This repo is the comparison matrix and the underlying datasets. The full per-platform references live at extentos.com/docs/ecosystem, which is the canonical home for the long-form pages; every platform name below links there.
Can you build third-party apps for smart glasses today? A platform-by-platform comparison — Meta, Snap Spectacles, Brilliant Labs, Rokid, RayNeo, Even Realities, Vuzix, Android XR, Apple and more: which have an official SDK, how apps are built and distributed, and whether you can publish publicly.
"Can I build a third-party app for smart glasses?" has a different answer on every platform, and the answers move quarter to quarter. This is the neutral, dated map: which platforms expose an official developer SDK, what shape a third-party app takes on each, how it reaches real users, whether public publishing is open yet, and how AI works. It's the landscape view — for the per-platform deep dives, follow through to each platform page below.
These are the platforms with a real (or credibly imminent) third-party developer story — a shipping SDK and a path, however gated, to real users.
| Platform | Third-party SDK | App model | Distribution today | Public publishing | Third-party UI on-lens | AI / assistant access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Meta smart glasses | ✅ Native SDK (Kotlin + Swift), preview [src] | ✅ Native companion app + Display web apps [src] | 🟡 Invite-only release channels [src] | 🟡 Partner-gated in preview; GA planned 2026 [src] | ✅ On-lens display on Ray-Ban Display only [src] | ❌ Meta AI closed; bring your own [src] |
| Snap Spectacles | ✅ Lens Studio 5 (free, TS/JS) + WebXR + NDK [src] | ✅ Standalone on-glasses Lenses (+ WebXR path) [src] | ✅ Public Lens Explorer (2–3 day review) + open web hosting [src] | ✅ Open; only Experimental APIs blocked [src] | ✅ See-through binocular AR [src] | 🟡 Rich BYO-AI gateway, no open first-party assistant [src] |
| Android XR ⚠ | ✅ Jetpack XR SDK, public (DP4) [src] | ✅ Projected activity, phone-hosted (Android host) [src] | ❌ No public glasses channel yet [src] | ❌ Not open for glasses [src] | 🟡 Glimmer on display glasses only [src] | 🟡 Gemini: invocable + Live API [src] |
| Brilliant Labs | ✅ OSS multi-language + on-device Lua + first-party IDE [src] | ✅ Phone/host-companion over BLE (+ on-device Lua) [src] | ✅ Ship your own host app, no gatekeeper [src] | 🟡 No first-party dev store; open self-distribution [src] | ✅ On-lens color OLED you render directly [src] | ✅ Assistant is OSS + BYO-key/self-host [src] |
| Rokid | ✅ Glasses/Phone SDKs + open AIUI runtime, free [src] | ✅ Phone companion + on-glasses native + AIUI web runtime + cloud agent [src] | 🟡 Agent Store for AIUI agents; sideload (phone/WebUSB/community stores) for native binaries [src] | 🟡 AIUI agents publish first-party; native store gap [src] | ✅ Monochrome-green Micro-LED waveguide HUD [src] | ✅ Assistant open at model layer; wake reserved [src] |
| RayNeo (TCL) | ✅ OpenXR Unity + Android ARDK (Unity MIT) [src] | ✅ On-glasses standalone Android/Unity APK [src] | 🟡 Sideload via ADB; App Lab launcher, no catalog [src] | ❌ No self-serve store; brokered submission exists [src] | ✅ Binocular micro-LED waveguide, Unity render [src] | 🟡 Assistant closed & region-split; BYO-AI in your app [src] |
| Even Realities | ✅ Even Hub SDK (web/TS, npm) + MentraOS [src] | ✅ Phone-companion web app [src] | ✅ Even Hub store (OTA) + self-host BLE [src] | 🟡 Curated store review; self-serve entry [src] | ✅ Monochrome green HUD (LVGL) [src] | 🟡 BYO-AI via fetch; no assistant API [src] |
