unity, demonstrating its ability to support highly interactive and commercially successful XR applications.
Unreal Engine excels in delivering photorealistic visuals and cinematic quality, making it a favorite for developers focused on high-end games, simulations, and architectural visualizations.
For example, Half-Life: Alyx leveraged Unreal’s capabilities to create one of the most immersive and graphically advanced VR experiences to date. Its Blueprint system also allows designers to build complex logic visually—no code required.
Apple’s ARKit powers AR development on iOS and visionOS, offering features like motion capture, LiDAR-based depth sensing, and real-world occlusion.
Apps like IKEA Place and Apple’s own Measure app showcase how ARKit enables real-time 3D object placement and spatial accuracy for consumer use cases, from trying out furniture to scanning rooms.
ARCore provides the foundational AR features for Android, including environmental understanding, plane detection, and location-based AR.
Google Maps Live View uses ARCore to guide users with on-screen arrows and labels overlaid in real space, making navigation intuitive and location-aware in urban environments.
Originally developed for Microsoft HoloLens, MRTK is a Unity-based toolkit that supports gaze input, spatial mapping, hand tracking, and voice commands. It’s commonly used for enterprise MR applications where precision and hands-free interaction are critical.
In fields like medical training and construction, MRTK powers tools such as Trimble XR10—a hardhat-integrated HoloLens system used for on-site visualization and alignment in industrial workflows.
WebXR allows developers to deliver immersive content directly in the browser, with no downloads required. Frameworks like A-Frame and Babylon.js simplify the process of building interactive 3D scenes using JavaScript or HTML-like syntax.
Projects like Mozilla Hubs and interactive exhibits on Sketchfab highlight how WebXR makes it easy to build and deploy lightweight XR content for education, marketing, and online collaboration.
Extended reality (XR) is reshaping industries, from immersive education and healthcare to next-gen retail and gaming. As adoption accelerates in 2025, developers face a growing ecosystem of tools and platforms.
This guide breaks down the essential SDKs, toolkits, and frameworks for building AR, VR, and mixed reality apps, helping you choose the right starting point for your extended reality development project.
The XR ecosystem has evolved rapidly, with several major platforms offering unique capabilities for developers. Selecting the right one depends on your target audience, hardware requirements, and desired level of immersion. Here's a breakdown of the most prominent platforms:
Apple's entry into spatial computing brings high-fidelity AR and mixed reality to the forefront. visionOS offers seamless integration with SwiftUI, RealityKit, and spatial input, making it ideal for premium experiences. Best suited for developers targeting enterprise use cases or high-end consumer markets.
Use cases:
Meta’s Horizon OS powers the Quest line, including Quest 3 and newer models. Known for its standalone performance and mixed reality passthrough features, it supports Unity, Unreal, and native Meta SDKs. A solid choice for developers focused on gaming, social XR, or interactive learning.
Use cases:
The joint XR platform from Google and Samsung, often referred to as Android XR, offers open development powered by ARCore, OpenXR, and Gemini AI. It’s designed for flexibility and scale, especially on upcoming Samsung headsets and smart glasses.
Use cases:
Though newer to market, Android XR is quickly gaining ground due to its openness, ecosystem integration, and AI-driven capabilities.
For lightweight, browser-based experiences, WebXR allows you to build immersive content without requiring app store installation. Frameworks like A-Frame and Three.js make it possible to deliver AR and VR experiences across devices, including smartphones, headsets, and desktops.
Use cases:
Choosing the right development toolkit is key to building responsive, immersive XR experiences. Each toolkit offers distinct strengths—some geared toward visual realism, others toward cross-platform deployment or mobile-first AR. Here’s a breakdown of the most widely used tools in 2025:
Unity is the go-to engine for many XR developers due to its cross-platform support and rich asset ecosystem. With the XR Interaction Toolkit, developers can quickly implement common interaction patterns like teleportation, grabbing, and UI input across AR, VR, and MR devices.
Popular titles like Job Simulator and Wanderer VR were built using Unity, demonstrating its ability to support highly interactive and commercially successful XR applications.
Unreal Engine excels in delivering photorealistic visuals and cinematic quality, making it a favorite for developers focused on high-end games, simulations, and architectural visualizations.
For example, Half-Life: Alyx leveraged Unreal’s capabilities to create one of the most immersive and graphically advanced VR experiences to date. Its Blueprint system also allows designers to build complex logic visually—no code required.
Apple’s ARKit powers AR development on iOS and visionOS, offering features like motion capture, LiDAR-based depth sensing, and real-world occlusion.
Apps like IKEA Place and Apple’s own Measure app showcase how ARKit enables real-time 3D object placement and spatial accuracy for consumer use cases, from trying out furniture to scanning rooms.
ARCore provides the foundational AR features for Android, including environmental understanding, plane detection, and location-based AR.
Google Maps Live View uses ARCore to guide users with on-screen arrows and labels overlaid in real space, making navigation intuitive and location-aware in urban environments.
Originally developed for Microsoft HoloLens, MRTK is a Unity-based toolkit that supports gaze input, spatial mapping, hand tracking, and voice commands. It’s commonly used for enterprise MR applications where precision and hands-free interaction are critical.
In fields like medical training and construction, MRTK powers tools such as Trimble XR10—a hardhat-integrated HoloLens system used for on-site visualization and alignment in industrial workflows.
WebXR allows developers to deliver immersive content directly in the browser, with no downloads required. Frameworks like A-Frame and Babylon.js simplify the process of building interactive 3D scenes using JavaScript or HTML-like syntax.
Projects like Mozilla Hubs and interactive exhibits on Sketchfab highlight how WebXR makes it easy to build and deploy lightweight XR content for education, marketing, and online collaboration.
Each XR SDK comes with its own strengths depending on your project goals, whether you’re building for high-end visuals, broad platform support, real-world mapping, or browser delivery. The table below highlights how today’s most popular XR toolkits compare across key development factors:
When selecting your SDK, consider factors like your target platform, desired fidelity, and need for spatial or AI capabilities. In many cases, hybrid approaches, such as Unity + ARKit or Unreal + OpenXR, can unlock the best of both worlds.
Prototyping is a critical phase in extended reality app development, helping you validate interaction design, spatial behavior, and performance before full deployment. The right testing tools can save time and reduce bugs early in your development cycle.
Key tools for XR prototyping
Apple’s simulator for Vision Pro apps lets you emulate gestures, UI behavior, and spatial layout using your Mac. Useful for layout and UI testing before deploying to a physical device.
While simulators and editor previews are helpful for early extended reality app development, testing on real hardware is essential for production-ready XR apps. Here's how the two approaches compare:
Emulators are great for logic, layout, and basic UX prototyping, but physical testing is the only way to verify user comfort, real-time tracking, and environmental behaviors, especially in mixed and augmented reality.
Extended reality app development is more accessible than ever, but choosing the right platform, toolkit, and testing strategy is key to building successful experiences. By understanding the strengths of each SDK and leveraging real hardware for validation, developers can create XR applications that are immersive, responsive, and ready for the future.
Extended reality (XR) is reshaping industries, from immersive education and healthcare to next-gen retail and gaming. As adoption accelerates in 2025, developers face a growing ecosystem of tools and platforms.
This guide breaks down the essential SDKs, toolkits, and frameworks for building AR, VR, and mixed reality apps, helping you choose the right starting point for your extended reality development project.
