Many mobile devices have significant hardware limitations compared with desktop hardware and game consoles, especially in terms of compatibility with graphics features. To address this, Unreal Engine has an alternate rendering path for mobile devices. This rendering path uses simplified or performance-oriented models for many of Unreal's rendering features, such as shadows and textures, and it removes many unsupported post-processes. The guides in this section provide details about configuration options and features in the mobile renderer.
The following links contain specialized topics in Mobile rendering.
Supported Rendering Features
This section lists features that are compatible with Mobile feature levels.
Post Process Volume
| Feature | Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lens | |||
| Mobile Depth of Field Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mobile DoF - High Quality Gaussian DoF | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bloom - Standard | Yes | Yes | No |
| Bloom - Convolution | No | No | No |
| Chromatic Abberation Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Dirt Mask Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Lens Flare Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Image Effects Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cinematic Depth of Field Properties | No | No | No |
| Exposure | |||
| Metering Mode - Auto Exposure Histogram | Yes | Yes | No |
| Metering Mode - Auto Exposure Basic | Yes | Yes | No |
| Metering Mode - Manual | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Color Grading | |||
| Color Grading Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Film | |||
| Film Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Rendering Features | |||
| Post Process Material Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Ambient Cubemap Properties | No | No | No |
| Ambient Occlusion Properties | Yes | Yes | No |
| Global Illumination Properties | No | No | No |
| Motion Blur Properties | No | No | No |
General Rendering Features
| Feature | Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-Aliasing | |||
| Fast Approximation Anti-Aliasing (FXAA) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Multi-Sample Anti-Aliasing (MSAA) | Yes | No | Yes |
| Temporal Anti-Aliasing (TAA) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Temporal Super Resolution | No | No | No |
| Systems/Tools Features | |||
| Nanite Virtualize Geometry | No | No | No |
| Texture Streaming | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Streaming Virtual Textures | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runtime Virtual Textures | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mesh Decals | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mesh Distance Fields | Yes | Yes | No |
| Level of Detail (LOD) | |||
| Hierarchical Level of Detail (HLOD) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dither Fading | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Visibility and Occlusion Culling | |||
| Cull Distance Volumes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Precomputed Visibility Volumes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware (GPU) Occlusion Queries | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Software (CPU) Occlusion Queries (Removed) | No | No | No |
Lighting Features
| Feature | Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Atmosphere and Fog | |||
| Sky Atmosphere | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Volumetric Clouds | No | No | No |
| Exponential Height Fog | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Volumetric Fog | No | No | No |
| Lighting and Shadowing | |||
| Dynamic Lighting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Precomputed/Baked Lighting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Image Based Lighting | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hardware Ray Tracing Features | No | No | No |
| Path Tracer | No | No | No |
| Virtual Shadow Maps | |||
| Modulated Shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Capsule Shadows | No | No | No |
| Contact Shadows | No | No | No |
| Precomputed Translucent Shadows | No | No | No |
| Dynamic Translucency Shadows | No | No | No |
| Global Illumination | |||
| Lumen GI and Reflections: Software Ray Tracing | No | No | No |
| Lumen GI and Reflections: Hardware Ray Tracing | No | No | No |
| Precomputed / Baked Global Illumination | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Screen Space Global Illumination | No | No | No |
| Standalone Ray Traced Global Illumination (Deprecated) | No | No | No |
| Reflections | |||
| Reflection Captures (Box/Sphere) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scene Capture Cubemap | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scene Capture 2D | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Planar Reflections | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Screen Space Reflections | No | No | No |
| Standalone Ray Traced Reflections (Deprecated) | No | No | No |
| High Precision Normals | No | No | No |
| Reflection Capture Resolution | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HDR Cubemap | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Direct Specular | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GGX Specular | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Light Type and Mobility Features
| Feature | Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Static Mobility - Light Type | |||
| Directional Light | 1 directional light of any type | 1 directional light of any type | 1 directional light of any type |
| Sky Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Point Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spot Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rect Light | No | No | No |
| Static Mobility - General Features | |||
| Indirect Lighting Intensity | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lighting Channels | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Transmission | No | No | No |
| Light Functions | No | Yes | No |
| Static Mobility - Directional Light Features | |||
| Source Angle | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Shafts | Yes | Yes | No |
| Modulated Shadows | No | No | No |
| Static Mobility - Sky Light Features | |||
| SLS Captured Scene | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SLS Specified Cubemap | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Specified Cubemap Resolution | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Static Mobility - Point/Spot/Rect Light Features | |||
| IES Texture | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rect Light - Source Texture | No | No | No |
| Stationary Mobility - Light Type | |||
| Directional Light | 1 directional light of any type | 1 directional light of any type | 1 directional light of any type |
| Sky Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Point Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spot Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rect Light | No | No | No |
| Stationary Mobility - Dynamic Shadow Casting | |||
| Directional Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rect Light | No | No | No |
| Stationary Mobility - General Features | |||