| Vuzix | ✅ Ultralite SDK (Android + Apple), GA, free [src] | ✅ Phone-companion, display push over BLE [src] | ✅ Ordinary phone app stores; no glasses gate [src] | ✅ Open — gated only by phone store review [src] | ✅ Monochrome 640×480 waveguide, full render API [src] | 🟡 BYO-AI fully open, but no on-glasses assistant/sensors [src] |
| INMO | 🟡 Unity SDK + native Android [src] | ✅ On-glasses standalone Android [src] | ✅ Play Store + Air3 store + sideload [src] | ✅ Open via Play; store submission [src] | ✅ Binocular 1080p waveguide [src] | 🟡 BYO-AI agent platform + managed layer (beta) [src] |
| Solos | ✅ Paid public SDK, iOS+Android [src] | ✅ Phone-companion peripheral [src] | ✅ Your own app, normal stores [src] | ✅ Commercial apps allowed [src] | ❌ No on-lens display [src] | 🟡 BYO-AI yes; assistant closed [src] |
| HTC VIVE Eagle ⚠ | ✅ Public iOS + Android SDK, 0.6.0 beta, free anonymous download [src] | ✅ Your phone app drives the glasses; no on-glasses code [src] | 🟡 Ordinary App Store / Play app, plus HTC app registration [src] | 🟡 Phone app publishes freely; glasses link needs HTC registration [src] | ❌ No display on the device; no render API [src] | 🟡 Bring your own model; VIVE AI closed to third parties [src] |
| Alibaba Qianwen AI Glasses ⚠ | 🟡 Cloud Skill console self-serve; native SDK brokered [src] | 🟡 Cloud-run Agent Skill (SKILL.md), no code on the glasses [src] | 🟡 Skill market inside Alibaba's 千问AI穿戴 app [src] | 🟡 Open market, staff-reviewed, behind a mainland-China ID gate [src] | 🟡 Three fixed templates on S1, single-colour display [src] | ✅ Platform model callable as tools; bring-your-own documented [src] |
Matrix last updated 2026-08-24.
Rows marked ⚠ are thinly sourced — verified, but resting on weak or contested sources (docs behind a sign-in, a dead or archived page, or sources that contradict each other). Meta is the platform we build on daily, so its row is the most battle-tested; see Meta smart glasses for the full Extentos-focused picture. Every other row was primary-source-verified but moves fast — follow the source links and the platform pages.
Apple is the one entry on this map with no device, no runtime and no SDK — there is nothing to build against today, so it doesn't belong in the table above. It's on the map because the accessory frameworks a tethered design would need already ship (AccessorySetupKit, ExternalAccessory, and the MFi program, which is a real gating surface), and because if Apple moves, the market moves. Treat it as a watch item, not a platform.
| Platform | Third-party SDK | App model | Distribution today | Public publishing | Third-party UI on-lens | AI / assistant access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple smart glasses ⚠ | ❌ No glasses SDK [src] | ⬜ Undefined [src] | ⬜ None yet [src] | ⬜ N/A (no device) [src] | ❌ No display (reported) [src] | 🟡 Phone-side only [src] |
Real developer platforms that sit outside the consumer third-party race: enterprise/industrial glasses, sensing devices, and tethered "birdbath" viewers used mainly as a wearable screen. They belong on the map, but most developers building a consumer smart-glasses app won't start here.
| Platform | Third-party SDK | App model | Distribution today | Public publishing | Third-party UI on-lens | AI / assistant access |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mentra ⚠ | ✅ Open TS SDK (@mentra/miniapp, MIT, beta) [src] | ✅ Phone-local miniapp inside the Mentra app (beta) [src] | ✅ Miniapp Store submission + LAN QR install [src] | ✅ Open public app store [src] | ✅ session.display.render() on display glasses [src] | 🟡 Mentra AI actions (MCP-shaped) + transcription [src] |
| XREAL ⚠ | ✅ Unity SDK (XREAL SDK 3.x, ex-NRSDK) [src] | 🟡 Unity apps on a tethered host [src] | 🟡 Sideload / OTA via ControlGlasses [src] | ❌ AR Lab store announced, not live [src] | ✅ Birdbath optical see-through display [src] | ❌ No AI assistant / AI SDK surface [src] |
