The Lightning Viewer works on both computers and iPads, so you can open and review models at your desk or on the go.
Safari Private Browsing Not Supported
The web viewer can’t be used in Private Browsing mode in Safari (iPadOS or macOS). Private Browsing restricts the file system features the viewer relies on, which causes an incompatible browser error. To fix this, close the private tab and open the viewer in a regular Safari tab.
Desktop (Windows & macOS)
Browser | Windows 10+ | macOS 11 – 15.7.1 | macOS 26+ |
Chrome | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
Safari | N/A | ❌ | ✅ |
Firefox | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Edge | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
If your Mac is on macOS 15 or earlier, use Chrome or Edge.
iPad
Supported iPadOS Versions
Browser | iPadOS 26 |
Safari | ✅ |
Chrome | ✅ |
Firefox | ✅ |
Edge | ✅ |
Good to know: On iPad, every browser (including Chrome, Firefox, and Edge) runs on the same engine as Safari. That means support depends on your iPadOS version and iPad model, not on which browser you use. Switching browsers on iPad won’t fix a compatibility error.
Recommended iPads
For the best experience, especially with large or federated models, we recommend using one of the iPads below with the latest version of iPadOS. These models have enough memory to handle large models and can update to the latest iPadOS.
Model | Chip | Released |
iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd gen) | M1 | 2021 |
iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th gen) | M1 | 2021 |
iPad Air (5th gen) | M1 | 2022 |
iPad Pro 11-inch (4th gen) | M2 | 2022 |
iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th gen) | M2 | 2022 |
iPad Air 11-inch and 13-inch (M2) | M2 | 2024 |
iPad Pro 11-inch and 13-inch (M4) | M4 | 2024 |
iPad mini (7th gen) | A17 Pro | 2024 |
iPad (11th gen) | A16 | 2025 |
iPad Air 11-inch and 13-inch (M3) | M3 | 2025 |
iPad Pro 11-inch and 13-inch (M5) | M5 | 2025 |
iPad Air 11-inch and 13-inch (M4) | M4 | 2026 |
In general, this covers iPads released in 2021 or later with at least 6 GB of RAM.
Not sure which iPad you have? Go to Settings > General > About and check the Model Name.
Older iPads and iPadOS 18
Older iPads are not officially supported. iPads that can’t update to iPadOS 26 (such as the iPad 7th generation) may not be able to run the Lightning Viewer at all.
If your iPad is on iPadOS 18, you may be able to use the viewer by turning on two Safari settings:
Go to Settings > Apps > Safari > Advanced > Feature Flags.
Turn on WebGPU and File System WritableStream.
Fully close Safari (swipe up from the app switcher), then reopen it and try again.
Feature Flags for Older iPadOS Versions
If you’re using an older version of iPadOS, you may need to adjust browser feature flags for the Lightning Viewer to work correctly.
Safari
Go to Settings > Safari > Advanced > Experimental Features (Feature Flags) and enable:
File System Writable Stream
WebGPU (if available)
Edge
Go to edge://flags/ and enable:
WebXR/WebGPU Binding
Unsafe WebGPU Support
Chrome
Go to chrome://flags/ and enable:
Unsafe WebGPU Support
WebGPU Developer Features