How to access the Arkio Beta

[Johan]

How to access the Beta versions of Arkio

The Arkio Beta is available on Windows, Quest, iOS and Mac

Latest build 2.0.0b7 - 11 April 2025
Learn about the new features on our release notes page

Sign up for our beta
Sign up here to receive further instructions and updates when new beta updates are available

Windows: download links available on the next Beta
Quest: Sign up on this release channel to switch between the beta and release channel on Quest
iOS and Mac: Sign up on this Testflight link to switch to the latest beta on iOS and Mac

Windows

For Windows, you can download and unzip the latest Windows builds to your device, then run the InstallArkioBeta.bat and plugin.bat scripts to install the latest Beta client and plugins in the correct directories. Any PowerShell windows can be closed after installation, and the latest build and plugin should now be available and point to the Arkio Beta on your PC.

(You can transfer imports/scenes and switch between the 1.9 Arkio release, following the instructions at the bottom of this page)

Quest

On Quest, you first sign up for the Beta release channel using the above link. After joining the beta, you can switch between the current release version of Arkio and the beta by going to your app system Settings (clicking and holding the trigger on an app), selecting a different release channel from the top. You can also switch between release channels from the Arkio store page or on your Meta Horizon phone app by clicking on the version number

After switching versions, the Arkio app will be automatically updated the next time you start it. You can also force an update/downgrade by visiting the Arkio store page, clicking “see details” and “install”

iOS & Mac

On iOS and Mac, you can download the latest beta release of Arkio using the TestFlight app after signing up using the above link. This will replace your existing Arkio iOS/Mac application with the beta version that will no longer be compatible with the 1.9 Arkio release in meetings.

Switch back to the main Arkio release

The Beta version of Arkio is not compatible with the 1.9 release of Arkio, so your scenes, meetings, and imported files will not be shared between these versions. You can best use the Beta for internal testing and use the live 1.9 release for project work or live collaborations.

Your saved scene and imported files are in a different path for the beta and live release. To avoid losing work, don’t uninstall Arkio on Quest and iOS; instead, switch between release channels and install the store or beta version.

To switch back to the live release on Quest, you can go to your library app settings on Quest (or visit the store on your phone) and switch back to the “Live” version. You might have to visit the Arkio store page on Quest to trigger the upgrade or downgrade.

On iOS and Mac, you can switch back to the 1.9 release of Arkio and your old scenes and settings by downloading the app from the official iOS store or official Mac store.

For the PC release, you can start the previous release of Arkio, which should still be installed at C:\Program Files (x86)\Arkio, instead of running the Beta build from the default installation path at C:\Program Files (x86)\ArkioBeta. You can run both the 1.9 release build and the 2.0 Beta build simultaneously on Windows if you need to troubleshoot.

You can share scenes that you have made in the main release of Arkio 1.9.1 with the Beta release or imports made from the new plugins to the main release by copying user files between the following two paths. Arkio 2.0 scenes cannot be loaded in Arkio 1.9, but older scenes can be opened in the latest version.

%userprofile%\Documents\Arkio\Import
%userprofile%\Documents\ArkioBeta\Import

%userprofile%\Documents\Arkio\UserModels
%userprofile%\Documents\ArkioBeta\UserModels

[cisbre]

Hi.
The Rhino plug-in installer does not work on my computers. The powershell windows pops up very briefly (might be som red text showing for a split second) and when I open Rhino, it is only v1.9 of the plug-in avaliable. Any thoughts?

[Johan]

Hi @cisbre,

In case the Rhino plugin installer script fails you can best manually unzip the Rhino plugin Build folder to a known path and use Rhino’s PlugInManager command to install the version of the build you need.

Rhino’s own PlugInManager will add the correct registry entries that Rhino needs to recognize the plugins that our installer script might not have access to.

Let us know if you need further assistance with this.

[cisbre]

What is the version number of the Rhino plug-in? Rhino claim the plug-in is already installed. It says version 1.9.0.

BTW, some files are exported in the wrong scale. Two different models with same unit setup.

[Johan]

The Beta version of the plugin is 2.0.0
You can uninstall the existing 1.9.0 Rhino Plugin using the 1.9.1 Windows installer or by manually removing the Rhino plugin folder at C:\Program Files (x86)\Arkio\ExtPlugIns\Rhino that should make the old plugin disappear from your PlugInManager next time you start Rhino

[cisbre]

That did the trick.
Thanks

[Craig_Taylor]

Cant seem to get the windows beta to start. In VR. It opens and closes right away. I even manually created a shortcut in the Meta link desktop software, but same thing. (Windows 11)

[Johan]

That sounds like an issue with other headset drivers and OpenXR settings that affect your VR device initialization. Did you follow these troubleshooting steps and does the app run well on the 1.9 version from Meta Quest link store or Steam?

It would be great if you could send us logs by mail for the failing startup so we can look into what might be causing the issue

[Johan]

We’ve updated the Rhino installation script to work better on most devices. It also unblocks the plugin files after installation in case users had issues with their windows security setting and we’ve included the Archicad plugin in our latest windows build.

See the above instructions on how to install and switch to the beta builds!

[Danniely_Staback]

Hi Johan,
I just sent you an email with further details and video captures on the issues that I’m encountering with passthrough and layer visibility under BETA. Would you recommend switching everything back to the default version? I’m specifically looking to use the old passthrough features, the section feature, and to be able to use and control these in a meeting.
Thanks,
Danniely

[Danniely_Staback]

Johan,
As a follow-up, I went ahead and started the process to switch back to the default version but am encountering issues. I powered up Rhino from the Arkio app and switched to “Live” in my headset. Shouldn’t I “reverse” the Rhino build as well? I quit everything a couple of times and came back to find a dialogue box notifying me about the mismatching versions. The VR tools do still look like the Beta ones. I might give it a rest and try again tomorrow, to let the versions settle in.

Thanks,
Danniely

[Johan]

Hi Danniely,

Thanks for sending over your feedback. You can switch back to the live release of Arkio any time following the above instructions. It sounds like you already did this on Quest, on PC you can still open the 1.9 version (the main icon on start/desktop) instead of the beta version that now automatically opens when using the beta plugins.

You can copy your Rhino imports on PC before starting the 1.9 release of Arkio to share in meetings with other devices on the live release:

%userprofile%\Documents\ArkioBeta\Import
%userprofile%\Documents\Arkio\Import

If you don’t want the Arkio Rhino plugins to start the Arkio beta after an export, you can reinstall Arkio 1.9 using the Windows installer to downgrade your plugins.

Let us know if you have more questions about this.