iOS · TrueDepth + magnetometer fusion

Scan a part to
±0.1mm.
With the phone
already in your hand.

DepthScan turns your iPhone's face-up TrueDepth camera into a contact-free structured-light scanner. Hold the part above the screen, rotate it freely — no turntable, no markers, no lab.

Get the app → See how it works
0.01mm SCANNING ACCURACY, LOG SCALE 50mm
DepthScan
±0.1–0.2mm
Android photogrammetry
±2–5mm
iPhone LiDAR
±3–5mm
Desktop CMM
±0.01mm
See it scanning

What actually happens above the screen

A simplified animation of the capture loop — the IR beam, the magnetic sticker, and the live mesh building on screen.

Side view
What the user sees
SCANNING
COVERAGE
Magnetometer signal
Process

No setup. No turntable. No lab.

Four sensors most apps ignore, working together instead of one at a time.

01 / TABLE

Set it down

Place the phone face-up on any flat surface. CoreMotion confirms it's level and still before scanning begins — no held-camera shake to fight.

02 / DEPTH

Hold the part above it

TrueDepth fires 30,000 infrared points upward, reading the part's geometry at sub-millimeter precision — the same sensor that unlocks your phone.

03 / ROTATE

Turn it freely

A magnet stuck to the part lets the magnetometer track its rotation continuously — calibrated to your specific magnets, no factory part required.

04 / MESH

Watch it build

Hands are masked out live. Coverage fills in green as you rotate. When it's done, the captured frames run through Object Capture's photogrammetry for the final textured mesh.

Under the hood

Four sensors,
cross-checked

No single sensor is trusted alone. Every frame is gated by the others before it touches the mesh.

TrueDepth camera
Structured-light depth map, primary geometry source
±0.1mm
Photogrammetry (Object Capture)
RGB frames reconstructed into the final textured mesh
final pass
Magnetometer
Tracks part rotation via a user-calibrated magnet
3-magnet solve
IMU
Confirms the phone hasn't moved mid-scan
gates frames
Vision framework
Detects and masks hands out of every frame
real-time
TrueDepth gives geometry live, in real time, as you rotate the part — that's what drives the on-screen mesh and coverage map while scanning. Once coverage is complete, the saved RGB frames are handed to RealityKit's Object Capture for a full photogrammetry reconstruction pass — the same structure-from-motion pipeline Apple uses for its own scanning tools, run locally on the captured frames. TrueDepth gets you scanning instantly with no turntable; photogrammetry gets you the final textured, high-detail mesh.

A single magnet can't fully determine rotation — its field is symmetric around its own axis, the same ambiguity as gimbal lock. DepthScan asks for 2–3 ordinary magnets placed anywhere on the part, then runs a short calibration against TrueDepth's own geometry to solve for their exact position and strength.
One-time setup

Any magnets.
Taught, not assumed.

A single magnet can't fix rotation — its field is symmetric around its own axis. Three magnets, calibrated once against TrueDepth's own geometry, can.

Calibration poses
Pose 1 / 6
01

Stick on 2–3 magnets

Any magnets you have — spread out, not in a straight line. Different sizes help, but aren't required.

02

Capture the Earth baseline

Move the part away for a second — the app reads the ambient magnetic field with no part nearby.

03

Hold 6 reference poses

TrueDepth reads the part's true orientation at each pose while the magnetometer records the field. ~20 seconds total.

04

Solve once, scan forever

The app fits each magnet's position and strength against the 6 samples. From here, rotation tracks from the magnetometer alone — no more vision needed.

Why TrueDepth supplies the ground truth: the calibration solve needs to know the part's real orientation at each pose to back out the magnets' unknown position and strength. TrueDepth's geometry is precise enough to serve as that reference — the magnetometer is then trained against it, not the other way around.
Spec sheet

How it stacks up

Real numbers, not marketing rounding. DepthScan doesn't win every row — see where it doesn't, below.

Spec DepthScanTrueDepth + Photogrammetry iPhone LiDAR apps Android (photogrammetry only) Desktop structured-light CMM probe
Accuracy ±0.1–0.2mm ±3–5mm ±2–5mm ±0.05mm ±0.005mm
Hardware cost phone + $2 magnets phone you own phone you own $800–4,000 $15,000+
Setup time ~30 sec ~10 sec ~10 sec 5–15 min 10–30 min
Turntable required ✓ no ✓ no ✓ no often fixture
Hand removal ✓ live n/a n/a ✓ ✓
Works on dark/black parts limited limited poor needs spray ✓
Texture / color capture ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✕
Object size range 2–15cm any any 1cm–1m 1mm–500mm
Output format .usdz / .obj .usdz .glb / .obj .stl / .obj point data / .step

Accuracy figures are best-case, under good lighting, on rigid non-reflective parts within the stated size range — see the section below for where these numbers degrade. Desktop and CMM figures are manufacturer-published specs for mid-range commercial units, included for reference, not as a claim that DepthScan replaces them.

Where it actually stands

Not a CMM.
Not trying to be.

A precision tool has to be honest about its envelope. Here's ours.

Where DepthScan wins

  • ＋Zero setup cost — no $800+ scanner, no turntable to buy or store.
  • ＋30-second capture for parts already in your pocket-sized workflow — fit checks, reverse-engineering reference, quick documentation.
  • ＋No fixturing — hold the part in your hand, rotate it, done. Hands are removed automatically.
  • ＋Already in your hand — the best scanner is the one you have on you when you need it.

Where it doesn't

  • －10× less accurate than a desktop structured-light scanner, 50× less than a CMM. Don't use it for certified tolerances.
  • －Dark and reflective surfaces still defeat TrueDepth, same physics that limits every consumer depth sensor.
  • －Magnet calibration depends on real pose estimation — works best on parts with enough visible geometric detail for the system to lock onto during setup.
  • －Size-limited — built for small parts (2–15cm). A car bumper or a wedding ring are both out of range, for opposite reasons.
What you need

One requirement
that actually matters

TrueDepth is the whole story. Everything else is software.

iPhone 12 Pro / Pro Max or later SUPPORTED
iPhone 15 Pro or later on-device Object Capture
Any non-Pro iPhone NO TRUEDEPTH-CLASS SENSOR
Samsung Galaxy S20–S25 series NO DEPTH SENSOR ON DEVICE
Android, general photogrammetry fallback only
±2–5mm, no TrueDepth-class hardware exists

What's in the box (that you bring)

  • iPhone 12 Pro or neweryou have it
  • 2–3 small neodymium magnets~$3
  • Flat, stable surfaceyour desk
  • DepthScan appfree

Your next part is
±0.1mm away.

No scanner to buy. No turntable to store. Just the phone already on your desk.

Download for iOS →