The Best Augmented Reality Apps for iOS and Android [2023]

Introduction – Augmented Reality

Augmented reality a technology that has been used in the video game sector for years, merges the real and virtual worlds. Until now, developers have focused on their applications on mobile terminals with Android or iOS. As they constitute the perfect base they have compelling screens and standard sensor technology. Such as cameras or GPS systems, which make it unnecessary for additional equipment, for example, augmented reality glasses.

Video Games: The Top 3 Augmented Reality Games

Undoubtedly, the great classics among augmented reality applications are video games. In most games with augmented reality, geolocation is of vital importance. That is, the location of an object (e.g., using GPS technology). Since this allows the perfect combination between the contents of the game and the actual environment.

Pokémon Go (iOS, Android)

When Pokémon Go was launched in the summer of 2016. The augmented reality app from the North American development studio Niantic became a hit. Since then, people have occupied the streets worldwide to hunt, train, and battle the famous fantastic beings we call Pokémon. The game determines the player’s location by GPS in real-time and places it on a virtual map based on the alternative to Google Maps, OpenStreetMap. In this process, tourist attractions and other real-world points of interest are used to shape the digital environment of the game. Players with just a few clicks can access one of these places to obtain essential resources for the game. For example, potions to heal their virtual Pokémon.

Knight fall AR (iOS, Android)

The Knight fall AR augmented reality app immerses players in the world of the Templars. The strategy game, which was born from the collaboration of the media company A&E Networks and the development corporations Milkroom Entertainment & Spectral Games, takes the player into a world of medieval battles: he must defend himself against rival troops in different scenarios to prevent them from they cross the city walls and seize the most precious relic of Christianity, the Holy Grail. The AR game remains based on Google AR Core (Android) or Apple AR Kit technology(iOS). The Android and iOS types allow the augmented reality app to recognize horizontal surfaces and place virtual objects on them.

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Ios, Android)

The augmented reality game Harry Potter Wizards Unite, published in June 2019, was born from the collaboration between WB Games. The video game department of Warner Bros., and the creator of the Pokémon-Go above, Niantic. The augmented reality app delights fans of the magical world created by bestselling author JK Rowling. In Harry Potter Wizards Unite, there are magical objects, people, and animals that have slipped into the real world by mistake and have to be return to their place of origin using charms and spells. As in the case of Pokémon Go, the player’s actual location(GPS) determines the avatar’s location. So ambitious apprentices of magic and sorcery are not exempt from frequent excursions to further their learning.

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Ecommerce: Two Augmented Reality Applications for a Better Shopping Experience

Marketers are always looking for the latest trends to get maximum eCommerce success for their business or the business they are advising. In this context, augmented reality apps that revolve around products, brands, or sales platforms are becoming increasingly important.

IKEA Place (Ios, Android)

With IKEA Place, launched at the end of 2017. The Swedish furniture company IKEA offers its customers a convenient and free augmented reality app demonstrating how it improves the shopping experience. IKEA Place allows the user to place different products available at IKEA virtually and at scale in their home, be it sofas, armchairs, or coffee tables. Thus, it is straightforward to get an idea of ​​the dimensions of the desired furniture without having to exhaust the capacity of imagination. You need a free, well-lit surface easily detected by the augmented reality app’s camera scanning process.

Augmented Reality (Ios, Android)

The augmented reality application Augment has already been download more than 2.5 million times. Its figures are no accident: the application of the company with the same name based in Paris is aimed at all online sellers who want their range of products can be inspect virtually but do not have the necessary technical and financial means to develop their augmented reality app. In this way, Augment offers the possibility of generating 3D models of your products (from 2D templates) and listing them in a database. These virtual equivalents form the perfect base if you want to feature your merchandise. Although this service is not free: the rates for the available “BUSINESS” plans start at 9 euros per month.

Travel: Two Useful Applications for your Next Vacation

For a few years, the tourism sector has also benefited more and more from augmented reality. Applications that make it easier for users to explore unknown cities and countries, especially if it is a matter of compensating for knowledge of the language and the area in question.

Google Translate (Ios, Android)

Google Translate or Google Translate is known to almost everyone as the translation service of the leading search engine Google. Since 2010, the facility has also been available as an app for iOS and Android devices. Over the years, Google has been increasing the scope of functions. In this way, the application is not only capable of translating written text (more than 100 languages) and spoken text (more than 30 languages) but also has an augmented reality instant translation function (more than 35 languages). This function allows to detection of a text in a foreign language with the camera of the corresponding mobile device and replaces it in real-time with a corresponding translation.

Virto (Ios)

The Armenian software company e-Works LLC has developed the Virtlo augmented reality application. Which allows you to explore natural environments quickly and easily. In this way, with Virtlo, users can view the locations of tourist attractions, restaurants. Hotels near their position on the screen of their smartphone with integrated virtual labels thanks to augmented reality that show data of interest such as the distance to said locations. It also serves to check the nearest public transport stops. The free app, available only for iOS, is based on open-source data updated daily by millions of volunteer contributors.

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