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Release Notes v3.13

Features/Fixes​

  • New Sample: Cloud Persistence - Demonstrate how to use Device Mapping in an adhoc SharedAR session. This sample uses Datastore to sync and persist Device Map data and other digital objects.
  • Playback cropping tool in Lightship settings - Playback setting in Lightship settings now allows to crop playback with preview thumbnails
  • VPS Diagnostics model pre-loading - Pre-loading now allows to pre-load the VPS Diagnostics neural network model

Coming Changes​

Important!

As part of our transition to Niantic Spatial and the launch of ARDK 3.13.0, all earlier versions—including ARDK 2.x and all 3.x versions prior to 3.13.0—will enter a six-month support window starting May 1, 2025, with backward compatibility maintained through October 31, 2025.

To ensure uninterrupted service and continued access to VPS features, we’re releasing ARDK 3.13.0—a drop-in, non-breaking update compatible with all 3.x versions—on April 23, 2025. We strongly recommend updating to ARDK 3.13.0 as soon as it becomes available.

Starting November 1, 2025, all versions earlier than 3.13.0 will no longer be supported, and apps that haven’t been updated will stop functioning due to backend infrastructure changes.

For any questions, please contact support@nianticspatial.com.

  • As of this release, we will no longer offer support for Intel-powered MacOS devices.

Known Issues​

  • URP users of the Lightship Occlusion Extension may notice that the extension no longer works as expected. To correct this, enable Compatibility Mode (RenderGraph disabled) by going to Edit > Project Settings > Graphics > URP.
  • When using Unity 6 with ML2 you may have a black screen during application startup. This may be caused by the Magic Leap Setup Tool 2.0.14 injecting a second activity tag, UnityPlayerGameActivity, into the AndroidManifest.xml file. To fix this issue, remove the second activity tag (UnityPlayerGameActivity). Only one of these tags is required for your application.
  • In SharedAR with VPS example, if the device loses tracking (e.g. camera covered or moving too fast) right before attempting to join second time or after, the device will not localize with VPS. This issue can be avoided by restarting the ARLocationManager’s subsystem before StartSharedSpace() is called by calling ARLocationManager.RestartSubsystemAsyncCoroutine() in a coroutine.
  • On some older Android phones, the frame-rate will drop for several seconds at the beginning of a VPS session when VPS diagnostics are enabled. This happens while the machine learning models used by VPS diagnostics are being loaded. Once the ML models finish loading, the frame rate recovers (usually about 5-10 seconds). This slow-down does not show up on newer phones (most phones released since 2020 should be OK). The slowdown can be prevented by disabling VPS Diagnostics on the ARLocationManager (this will prevent diagnostics feedback events).
  • Updating to 3.13.0 from an older version of ARDK when updating multiple packages (like ARDK and Shared) may cause corruption in the Library folder, leading to the error “Instance of Niantic.Lightship.AR.Loader.LightshipSettings couldn't be created because there is no script with that name.” Closing Unity, deleting the Library folder, and reopening the project resolves the issue. This is an issue with Unity, and they are investigating a fix for it.
  • When activating Lightship SDK for Android or iOS in Unity 2022.3.10f1 and above, you may see the following error message in the Unity console: XR Plug-in Management error. Failure reason: Unable to assign com.nianticlabs.lightship for build target [Android/iOS]. This error message is benign and the SDK still works as expected for those platforms. After restarting the editor in this state, you may also see warnings in the Project Validation and Lightship Settings windows that can safely be ignored.
  • Importing the ARDK UPM in a project started from Universal 3D template might cause a few build errors reported in the console. Restarting the editor should fix this.
  • In the On Device Persistent sample, if the user cancels mapping and restarts mapping quickly, the user will see an error message mapping failed unexpectedly. The user can safely start mapping scans again and make sure to scan properly until it stops by itself.