Hey everyone, We’ve made a tough decision and wanted you to be the first to hear that Adobe Aero will be shutting down permanently on November 6th, 2025. This was an incredibly difficult decision that we didn't make lightly. What This Means: · Adobe Aero has always been free of charge and there will be no impact on your subscription. November 6th, 2025: Aero will be removed from Creative Cloud, Apple App Store, and Google Play and will no longer be available for download or installation. For users who already have the app installed on their device, the app will continue to operate, and users can still download Aero files. · December 3rd. 2025: Aero will be decommissioned, and users will no longer be able to access files. Aero scenes (.real files) will stop working for both the authors and the viewers of the experiences. December 16th, 2025: Aero user data will be removed from Adobe’s servers. Support during transition: For more information about this change and instructions for downloading your content, please visit this article on the Adobe Help Center - Aero FAQs. · If you have any additional questions or concerns, contact Adobe Support. We're truly grateful for all the amazing creations that have been shared and the community we've built together. We're grateful for your support and creativity over the years. Thank you for being a valued Adobe partner. - The Adobe Aero Team

Jeremie Noguer

Community Manager

Question

Announcing Adobe Aero End of Support

Forum|Forum|5 months ago
August 7, 2025
15 replies
6232 views

Hey everyone,

We’ve made a tough decision and wanted you to be the first to hear that Adobe Aero will be shutting down permanently on November 6th, 2025. This was an incredibly difficult decision that we didn't make lightly.

What This Means: ·

Adobe Aero has always been free of charge and there will be no impact on your subscription.
November 6th, 2025:
- Aero will be removed from Creative Cloud, Apple App Store, and Google Play and will no longer be available for download or installation.
- For users who already have the app installed on their device, the app will continue to operate, and users can still download Aero files. ·
December 3rd. 2025:
- Aero will be decommissioned, and users will no longer be able to access files.
- Aero scenes (.real files) will stop working for both the authors and the viewers of the experiences.
December 16th, 2025:
- Aero user data will be removed from Adobe’s servers.

Support during transition:
- For more information about this change and instructions for downloading your content, please visit this article on the Adobe Help Center - Aero FAQs. ·
- If you have any additional questions or concerns, contact Adobe Support.

We're truly grateful for all the amazing creations that have been shared and the community we've built together. We're grateful for your support and creativity over the years. Thank you for being a valued Adobe partner.

- The Adobe Aero Team

Show previous replies

L

Levi5CC6

Participant

Big disappointment... but also trouble. We just made a project in Aero, so what are we going to tell now? Isn't there a way to 'read' the json file after unzipping the REAL file or emulate Adobe Aero using the real file? Ok, you can shut down the service, but what about the projects that have been developed by the community ... if you want to be there for the creative community, make sure that their creations cannot vanish in thin aero.

Peter Villevoye

Community Expert

If you want to be there for the creative community,
make sure that their creations cannot vanish in thin aero.

The pun is priceless (like air and Aero) and I know it's not what you want to read, but:

If you want to use a Beta tool, be aware that your creations might just vanish in thin air...

On the other hand, developing a tool as "Beta" for 6 years, does raise some eyebrows.
Users obviously will start to think of it as an established comfort.

U

uu395

Inspiring

This is sad news because I have a lot of current projects and many future projects planned for Aero but now I will need to scramble to final an alternative. Aero is an excellent program with a well-known developer and it was easy to use. Sure, there is a lot of development that is needed, but it was field tested and I could take it to a trade show where it would reliably work with thousands of people using it for 12+ hour days. AR is an innovative way to bring new, creative, and immersive experiences to a user that they didn't think that they could have. When I would demonstrate this to people they were blown away that this was even possible. What’s even better is that they could use their phone, take this experience home with them, and share it with other people. I have huge customers that want to use AR because communicating an experience is way more impactful than a video or a graphic but I will have to tell them that Adobe doesn't share their vision on innovation.

Hopefully Adobe reverses their decision on this because I think that Aero has a lot of potential to deliver a new and innovative way for a user to experience media that can't be achieved through any other product that Adobe has.

T

The_XR_Guy

Participating Frequently

I'm with you on the added value through instantly accessible AR.

We shifted towards this tool quite some time ago already, as it allows for a lot more complex experience creation.

Only caveat, the creation is only on macOS and iPadOS right now, but they are working on a webXR player for Android.

Peter Villevoye

Community Expert

This sure is a bitter decision !

Aero (in combination with Dimension and Shaper) has been a joy to explore and to work with. Granted, I also had my fair share of misery with it, learnt some tricks and hacks to achieve what I wanted, but all-in-all it was a fascinating phenomenon and tool to work with.

