Reality Composer Pro 3 is a standalone tool (no longer bundled inside Xcode) that introduces live on-device preview, GPU-based Compute Graphs, a Lightmapping system for baked indirect lighting, a prototype/instancing workflow, and an AI Assistant that generates 3D objects and materials on demand for visionOS experiences.
โข Live Preview streams scene changes directly to a connected Vision Pro in real time, eliminating build-and-deploy cycles and letting you see lighting and physics exactly as end-users will
โข Lightmaps let you pre-bake indirect lighting (including ambient occlusion and beauty passes) into textures, giving scenes high-quality global illumination at runtime without GPU cost
โข The AI-powered Reality Composer Pro Assistant generates 3D objects and materials from text prompts, letting you prototype and populate scenes in seconds without leaving the tool
Shows how to load a RealityKit scene built in Reality Composer Pro 3 that uses a LightmapComponent for baked indirect lighting, and how to programmatically override a prototype instance's component values at runtime.
import SwiftUI
import RealityKit
// MARK: - visionOS app entry point showing a RCP3-authored scene
@main
struct AlchemyLabApp: App {
var body: some Scene {
WindowGroup {
ContentView()
}
ImmersiveSpace(id: "AlchemyLab") {
AlchemyLabView()
}
}
}
struct ContentView: View {
@Environment(\.openImmersiveSpace) private var openImmersiveSpace
var body: some View {
Button("Open Alchemy Lab") {
Task { await openImmersiveSpace(id: "AlchemyLab") }
}
.padding()
}
}
// MARK: - Immersive view that loads the RCP3 scene bundle
struct AlchemyLabView: View {
var body: some View {
RealityView { content in
// Load the .usda scene exported / authored in Reality Composer Pro 3.
// The scene already contains a LightmapComponent baked in RCP3.
guard let scene = try? await Entity(named: "AlchemyArea",
in: Bundle.main) else {
return
}
content.add(scene)
// Locate the two prototype instances authored in RCP3.
if let magicEffect = scene.findEntity(named: "Magic Effect"),
let brewingEffect = scene.findEntity(named: "Brewing Effect") {
// Override the point-light color on the Magic Effect instance
// at runtime โ mirrors the per-instance override workflow in RCP3.
overrideLightColor(on: magicEffect,
color: .init(red: 0.4, green: 0.0, blue: 1.0, alpha: 1.0))
// Override the Brewing Effect instance with a warmer tone.
overrideLightColor(on: brewingEffect,
color: .init(red: 1.0, green: 0.5, blue: 0.0, alpha: 1.0))
}
}
}
// MARK: - Helper: override PointLightComponent on an RCP3 prototype instance
private func overrideLightColor(on entity: Entity,
color: UIColor) {
// Walk child hierarchy to find the glow entity that holds the light.
guard let glowEntity = entity.findEntity(named: "Glow") else { return }
// Read existing component, mutate, write back โ standard RealityKit pattern.
var light = glowEntity.components[PointLightComponent.self]
?? PointLightComponent()
light.color = color
light.intensity = 800 // lumens
light.attenuationRadius = 0.4 // metres
glowEntity.components.set(light)
}
}
Liquid Glass is Apple's new material and visual design language introduced in iOS 27, bringing translucent, refractive glass-like surfaces to system and custom UI elements. It replaces the frosted vibrancy aesthetic with a more dynamic, depth-aware material that responds to content beneath it.
PaperKit is Apple's full-featured canvas framework โ previously internal-only โ now publicly available in iOS/macOS/visionOS 27. It powers the drawing and markup experience in Notes, Preview, and Freeform, giving developers access to a complete pencil, shapes, images, and text canvas with a rich data model.
iOS 27 brings significant updates to Live Activities and the Dynamic Island, including new expanded presentations, richer interactivity via App Intents directly from the island, and updated layout APIs for more expressive minimal and compact views.
In-depth guide
RealityKit & USDKit in iOS 27 โReality Composer Pro 3 is no longer an Xcode plugin โ it must be downloaded separately from developer.apple.com. Live Preview is shipping later in the year (post-initial release). Lightmap quality settings dramatically affect bake time; 'High' on large scenes can take several minutes. Prototype overrides are non-destructive but can be accidentally propagated back to source.
Live Preview requires a physical Apple Vision Pro connected to the development Mac; Lightmap baking and AI Assistant run on Mac. Compute Graphs require a compatible GPU.
iOS 27 enforces stricter adaptivity requirements for UIKit apps, making iPhone apps fully resizable in iPhone Mirroring and on iPad, while introducing new navigation bar minimization controls, sidebar opt-in for iPhone tab bars, and prominent tab customization.