| VITURE ⚠ | ✅ Cross-platform SDK + Unity [src] | 🟡 Host-device app; glasses = display+IMU [src] | ⬜ Host platform stores (inferred) [src] | ⬜ Publish via host stores (inferred, undocumented) [src] | 🟡 Mirrored/extended monitor + SBS 3D [src] | ❌ No on-device AI in SDK [src] |
| RealWear | ✅ Standard Android SDK + WearHF/WearML [src] | ✅ Native Android APK apps [src] | ✅ RealWear Cloud + APK sideload [src] | 🟡 Curated Marketplace, gated by cert [src] | ✅ Standard Android UI, monocular HMD [src] | 🟡 Ari assistant (end-user); BYO AI for apps [src] |
| DigiLens (ARGO) | ✅ DigiOS SDK (AOSP 12) + Unity/Spaces [src] | ✅ Standalone AOSP apps on-device [src] | 🟡 Sideload + enterprise MDM [src] | ❌ No public app store [src] | ✅ Dual waveguide, full spatial 3D [src] | 🟡 Google Gemini voice (via Google Cloud) [src] |
| Epson Moverio (discontinued) ⚠ | ✅ Native Android AAR SDK [src] | ✅ Full-screen Android apps [src] | 🟡 Sideload APK, no store [src] | 🟡 No vendor store / review [src] | ✅ Binocular Full HD see-through [src] | ❌ No first-party AI layer [src] |
| ThirdEye Gen ⚠ | ✅ Android (Java) + Unity + VisionEye SLAM SDK [src] | ✅ Standalone Android APK on-device [src] | 🟡 Direct APK install over USB + proprietary MDM [src] | ❌ No reachable public app store [src] | ✅ Waveguide MR overlay, full native UI + SLAM 3D [src] | 🟡 RealEye AI is vendor app; no documented public AI SDK [src] |
| Iristick ⚠ | ✅ Native SDK, Android + iOS [src] | 🟡 Phone app + tethered glasses peripheral [src] | ✅ Google Play + App Store [src] | 🟡 Gated: partner certification or internal-only licence [src] | ✅ Native monocular HUD API [src] | 🟡 On-device voice control; no first-party AI [src] |
| Jorjin J-Reality ⚠ | ✅ J7 SDK, sales-gated [src] | 🟡 Android app on a tethered Android host [src] | 🟡 Partner/ODM, SDK by sales request [src] | ❌ No consumer app store [src] | ✅ Binocular full-HD OST display [src] | ⬜ No documented on-glasses AI API [src] |
| Lenovo ThinkReality ⚠ | ✅ Snapdragon Spaces (Unity/Unreal, OpenXR) [src] | 🟡 Tethered Android APK; host phone/PC runs the runtime [src] | ✅ Sideload, Google Play, or Lenovo managed [src] | 🟡 Enterprise-oriented; no consumer store [src] | ✅ Dual 1080p see-through; full app-rendered spatial UI [src] | ❌ No vendor AI-assistant API [src] |
| Emteq (OCOsense) ⚠ | ✅ Unity SDK (C#/UPM) + Python LSL client [src] | 🟡 Data-integration, not on-device apps [src] | 🟡 Developer kit + GitHub/UPM [src] | ❌ No consumer publishing path [src] | ❌ No display; LED status only [src] | 🟡 Emteq's own affect/expression ML; no third-party AI [src] |
| MICROOLED ActiveLook | ✅ Open BLE SDK, Android + iOS + generic API [src] | ❌ Phone-companion only, no on-glasses runtime [src] | ✅ Embed in your own app, no gatekeeper [src] | ❌ No app marketplace [src] | ✅ 304x256 microdisplay, 16 greys or 81 colors [src] | ❌ No first-party AI [src] |
| Based Hardware (Omi) ⚠ | ✅ Open SDKs: Python, Swift, RN, Expo [src] | ✅ Prompt apps + webhook integration apps [src] | ✅ Omi app marketplace + open GitHub [src] | ✅ Public store, subscription payouts [src] | ❌ No display — vision/camera capture only [src] | ✅ Full AI access, BYO keys / local models [src] |
| NTT QONOQ MiRZA ⚠ | ✅ MiRZA SDK 1.0.0 + Snapdragon Spaces for Unity [src] | ✅ Phone-hosted Android app; glasses are the display [src] | 🟡 Vendor-site APK sideload; Google Play used by at least one third party [src] | 🟡 No MiRZA store, and no gatekeeper found [src] | ✅ Full 3D/UI to dual 1920x1080 see-through displays [src] | ❌ No platform assistant — bring your own AI [src] |
