Meta Spark will shut down its third-party AR tools and content platform on January 14, 2025.

Why it matters: This will significantly impact AR creators, businesses, and users and signals a potential shift in Meta's AR strategy.

Meta Spark, the largest mobile AR platform, surpassed 600K creators from 190 countries, with over 2M AR effects on Facebook and Instagram by 2021.

AR studio closed as Meta prioritises AI and metaverse | Digital Watch Observatory

What you need to know:

  • Meta Spark (formerly Spark AR) is an augmented reality platform that enables creators to design and share immersive AR experiences primarily for Facebook and Instagram.

  • Meta’s own AR effects will remain available.

Key features: Launched in 2017, Meta Spark provided a user-friendly interface that made AR creation accessible to a broad audience, including brands, marketers, and individual creators.

  • Visual, Patch-Based Editor: A node-based, drag-and-drop interface that enables AR creation without coding.

  • Audio Integration: Enabling creators to add soundscapes to their AR effects.

  • Depth Mapping: Allowing for more realistic interactions by detecting the distance of objects.

  • Target Tracking: Enabling AR effects to be anchored to specific images or objects.