| Indirect Lighting Intensity | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lighting Channels | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Transmission | No | No | No |
| Light Function | No | Yes | No |
| Stationary Mobility - Directional Light Features | |||
| Cascade Shadow Maps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Shafts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Modulated Shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Stationary Mobility - Sky Light Features | |||
| SLS Captured Scene | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SLS Specified Cubemap | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Specified Cubemap Resolution | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Stationary Mobility - Point/Spot/Rect Light Features | |||
| IES Texture | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rect Light - Source Texture | No | No | No |
| Movable Mobility - Light Type | |||
| Directional Light | 1 directional light of any type | 1 directional light of any type | 1 directional light of any type |
| Sky Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Point Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spot Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rect Light | No | No | No |
| Movable Mobility - Dynamic Shadow Casting | |||
| Directional Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sky Light | No | No | No |
| Point Light | No | No | No |
| Spot Light | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Rect Light | No | No | No |
| Movable Mobility - General Features | |||
| Indirect Lighting Intensity | No | No | No |
| Lighting Channels | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Transmission | No | No | No |
| Light Function | No | Yes | No |
| Movable Mobility - Directional Light Features | |||
| Cascade Shadow Maps | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Light Shafts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Modulated Shadows | No | No | No |
| Distance Field Shadows | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Movable Mobility - Sky Light Features | |||
| SLS Captured Scene | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SLS Specified Cubemap | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Specified Cubemap Resolution | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Movable Mobility - Point/Spot/Rect Light Features | |||
| IES Texture | No | Yes | No |
| Rect Light - Source Texture | No | No | No |
Material Features
| Feature | Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Material Inputs | |||
| Base Color | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Metallic | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Specular | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Roughness | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Anisotropy | No | No | No |
| Emissive Color | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Opacity | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Opacity Mask | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Normal | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Tangent | No | No | No |
| World Position Offset | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cloth | No | No | No |
| Fuzz Color | No | No | No |
| Iris mask | No | No | No |
| Iris Distance | No | No | No |
| Subsurface Color | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Custom Data 0—7 | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ambient Occlusion | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Refraction | Yes | Yes | No |
| Pixel Depth Offset | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Shading Model | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clear Coat | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clear Coat Roughness | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Backlit (for Hair) | No | No | No |
| Material Domain | |||
| Surface | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Deferred Decal | Yes | Yes | No |
| Light Function | No | Yes | No |
| Volume | No | No | No |
| Post Process | Yes | Yes | No |
| User Interface | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Virtual Texture | No | No | No |
| Shading Model | |||
| Unlit | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Default Lit | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Subsurface | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Preintegrated Skin | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clear Coat | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Subsurface Profile | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Two Sided Foliage | No | No | No |
| Hair | No | No | No |
| Cloth | No | No | No |
| Eye | No | No | No |
| Single Layer Water | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Thin Translucent | No | No | No |
| From Material Expression | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Decals | |||
| Translucent | Yes | Yes | No |
| Normal | No | Yes | No |
| Emissive | Yes | Yes | No |
| DBuffer Translucent Color, Normal, Roughness | No | Yes | No |
| DBuffer Translucent Color | No | Yes | No |
| DBuffer Translucent Color, Normal | No | Yes | No |
| DBuffer Translucent Normal | No | Yes | No |
| DBuffer Translucent Normal, Roughness | No | Yes | No |
| DBuffer Translucent Roughness | No | Yes | No |
| Alpha Composite (Premultiplied Alpha) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Ambient Occlusion | No | No | No |
Textures
| Feature | Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Compression Settings | |||
| Default (DXT1/5, BC1/3 on DX11) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Normal Map (DXT 5, BC5 on DX11) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Masks (no sRGB) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Grayscale (R8, RGB8, sRGB) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Displacement Map (8/16-bit) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HDR (RGB, no sRGB) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| User Interface 2D (RGBA) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Alpha (no sRGB, BC4 on DX11) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Distance Field Font (R8) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| HDR Compressed (RGB, BC6H, DX11) | No | No | No |
| BC7 (DX11, optional A) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Particle Effects
| Feature | Mobile Forward (Open GL ES 3.2, Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Deferred (Metal, Vulkan, Switch) | Mobile Forward w/ HDR Disabled (Head-mounted Mobile XR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niagara Particle System | |||
| CPU Particles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CPU Particle Collision | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GPU Particles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GPU Depth Collision | No | No | No |
| Mesh Particles | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Beam Emitter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Ribbon Emitter | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Anim Trail | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Vector Field | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Particle Lights | No | Yes | No |
| GPU Distance Field Collision | No | No | No |
| GPU Raytracing Collision (Experimental) | No | No | No |
| Fluid Simulation | No | No | No |