ANGLE (''Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine'') is an

open source Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...

cross-platform In computing, cross-platform software (also called multi-platform software, platform-agnostic software, or platform-independent software) is computer software that is designed to work in several computing platforms. Some cross-platform software r ...

graphics engine Rendering or image synthesis is the process of generating a physically-based rendering, photorealistic or Non-photorealistic rendering, non-photorealistic image from a 2D model, 2D or 3D model by means of a computer program. The resulting im ...

abstraction layer In computing, an abstraction layer or abstraction level is a way of hiding the working details of a subsystem. Examples of software models that use layers of abstraction include the OSI model for network protocols, OpenGL, and other graphics libra ...

developed by

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

. ANGLE translates OpenGL ES 2/3 calls to DirectX 9, 11, OpenGL or Vulkan API calls. It's a portable version of OpenGL but with limitations of OpenGL ES standard. The API is mainly designed to bring up a high-performance

OpenGL OpenGL (Open Graphics Library) is a cross-language, cross-platform application programming interface (API) for rendering 2D and 3D vector graphics. The API is typically used to interact with a graphics processing unit (GPU), to achieve hardwa ...

compatibility to

MS Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

and to

web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...

s such as

Chromium Chromium is a chemical element with the symbol Cr and atomic number 24. It is the first element in group 6. It is a steely-grey, lustrous, hard, and brittle transition metal. Chromium metal is valued for its high corrosion resistance and hardne ...

by translating OpenGL calls to

Direct3D Direct3D is a graphics application programming interface (API) for Microsoft Windows. Part of DirectX, Direct3D is used to render three-dimensional graphics in applications where performance is important, such as games. Direct3D uses hardware a ...

, which has much better driver support on Windows systems. On Windows, there are two backend renderers for ANGLE: the oldest one uses Direct3D 9.0c, while the newer one uses Direct3D 11. ANGLE is currently used by

Google Chrome Google Chrome is a cross-platform web browser developed by Google. It was first released in 2008 for Microsoft Windows, built with free software components from Apple WebKit and Mozilla Firefox. Versions were later released for Linux, macOS ...

(it's embedded into the Blink browser engine), Firefox, Edge,

WebKit WebKit is a browser engine developed by Apple and primarily used in its Safari web browser, as well as on the iOS and iPadOS version of any web browser. WebKit is also used by the BlackBerry Browser, PlayStation consoles beginning from the PS ...

, and the

Qt Framework Qt (pronounced "cute") is cross-platform software for creating graphical user interfaces as well as cross-platform applications that run on various software and hardware platforms such as Linux, Windows, macOS, Android or embedded systems wit ...

. The engine is also used by

Windows 10 Windows 10 is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It is the direct successor to Windows 8.1, which was released nearly two years earlier. It was released to manufacturing on July 15, 2015, and later to retail on J ...

for compatibility with apps ported from

Android Android may refer to: Science and technology * Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human * Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system ** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...

. Throughout 2019 Apple team contributed a

Metal API Metal is a low-level, low-overhead hardware-accelerated 3D graphic and compute shader API created by Apple. It debuted in iOS 8. Metal combines functions similar to OpenGL and OpenCL in one API. It is intended to improve performance by offering ...

backend for the ANGLE so Apple devices could run on their native graphics APIs. The ANGLE is distributed under

BSD-license BSD licenses are a family of permissive free software licenses, imposing minimal restrictions on the use and distribution of covered software. This is in contrast to copyleft licenses, which have share-alike requirements. The original BSD lice ...

History

The project started as a way for

to bring full hardware acceleration for WebGL to

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

without relying on

graphics drivers. Google initially released the program under the

BSD The Berkeley Software Distribution or Berkeley Standard Distribution (BSD) is a discontinued operating system based on Research Unix, developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berk ...

license. The current production version (2.1.x) implements OpenGL ES 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 and EGL 1.5 claiming to pass the conformance tests for both. Work was started on then future OpenGL ES 3.0 version, for the newer Direct3D 11 backend. The capability to use ANGLE in a

Windows Store app Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps (formerly Windows Store apps and Metro-style apps) are applications that can be used across all compatible Microsoft Windows devices, including personal computers (PCs), tablets, smartphones, Xbox One, Mic ...

was added in 2014. Microsoft contributed support for lower feature levels to the project. Supporting CoreWindow and SwapChainPanel in ANGLE's EGL allows applications to run on Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and later.

Level of OpenGL ES support via backing renderers

Software utilizing ANGLE

ANGLE is currently used in a number of programs and software. *

and

. Chrome uses ANGLE not only for WebGL, but also for its implementation of the 2D

HTML5 canvas The canvas element is part of HTML5 and allows for dynamic, scriptable rendering of 2D shapes and bitmap images. It is a low level, procedural model that updates a bitmap. HTML5 Canvas also helps in making 2D games. While the HTML5 canvas off ...

and for the graphics layer of the Google Native Client (which is OpenGL ES 2.0 compatible). * Safari web browser uses ANGLE as basis for its WebGL implementation. * Firefox uses ANGLE as the default WebGL backend on Windows. * Qt 5 uses ANGLE as the default renderer for its OpenGL ES 2.0 API wrapper and other Qt elements which use it on Windows. *

Candy Crush Saga ''Candy Crush Saga'' is a free-to-play tile-matching video game released by King on April 12, 2012, originally for Facebook; other versions for iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and Windows 10 followed. It is a variation of their browser game ''Ca ...

uses ANGLE as the default renderer in its Windows Store version of the application. * Cocos2d uses ANGLE as its rendering engine for applications published to the Windows Store. * ANGLE for Windows Store provides Windows developers precompiled ANGLE binaries via a NuGet package. *

Stellarium A stellarium is a three-dimensional map of the stars, typically centered on Earth. They are common fixtures at planetarium A planetarium ( planetariums or ''planetaria'') is a theatre built primarily for presenting educational and entert ...

provides two versions for

: the default version uses OpenGL, the alternative version uses ANGLE as the renderer. * Shovel Knight uses ANGLE as rendering engine, as seen in final credits. * RuneScape NXT client uses ANGLE to provide a DirectX 9 compatibility mode for older graphics cards. *

Krita Krita ( ) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor designed primarily for digital art and 2D animation. The software runs on Windows, macOS, Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on th ...

started using ANGLE as the rendering engine on Windows starting on version 3.3.0. * Microsoft Edge has ANGLE as a rendering option in the "Standards Preview" page in

Windows Insider Windows Insider is an open software testing program by Microsoft that allows users globally who own a valid license of Windows 11, Windows 10, or Windows Server to register for pre-release builds of the operating system previously only accessible ...

build 17025. *

GTA V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and the fifteenth i ...

included ANGLE in the installation, normally at Systemdrive. *

OpenRA ''Command & Conquer: Red Alert'' is a real-time strategy video game in the ''Command & Conquer'' franchise, produced by Westwood Studios and released by Virgin Interactive Entertainment in 1996. The second game to bear the ''Command & Conquer'' ...

uses ANGLE for rendering on Windows *

SolveSpace SolveSpace is a free and open-source 2D/ 3D constraint-based parametric computer-aided design (CAD) software that supports basic 2D and 3D constructive solid geometry modeling. It is a constraint-based parametric modeler with simple mechanic ...

uses ANGLE on Windows.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:ANGLE Free 3D graphics software Free software programmed in C++ C++ libraries Application programming interfaces Cross-platform software Graphics libraries Software using the BSD license