Like many of us, I'm also looking for a way to continue my experiences and experiments with other tools.

Adobe is innovating in various directions with 3D (Substance Viewer, Neo, Firefly 3D model), but it all seems too fresh and fragile, and none of it is going into any VR/AR direction, yet.

So I asked ChatGPT:

Hey Chatty, Ive been using Adobe Dimension, Substance Stager and Aero to design and import 3D models and create AR environments. But are there other (similarly easy) tools to do such things ?

The reply mentions quite a lot of tools. I haven't had the time yet to check which ones meet my list of crucial features (surface, image, and location-based creations, QR code, in-browser viewing). Aero was quite capable of doing a lot ! So we're out in the woods. Here we go:

You're already using Adobe Substance Stager and Adobe Dimension (for static 3D scenes/renders) and Adobe Aero (for AR scenes), both of which are super designer-friendly and tie nicely into the Adobe ecosystem. But if you’re looking for other tools with a similar level of ease — maybe with different capabilities, platforms, or export options — here's a curated selection of easy-to-use alternatives for 3D + AR content creation, depending on your goals:

Designer-Friendly 3D Scene Builders

(like Adobe Dimension and Substance Stager)

Spline

Web-based, very intuitive UI (like Figma meets Blender).
Great for real-time, interactive 3D scenes, animations, and web embeds.
Has basic AR/WebXR export (still developing).
Mac-native app also available.

Vectary

Web-based 3D editor focused on product design, web embeds, and AR.
Drag-and-drop ease, PBR material support.
Exports to USDZ for iOS AR or glTF for broader use.
Built-in AR viewer via QR code.

Luma AI / Genie

iOS and Web
AI + NeRF-based tools for scanning real-world objects (with photorealistic results).
Convert to 3D assets and easily place them in AR.
Luma has AR previews and iOS USDZ exports built in.

4. Scenery

Well-versed in the Apple eco-system; Android viewer on its way.
[See other posts about it below.]

Simple AR Creation Tools

(like Adobe Aero)

8thWall (now part of Niantic)

WebAR platform – users don’t need to install an app.
You can use drag-and-drop tools or custom JavaScript if you want.
Ideal for AR websites, marketing, or interactive posters.

Zappar / ZapWorks

Very user-friendly no-code web tool.
Create AR experiences that work in-browser or in-app.
Also supports image tracking, world tracking, etc.

Reality Composer

For Apple iOS/macOS
Native, easy, node-based AR scene builder from Apple.
Works with USDZ and RealityKit.
Excellent if your target is iOS.

~~Meta Spark Studio~~ [EDIT – Discontinued]

Meta’s platform for Facebook/Instagram AR filters.
A bit steeper than Aero, but manageable.
Has a visual programming interface like Quartz Composer.

Honorable Mentions / Crossovers

Blender + Verge3D
Blender is complex, but Verge3D adds a visual logic editor for interactive scenes + WebXR export. Powerful combo if you dare.
Unity MARS or Snap AR Studio
More advanced, but Snap has a few entry-level templates for quick prototyping.

T

The_XR_Guy

Participating Frequently

Thanks for the detailed report and highlighting alternatives, @Peter Villevoye.

Did you take a look at Scenery already?
It's proven to be tremendously useful for us, as you can create quite complex experiences as easily as with Aero, but then also deploy via AppClips. It's running barebones RealityKit and ARKit thus is pretty good for high-quality experiences. It's as accessible as webAR with the quality of a native app.

Here's a little trailer video.

Peter Villevoye

Community Expert

Whooooo, the extraction teams are already lifting us up and away from Adobe grounds !

Sure looks nice and promising, this stuff. (ChatGPT clearly dind't know of it, yet.) Good tip !

Since Adobe doesn't have any plans or new tools, we might is well take a good look around.

From the FAQ:

Q

quitecontrary

Known Participant

Anyone know a replacement AR app that offers QR codes for users to view? Adobe Aero is one of the main reasons I use Adobe programs along with the 3D substance and material apps to design for Aero, so I'll be cancelling all of those extras too.

T

The_XR_Guy

Participating Frequently

That came quite unexpected to us as well.

We've been shifting to an AR platform called Scenery. https://scenery.app/
It's as simple as Aero, but offers quite a few more features. Also comes with App Clips and geospatial capabilities.

You'll need a Mac or iPad to create tho.

Hope this helps!

H

Henni239027686i3b

Participant

Ok, this looks promising.

Do you also handle GLBs or USDZ?

Any idea how to get those out of Substance?

Best

B

benl14700546

Participating Frequently

Shocking !!!! 😕😕

All those year of being milked like a cow !

I'm so disapointed on adobe dev team.

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