Google Sceneform - Is It Deprecated? Any Replacement

What is Google Sceneform SDK exactly?

Sceneform SDK allows you import and view 3D models (in such formats as .obj, .fbx or .glTF) and then render realistic 3D scenes for ARCore apps or VR apps, without having to learn OpenGL. Sceneform includes a high-level Scene Graph API, a Physically Based Renderer (PBR) provided by Filament and Android Studio plugin for building 3D assets. ARCore is not able to import and render 3D models. ARCore is made for tracking and scene understanding stages.

In AR app development industry, Sceneform is ARCore's general companion.

However, Sceneform SDK has been archived and no longer maintained by Google. There's no any replacement for Sceneform except pure Filament renderer. Read this post if you need more details.

What's the difference between GLSurfaceView and Sceneform?

About Sceneform

Sceneform is a high-level 3D framework and satellite of ARCore. Sceneform makes it straight-forward to realistically render 3D scenes for AR and VR android apps using real-time physically based Filament renderer. You don't even have to learn OpenGL discipline. A Sceneform's scene graph API allows you import, view and build 3D assets in .fbx, .glTF and .obj file formats.

About GLSurfaceView

GLSurfaceView class extends a SurfaceView parent class and is used for 2D drawing and displaying OpenGL rendering. You can use this view in ARCore app as a custom view for 2D OpenGL rendering.

open class GLSurfaceView : SurfaceView, SurfaceHolder.Callback2

Here's GLSurfaceView's hierarchical place:

kotlin.Any
    ↳ android.view.View
        ↳ android.view.SurfaceView
            ↳ android.opengl.GLSurfaceView

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