Last Updated on May 22, 2024 by Jhonni Jets
Augmented reality (AR) overlays digital information onto the real world through mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. It allows you to interact with and learn more about the physical environment through the camera view of your iOS device. The explosion of AR apps available for Apple products means you have a huge selection to choose from for education, entertainment, shopping, and more.
In this article, we will explore 10 of the best AR apps currently available on the iOS App Store. We’ll cover their key features and functionality to help you decide which ones are worth downloading to bring your real world to life through technology.
Table of Content
1. Pokémon GO
Pokémon GO needs little introduction as one of the most popular and widely played AR games of all time. Developed by Niantic, it uses your location and camera to place Pokémon virtually throughout the real world. Players walk around their neighborhoods and cities to search for and catch Pokémon, battle at gyms, and compete in raids. The gameplay encourages exercise and exploration while interacting with the beloved Pokémon franchise.
Key features include different types of Pokémon to collect, battles and trades with other players, events and challenges to complete, an egg incubator system, and an augmented reality encounter mode to catch Pokémon appearing in the real environment. Even years after its initial release, Pokémon GO remains massively popular with frequent new content updates and has helped define the massive popularity of location-based AR gaming.
2. IKEA Place
IKEA Place allows you to visualize what furniture would look like in your space before purchasing. Simply use your camera to place 3D models of IKEA products into the room, moving and adjusting them to see different layout options. Their extensive catalog means you can preview thousands of items from chairs to beds to sofas and more.
This is hugely helpful for planning remodeling projects, maximizing small spaces, or getting a glimpse of a room’s aesthetic before shopping. Measurements are included, so you know if pieces will fit. Once planned, you can save room layouts to reference later or share with others for feedback and ideas. The app makes home design accessible and low-risk, helping IKEA further dominate the furniture market through innovative AR marketing.
3. Infinite Painter
For digital artists, Infinite Painter provides a unique augmented reality canvas. Using your surroundings, it allows drawing and painting directly onto real world surfaces like walls, floors, and objects. The 3D scanning ensures your creations stay anchored to the environment even as you or the camera moves.
A huge variety of digital tools are available like brushes, pencils, markers, spray cans and adjustable properties for each. Layers let you build up compositions gradually. Snapshots preserve your handiwork which can later be exported, edited further, or shared online. AR art transports traditional and digital illustration into the physical world in an exciting new way.
4. Zappar
Not an app itself but a platform, Zappar is used by businesses, brands and developers to create engaging AR experiences. Some top examples include Guinness AR where tapping a can brings up an interactive 3D globe, and Marvel AR letting you view characters up-close in your environment. The graphical quality is high end.
What makes Zappar so powerful is how easy it is for anyone to develop Zapps – their AR content. No coding skills are needed through their simple drag-and-drop editor. This has led to a rich library with Zapps for tourism, education, packaging, and more. It seamlessly blends digital information into the live camera view on any iOS device.
5. Anthropic Habitat
Anthropic Habitat promotes safe and beneficial development of artificial intelligence through simulation and extended reality. At its core is an immersive 3D habitat where you can interact with AI agents – but also develop, test and monitor them in virtual environments. Dialogue trees, facial expressions and body language create human-like digital interactions.
Examples include tutoring an AI, having discussions to understand its thought processes and identify harmful biases, as well as crafting scenarios to evaluate how it might handle diverse situations. The app empowers understanding, safety research and responsible progress for AI through intuitive AR interfaces.
6. Ikea VR
Similar to their Place app but focused more on virtual reality through Cardboard or Daydream VR headsets, Ikea VR lets you visualize entire room designs in 3D. Browse products like furniture, decor, appliances and more to bring realistic interiors to life at a scale close to 1:1. Simply tap and drag items into the scene, resize and rotate as needed.
Key advantages over 2D are assessing full-sized dimensions, noticing small details, perceiving spatial relationships between objects, and gaining a visceral sense of how a space may actually feel to inhabit. Especially for major remodels or new construction, VR provides a level of immersion for planning that photos alone cannot match.
7. Sky Guide
Sky Guide is the perfect astronomy companion app. Simply point your device upwards to see planets, stars, constellations and satellites rendered against the real night sky. With top-tier AR capabilities, the positions and appearances are accurately mapped onto your camera view down to the precise time and location.
By tapping on different objects, you can read detailed profiles including names, facts, and even view through simulated telescopes for close ups. Additional filters let you visualize astronomical events like meteor showers. Overall Sky Guide beautifully bridges the gap between amateur stargazing and a high-tech planetarium experience.
8. Measure
An indispensable app for tasks requiring precision measurement is Measure. Using ARKit and the camera, it instantly calculates length, width, area, volume and more of objects simply by pointing your iPhone/iPad at them and dragging the digital overlay lines and points. The color-coded overlays provide clear visual guides.
Common uses include determining room sizes, checking furniture dimensions, laying tile layouts, evaluating renovations, and more DIY projects. Measure works in tandem with a built-in notepad for recording results. Highly accurate, it’s essentially a mini tape measure & calculator hybrid for remodeling, construction and any crafts that demand dimensional analyzing with AR accuracy.
9. Architect
For professional-grade AR design, Architect is a powerful choice. Tap to add basic geometric shapes like cubes, spheres and pyramids that can then be combined, scaled, reshaped and customized with extensive appearance controls like materials, UV mapping and lighting effects.
Models are layered in a true 3D workspace and exported to major 3D formats for further use. Scene content can also be viewed directly on the device via a virtual webcam. Advanced menus even provide particle systems, animation capabilities and a node editor. Architect sets the standard for AR-enabled 3D modeling workflows on a mobile platform.
10. JigSpace
Aimed at DIY woodworkers, machinists and makers, JigSpace transforms your space into a digital workshop assistant through AR. Sketch 3D models and assembly diagrams of projects directly onto workplace surfaces like tables or floors. Adjustment handles dynamically update all connected views.
By visualizing the integration of components before building begins, conceptual flaws can be detected and fixed virtually to minimize physical errors. Templates are shared for popular designs, or use it as a personal notepad. Overall JigSpace brings prototyping and previsualization directly to your workspace to streamline the design-to-build process with saws and sanders.
Conclusion
Augmented reality puts a new innovative twist on how we explore the physical world and interact with digital information. The Apple App Store offers amazing diversity across games, productivity, education and more. Whether designing home spaces, catching virtual creatures, visualizing 3D models or mapping the night sky, these top 10 AR apps beautifully blend digital enhancments into our environment.
The technology expands everyday experiences while solving real problems through visualization, measurement and simulation. As platforms like ARKit continue advancing mobile AR capabilities, we can expect even more immersive and helpful applications. Downloading a few on this list is a great starting point to enhance your perspective through the magic of augmented overlays.