Better Mesh Viewer

• Open an .stl, .obj or .usdz file and see the actual geometry: handy for checking a download before you slice it, or a scan before you share it.

macOS does preview STL, OBJ and PLY, after a fashion. What it gives you is a flat, oddly lit, badly framed render that tells you very little about the model. Mesh Viewer is the app you open those files in when you actually need to look at them: framed to the model, lit so the geometry reads, and free to orbit, zoom and pan.

It handles the everyday mesh formats in one place. STL from any CAD package, OBJ with its material files, PLY from scanners and photogrammetry, and USDZ or USD from Apple's own pipeline.

An honest note on how this one works: macOS ships its own Quick Look generator for STL, OBJ and PLY, and owns USDZ previews through AR Quick Look. Those cannot be overridden by any third-party app. So Mesh Viewer is a viewer you open files in rather than a Quick Look extension. Right-click a model, choose Open With, or use Get Info to make it your default.

Requirements

Universal binary, so it runs on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

• macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
• Intel Mac or Apple Silicon (M1 or newer)

Installation

Download the file, unzip it, and copy it into your Applications folder. Open it once and it registers the Quick Look handler itself. Instructions are included with the download.

Apps downloaded here are signed by Apple, so you shouldn't see any Gatekeeper warnings.

Licence

What you may do: install and use the software, at no cost, on any Mac you own or control, for personal or business purposes.

What you may not do: sell, rent, lease, sublicense or otherwise charge anyone for the software; redistribute, repackage, bundle or host it for download (please point people at the official download page instead); or modify, adapt, translate, reverse-engineer, decompile or disassemble it, except to the limited extent applicable law expressly permits.

The software is licensed, not sold. All rights not expressly granted above are reserved by the copyright holder, who may offer future or paid versions under different terms.

Privacy

100% on-device. No accounts, no tracking, never connects to the internet, collects no data whatsoever.

Feedback

Please contact me with any feedback, issues, suggestions or requests!