Keep watching what you love
Open streaming apps, local players, and other castable content as usual. 2D-to-3D conversion is an optional viewing mode.
ARCTRL 1.7.1 · AR DESKTOP AND SANDBOX STARTUP FIXES
Watch Android
in a new dimension.
ARctrl is a viewing companion for Android phones and AR glasses. Cast the video apps you already know, add depth to ordinary footage with real-time on-device 2D to 3D, and use your phone as a convenient remote.
FROM FLAT TO SPATIAL
The video is 2D.
The experience needn't be.
On compatible devices, ARctrl estimates scene depth and generates separate views for each eye. Give ordinary content a sense of space without waiting for a native 3D release.
Done in real time on-device
Depth estimation and stereo rendering run on the device. Compatibility and speed depend on your phone or receiver hardware.
See foreground and background
Parallax between foreground and background creates a stereo view for compatible AR glasses. Switch back to ordinary 2D casting whenever you like.
CONTROL THE WHOLE SCREEN
Glasses are the big screen.
Your phone is the remote.
Choose an air-mouse pointer or a touchpad on the phone. Tap and swipe where the pointer appears in your glasses.
Turn your phone to point
In air-mouse mode, turn your phone like a flashlight to aim at a target in your glasses. Tap or double-tap the touch area to click at the pointer; swipe to scroll in the app.
Air mouse · Hold the touch area to reset the pointerDrag for precise control
In touchpad mode, drag a finger across the phone to move the pointer. Tap or double-tap to select a target in your glasses. Swipe the large button in the direction you want to scroll.
Touchpad · No need to raise your phoneCommon actions close at hand
Tap the large button for actions, or double-tap it to dim the phone with a black cover. Swipe right from the phone's left edge to go back in the glasses app.
Large button and back gestureINPUT STAYS IN VIEW
Search without
looking down to type.
English UI with hosted Gboard, or Chinese UI with WeChat Input. The keyboard and voice input follow the text field in your glasses to keep interruptions to a minimum. Candidate selection, backspace and text input in separate windows are supported while sandbox casting apps such as Edge and Bilibili.
01 / VISIBLE KEYBOARDThe app and keyboard
The app and keyboard
stay in your glasses.
With sandbox mirror or extension casting, the hosted Gboard keyboard appears with the app in the cast view. See the text field, suggestions, and keyboard in your glasses instead of hunting for a keyboard on the phone.
02 / VOICE INPUTSelect a field.
Select a field.
Hold and speak.
Select a text field in your glasses, then hold the large button on your phone and speak. Release to finish. Gboard shows recognition progress and writes the text back to that field. No ARctrl login or wake word is needed.
STEP 01Select a text field in the glasses
Make sure the cursor is where you want the text.
STEP 02Hold the large button and speak
The Gboard recognition view appears in the cast image.
STEP 03Release to insert the text
The result returns to the field you selected.
NATIVE APPS, FEWER PERMISSIONS
Why use the sandbox?
Android does not let ordinary apps control other apps freely. ARctrl runs native viewing apps inside a sandbox so you can cast and control them with a keyboard visible in your glasses.
Easy to start, limited content.
Some makers avoid cross-app control permissions with a built-in browser, but that limits you to websites. If a sign-in QR code appears in your glasses, scanning it with the same phone is awkward.
- No cross-app control permission
- Limited to web content
- QR sign-in in glasses can be inconvenient
Native apps on the big screen.
Streaming apps and local players run in a sandbox ARctrl can control. The app and keyboard appear in your glasses, without Shizuku, Developer options, or system-wide accessibility access.
- More native viewing apps
- No wireless debugging or Shizuku
- No global accessibility permission
Control your existing apps.
Use accessibility mode for system apps, apps already signed in on your phone, or apps unsuitable for a sandbox. This system-level compatibility path remains available so you can choose by app and situation.
- Keep using apps already on your phone
- Works with system screens and cross-app flows
- Coexists with the sandbox
FOUR WAYS TO PROJECT
Choose how to cast.
Extension, or single-app casting, lets an app lay out for the external display and use more of the glasses screen with fewer black borders. Mirror shares the view between phone and glasses, with options to adapt widescreen content.
Sandbox extension
The app lays out independently on the external display, filling more of your glasses view and reducing borders caused by the phone's aspect ratio. Your phone becomes the remote. Both the full keyboard and voice input are visible in your glasses.
Sandbox mirror
The phone and glasses share the app view. The sandbox app window adapts to the target display's aspect ratio to reduce borders, and the keyboard mirrors with the app.
System mirror
Mirror apps already on your phone. Crop to fill can center-crop a landscape phone image to 16:9, reducing borders around common 16:9 video. Portrait content is not cropped.
Accessibility extension
Run a non-sandbox phone app on the external display. It lays out for that screen to reduce borders while your phone stays the remote. Select a text field to use voice input.
Crop to fill applies only to landscape content in system mirror. It preserves a 16:9 ratio without stretching; glasses or receivers with another aspect ratio may still show borders. Sandbox mirror reduces borders by adapting the app window and has no separate crop switch.
MORE SCREENS, MORE WAYS
No video output
on your phone?
Many USB 2.0 phones cannot send video over Type-C. ARctrl offers AirPlay and Sunshine / Moonlight wireless paths to AR glasses, compatible TVs, and receivers.
Cast to a receiver
or smart TV.
With AR glasses: Send video and audio over Wi-Fi to a wireless receiver that supports iPhone screen mirroring, then connect that receiver to your glasses. The phone does not need Type-C video output.
With a smart TV: TVs with built-in AirPlay reception, including some Xiaomi TVs, can receive the stream directly.
Turn a spare device
into a receiver.
Install ARctrl on a Beam Pro, VITURE Neckband, or another Android phone to receive the stream wirelessly. The receiver can also perform real-time 2D-to-3D conversion. Compatible Android TVs and TV boxes can receive it too.
An older 32-bit phone can use the lightweight arm32 receiver and its existing Type-C video output for AR glasses.
Install the main ARctrl app on Beam Pro, VITURE Neckband, and Android 8.0+ phones. The separate arm32 receiver is for older 32-bit phones, TVs, and TV boxes running Android 5.0+.
START WITH YOUR GLASSES
Connect your glasses.
Get comfortable.
For your first session, start with a wired connection and sandbox extension casting. You only need to install and set up Gboard once.
- 01Connect AR glasses
Plug them in over Type-C, wait for the external display to appear on the ARctrl home screen, and select it. If your phone has USB 2.0, use one of the AirPlay or Moonlight options above.
- 02Prepare a viewing app and keyboard
Keep Use sandbox checked, open Sandbox home, and add bilibili, VidHub, or another viewing app. Install and set up Gboard in Settings.
- 03Start casting
In ARctrl, enable 2D to 3D if you want it, then choose Sandbox extension to let the app fill the external display. Choose Sandbox mirror if you want the same app view on phone and glasses. Landscape system mirror also offers 16:9 Crop to fill.
- 04Control and type
Turn your phone to aim in air-mouse mode, or drag on its touchpad. Once a text field is selected, type with the keyboard in your glasses or hold the large button and speak.
ARCTRL 1.7.1
Put on your glasses.
Enjoy the big screen.
Download the main Android app. An offline package is available for slower networks when preparing the 2D-to-3D model. Older 32-bit receivers can install the standalone Moonlight receiver.