Using the Sketchfab mobile app

You can use the Sketchfab app to explore over a million scenes in 3D, VR, and AR. Teleport yourself to Rome, hold a beating heart, or walk among dinosaurs!

Whether you explore 3D with touch, jump into VR using your favorite mobile headset, or use AR to bring models into the real world, let us transport you to new dimensions from the Sketchfab community. 

Check it out in the video below:

Compatible devices

The Sketchfab mobile app is available for download free for any mobile device that can access the iTunes Store or Google Play.

Virtual Reality (VR)

You can view any Sketchfab model in Virtual Reality (VR) using your smartphone, a Google Cardboard (or similar tool) and our stereoscopic viewer!

Just go to the model page and tap the View in VR icon (shown in the image below, in the top-right corner of the first image) to open the model in VR mode.

Augmented Reality (AR)

Like virtual reality, you can explore any public Sketchfab model in augmented reality (AR) too. Sketchfab has the largest AR library on the planet!

To explore Sketchfab models in AR, all you need to do is select a model in your mobile app and click the AR icon in the top-right corner of the viewer. It looks like a 3D cube with highlighted corners.

Once you choose a model, click the AR icon and allow access to your mobile camera, you can aim where you want the model to appear. Find a horizontal flat surface until you see the Sketchfab-themed floor appear, then simply tap on it to place the model. You can then zoom in and out by pinching, or tilt to rotate. And most importantly, you can walk freely around the model which will be locked in space.

If you want to reposition the model, just re-tap the screen to bring the floor back, then re-tap on the floor to reposition the model.

Optimizing models for mobile

By default, the Sketchfab mobile app filters and hides high polycount models because some models are too heavy to run on mobile devices. High polycount models are those with 100k polygons for the regular viewer and 50k polygons for VR viewing.

If you'd like to disable this default option and try to load those particular models, you can click the three horizontal lines icon in the top-left corner of the mobile app home screen and then click the Settings gear icon in the bottom section (seen below).

Once there, you'll find the option to toggle Filter high polycount models.

However, even if you toggle off this filter, you may still see a warning that the model is too large/heavy for mobile devices. You're more than welcome to ignore that warning and try to load the model anyway, but performance may suffer.

FAQs/Limitations

Even though Sketchfab is a universal platform, there are a few features that will display on your laptop or desktop, and will not show on mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets. Among the differences are:

• Uploading  - you cannot upload models from within the Sketchfab mobile app.
• Private models - Private (unlisted) models will load within the Sketchfab mobile app, but password-protected models will not.
• Draft Mode - Draft models cannot be seen on the Sketchfab mobile app either. You will need to publish them in order to see them.