| Everysight Maverick ⚠ | ✅ Public Android + iOS SDK, key comes with purchase [src] | ✅ Phone- or watch-tethered display peripheral [src] | ✅ Your own app in App Store / Google Play [src] | 🟡 Release build needs a reviewed app.key; dev licence expires [src] | ✅ 640x400 HUD, app-drawn, own UI kit [src] | 🟡 No vendor assistant; BYO-AI, and only on the unshipped AI line [src] |
| Six15 ST1 ⚠ | ✅ Public Android SDK, no login or NDA [src] | ✅ Ordinary phone app; glasses are a tethered HUD [src] | ✅ Normal Android channels; service app on Google Play [src] | ✅ No Six15 store or review; you ship via Play [src] | ✅ Full 640x400 framebuffer, or a one-line broadcast [src] | ❌ No vendor assistant; bring your own on the phone [src] |
| DPVR AI Glasses ⚠ | ✅ Public Android + iOS SDK, no login — but it is an ODM's, not DPVR's [src] | 🟡 Phone companion app over BLE, SPP and Wi-Fi; closed firmware [src] | ✅ Ship a normal iOS/Android app; pairs directly with the glasses [src] | ✅ No vendor gate — and no glasses store to publish to [src] | ❌ No display on any shipping model; no rendering API [src] | 🟡 Assistant is toggle-and-mode level; the AI-chat stream is readable [src] |
| Pupil Labs Neon ⚠ | ✅ Published OpenAPI spec + Python/C++/Unity/MATLAB clients [src] | 🟡 Host-side clients; no third-party code on the wearable [src] | 🟡 You ship your own host app; SDKs from PyPI/GitHub [src] | ❌ No third-party publishing channel surfaced [src] | ❌ No display — sensing-only eyewear [src] | 🟡 Vendor ML (NeonNet) with no documented hook; bring your own, off-device [src] |
| Tobii Pro Glasses 3 ⚠ | ✅ Free device API + official Python & .NET clients [src] | 🟡 Host app off-device; nothing runs on the glasses [src] | 🟡 Ship your own host app; no vendor channel [src] | ❌ No store; commercial use needs a Tobii license [src] | ❌ No display — sensor eyewear only [src] | ❌ No vendor assistant; raw streams, BYO models [src] |
| OSAIG (open hardware) ⚠ | ✅ In-repo C/C++ SDK v0.7.2 (binary lib, licence unstated) [src] | ✅ Native ARM Linux binaries on-device; system UI forkable [src] | ❌ adb push to /userdata/apps — no packaging or channel [src] | ❌ No store or developer program on the project's own surfaces [src] | ✅ Shared-mem framebuffer + arbitrated focus (display SKU) [src] | 🟡 Built-in AI read-only, but documented takeover for BYO AI [src] |
| Argus Science ETVision ⚠ | ✅ Ungated 42-page wire spec; sample code ships with the hardware [src] | 🟡 Host program on the LAN; nothing third-party runs on the eyewear [src] | 🟡 Ship your own host program; SDK samples arrive bundled at purchase [src] | ❌ No store or submission path; structurally nothing to publish [src] | ❌ No display — sensing-only eyewear [src] | 🟡 No assistant; the object-detection model is swappable via a paid add-on [src] |
| Ganzin Sol Glasses ⚠ | 🟡 Open UVC video + CSV, no approval; no published SDK [src] | ❌ No app runtime — wired sensor plus a bundled phone [src] | ❌ No channel — you hand over your own tooling [src] | ❌ No store or publishing route; sales enquiry only [src] | ❌ No display — capture only; .mp4 and .csv out [src] | ❌ No assistant; any AI is bring-your-own on a host [src] |
| Tilt Five ⚠ | ✅ Free, ungated SDK — Unity, Unreal, native C [src] | 🟡 App runs on a tethered PC or Android phone [src] | ✅ Ship on your own storefront — Steam, itch.io [src] | ✅ No Tilt Five gate on shipping [src] | ✅ Full stereo scene projected onto a gameboard [src] | ❌ No platform AI; licence restricts camera frames [src] |
The biggest source of confusion isn't capabilities — it's app model: does your code run on the phone (with the glasses as a peripheral), or on the glasses themselves? (A VR-style "headset app" — Android XR headsets like Project Moohan, or Magic Leap / HoloLens — is a separate device category, not smart glasses.)
