Native 3D Embeds for Android

With our Vulkan-based renderer, you can embed native 3D content in your Android projects.

This native renderer enables you to bring all of the interactivity from your 3D designs made in Spline to Android devices and take full advantage of their native performance.

Requirements

Follow the steps below to get set up to use the Spline Android Runtime.

1. Download and Install Android Studio

To use Spline native embeds, you’ll need to integrate the Spline Android Runtime into a Kotlin or Java project. This means you must install Android Studio to build an Android application. Android Studio is available on Windows and Mac.

• Download the latest versions of Android Studio from the Android Developer website.

Getting Started

Follow the steps below to get started using native 3D embeds on your Kotlin or Java projects with Spline Android Runtime.

Platform Support

Spline is using the latest technologies to render 3D content on Android devices.

It runs on Phones, Tablets, Wear OS, Desktop, TV, and Automotive from Android 7.0 and up, but we recommend using Android 10.0+. Vulkan support is required.

Language and Libraries Support

The Spline Android Runtime can be used with Kotlin and Java.

Android Studio Simulator

The performance on the Android Studio simulator is not representative of the performance of the 3D scene on the final app running on physical devices. Depending on your development hardware, the Android simulator sometimes uses only the CPU (lower) or GPU (faster) for rendering graphics. However, the 3D scenes on your device will always use the GPU.

1. Adding the Spline Android Runtime

Open your project's build.gradle.kts file, and add this line of code under dependencies.

Copy

implementation("design.spline:spline-runtime:+")

Note: This will always run the latest version of the runtime.

After making changes on your build.gradle.kts file, make sure to press the Sync Now button to apply the changes.

You can find Spline’s Android runtime hosted on Maven: https://central.sonatype.com/artifact/design.spline/spline-runtime/overview

For more information, refer to Android’s documentation on Adding dependencies to your app.

2. Importing the Spline Android Runtime

To import the Spline Android Runtime, make sure to always add the following code to the top of the file where the Spline Runtime is used.

import design.spline.runtime.SplineView

For cloud embeds, you’ll need to allow your app to have internet access. To do so, you can add these two lines of code to your AndroidManifest.xml file inside your-app-name/manifests.

    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.INTERNET" />
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE" />

3. Using the Spline Android Runtime

3.1 Exporting from Spline

1. From the top toolbar, press the Export button to open the export panel;

2. Under Android Platform, select the Embed option.

Make sure to come back to the export panel and press the Update button to see all the updates made to the scene in your app.

To load your Spline scene locally, you can use the Download the scene to local button below the code snippet.

3.2 Integrating with your Android Studio Project

Since the embedded code snippet utilizes AndroidView, ensure you include the following line in the file where you are embedding your Spline scene.

import androidx.compose.ui.viewinterop.AndroidView

From the Cloud

1. Copy the code snippet and paste it on the MainActivity.kt file or wherever you’d like to embed the Spline scene.

import design.spline.runtime.SplineView

@Composable
fun MyView() {
    AndroidView(
        factory = { ctx ->
            SplineView(context).apply {
				// fetching from cloud
                loadUrl("https://build.spline.design/r7vufRzuTnbHle7G/scene.splinecontent")

				// fetching from local
				// loadResource(R.raw.scene)
            }
        }
    )
}

• If not using local files, you can either keep the fetching from local code commented or remove it completely.

Locally

1. Use the Download button below the code snippet to get a local copy of your Spline Scene as a .splinecontent file;

2. Import the .splinecontent file into your Android Studio project’s your-app-name/res/raw folder;

3. Copy the code snippet and paste it on the MainActivity.kt file or wherever you’d like to embed the Spline scene.;

4. Comment out the fetching from cloud code and uncomment the fetching from local code.

import design.spline.runtime.SplineView

@Composable
fun MyView() {
    AndroidView(
        factory = { ctx ->
            SplineView(context).apply {
				// fetching from cloud
	      // loadUrl("https://build.spline.design/r7vufRzuTnbHle7G/scene.splinecontent")

				// fetching from local
				loadResource(R.raw.scene)
            }
        }
    )
}

• When working with multiple local files, you can change the file name in R.raw.[file-name]. If the file name is demo.splinecontent the code should look like: R.raw.demo

• For more information on adding resources to your project, refer to Android’s documentation on App Resources.

4. Publishing and distributing your app

For more information on publishing to the Google Play Store, refer to Android’s documentation on Publishing your app.

Feature Support Roadmap

Full coverage of all Spline features for Vulkan Renderer is expected to be ready in Q4 2024. Here is a list of each feature's current status. This list will be updated weekly until everything is fully supported.

Generate an APK

Export your 3D content for Android devices by generating an Android Package file (APK) directly from Spline.

Learn more about .

Generate an App Bundle (AAB)

Export your 3D content for Android devices by generating a pre-built Android App Bundle file (AAB) directly from Spline.

Learn more about .