Image tracking platform support

Learn about the features of image tracking in AR Foundation and which platforms support them.

The AR Foundation XRImageTrackingSubsystem is supported on the following platforms:

Provider plug-in	Image tracking supported	Provider documentation
Google ARCore XR Plug-in	Yes	Image tracking (ARCore)
Apple ARKit XR Plug-in	Yes	Image tracking (ARKit)
Apple visionOS XR Plug-in	Yes	N/A
Microsoft HoloLens
Unity OpenXR: Meta
Unity OpenXR: Android XR
XR Simulation	Yes	Image tracking (XR Simulation)

Check for image tracking support

Your app can check at runtime whether a provider plug-in supports image tracking on the user's device. Use the following example code to check whether the device supports image tracking:

void Start()
{
    if (LoaderUtility
            .GetActiveLoader()?
            .GetLoadedSubsystem<XRImageTrackingSubsystem>() != null)
    {
        // XRImageTrackingSubsystem was loaded. Image tracking is supported.
    }
}
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Note

This example code assumes that your app has already initialized XR.

By default XR initializes automatically when your app starts, but this is configurable via Project Settings > XR Plug-in Management > Initialize XR on Startup. Refer to the XR Plug-in Management End-user documentation for more detailed information about managing the XR Plug-in lifecycle.

Optional features

The following table lists the optional features of the image tracking subsystem. Each optional feature is defined by a Descriptor Property of the XRImageTrackingSubsystemDescriptor, which you can check at runtime to determine whether a feature is supported. Refer to Check for optional feature support for a code example to check whether a feature is supported.

Feature	Descriptor Property	Description
Moving images	supportsMovingImages	Whether the subsystem supports tracking the poses of moving images in real time.
Requires physical image dimensions	requiresPhysicalImageDimensions	Whether the subsystem requires physical image dimensions to be provided for all reference images. If False, specifying the physical dimensions is optional.
Mutable library	supportsMutableLibrary	Whether the subsystem supports MutableRuntimeReferenceImageLibrary, a reference image library which can modified at runtime, as opposed to the XRReferenceImageLibrary, which is generated at edit time and cannot be modified at runtime.
Image validation	supportsImageValidation	Whether the subsystem supports image validation (validating images before they are added to a MutableRuntimeReferenceImageLibrary).

Optional feature platform support

The following table lists whether certain XR plug-in providers support each optional feature:

Feature	ARCore	ARKit	VisionOS	XR Simulation
Moving images	Yes	iOS 12+	Yes	Yes
Requires physical image dimensions		Yes
Mutable library	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Image validation	Yes	iOS 13+	Yes	Yes

Check for optional feature support

Your app can check at runtime whether an image tracking provider supports any optional features on the user's device. The XRImageTrackingSubsystemDescriptor contains Boolean properties for each optional feature that tell you whether they are supported.

Refer to the following example code to learn how to check for optional feature support:

void CheckForOptionalFeatureSupport()
{
    // This is inefficient. You should re-use a saved reference instead.
    var manager = Object.FindAnyObjectByType<ARTrackedImageManager>();

    // Use manager.descriptor to determine which optional features
    // are supported on the device. For example:

    if (manager.descriptor.supportsMovingImages)
    {
        // Moving images are supported.
    }
}
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