- Companion / extension app (runs on the phone) — you extend an app that ships through an existing store; the glasses are the peripheral — camera, mic, speaker, or display — over Bluetooth. Meta's DAT, Android XR, Brilliant Labs, Solos, and Vuzix take this approach — which is why distribution is often a two-part story (ship the app and get the user's glasses linked to it).
- An app that runs on the glasses — either a native standalone app (Snap Spectacles, Rokid, RayNeo, INMO) or a web app you deploy as a URL (Meta Ray-Ban Display Web Apps, or Rokid's AIUI/JSAR runtime).
And a single platform can offer both: Meta ships two entirely separate systems — DAT (native companion) and Display Web Apps (a web app on the Ray-Ban Display) — and Rokid exposes four dev paths at once. Most "why can't I just publish my glasses app to a store" questions dissolve once you see which system you're in. Full breakdown: how third-party apps are distributed.
- Building now, shipping to real users: Meta is the most mature — shipping consumer hardware + a public SDK — but publishing is invite/partner-gated during preview (start here). Snap Spectacles has arguably the deepest on-glasses developer ecosystem (Lens Studio, public Lens Explorer) but hardware access narrowed — Snap has withdrawn the published sign-up for its subscription developer program, leaving a $2,195 Specs pre-order as the only listed purchase route. Brilliant Labs is the most open (permissive OSS SDKs).
- Openness varies wildly, and on two axes. A platform can hand you a free SDK and still refuse to let you ship — see how open is smart-glasses development for the mental model and where each platform lands.
- AI is mostly closed at the assistant layer. Meta AI, Gemini, and most first-party assistants are reserved; you bring your own AI on nearly every platform. How AI works on smart glasses →
- Forward-looking: Android XR (tracking) is the other big-platform ecosystem play, and Apple (no SDK yet) is worth watching, not yet building on.
Neutral, per-platform developer references — SDK, app model, distribution, capabilities & AI:
Snap Spectacles · Brilliant Labs · Rokid · RayNeo · Even Realities · Vuzix · INMO · Solos · HTC VIVE Eagle · Alibaba Qianwen
Extentos ships a production transport for Meta, which gets a deeper, build-focused guide under vendors: the Meta build guide. Android XR has a preview transport — built and proven on Google's emulator, module unpublished, no buyable hardware (status). Apple is tracked. The neutral platform pages above stay vendor-neutral regardless of what Extentos supports.
Extentos's bet is that the capability surface (camera, voice, audio, display) generalizes across all of these even though the app models don't — so one app can target the platform that's open today and the platform that opens next with a config change, not a rewrite. That's the vendor model.
- How third-party smart-glasses apps are distributed — the app-model taxonomy in depth
- How open is smart-glasses development? — the openness spectrum, both axes
- AI on smart glasses — reserved assistants vs. bring-your-own-AI
- Vendors overview — what Extentos supports, and the vendor-portability model
Verified 2026-08-24.
Everything above is generated from two datasets, published here as JSON so you can use them without scraping the tables:
data/platform-matrix.json— the 6-column landscape matrix, 36 platforms, every cell carrying its ownsourceURL.data/hardware-catalogue.json— the model-level catalogue: 142 models across 36 platforms, each with a verbatim vendor price, an availability state, averifiedOndate, and the ambiguities that a plain price list hides.
Facts rot, so the maintenance contract is part of the data rather than a promise in a README:
- Every matrix cell carries a
sourceURL, and a price or availability claim must cite a surface that would change if the fact changed — a store page, not a launch blog post. - Every hardware entry carries its own
verifiedOndate, so staleness is queryable per entry instead of per file. - Rows still thinly sourced are flagged ⚠ rather than quietly presented as verified.
delistedanddiscontinuedare different states, and the second is never written without a vendor statement.
Found something wrong or missing? Open an issue. Corrections with a primary source are the most useful thing you can send.
This map is built and kept current by Extentos, which makes an SDK and MCP server for smart-glasses apps. We build a production transport for Meta, so that row is the most battle-tested — every other row is primary-source-verified and vendor-neutral, and the pages stay neutral regardless of what Extentos supports. Where we have a commercial interest, it is stated on the page rather than hidden.
CC BY 4.0 — use it, quote it, build on it. Attribution to Extentos is all we ask.