Surface Explorer
Parametric & implicit surfaces
Free
New in 1.4: Solid Curve tubes, surface Borders, and multi-mesh copies set with a single field, no script needed.
Surface Explorer is a high-performance visualizer for intricate mathematical surfaces — 2D manifolds embedded in three- or four-dimensional space, and 3D slices of four-dimensional hypersurfaces — bringing abstract geometry to life with real-time GPU rendering.
KEY FEATURES
• Cross Section — slice four-dimensional hypersurfaces and watch their 3D sections change shape as you rotate them in 4D or slide the cutting plane along the fourth axis, even along a 4D camera path.
• Ray Marching Engine — real-time rendering of implicit surfaces and signed-distance fields, with procedural displacement, transparency, adjustable shells, and a precise mode for high-degree equations.
• Multi-Mesh Surfaces — build figures from several independent grids, set with a single field or a script, each with its own color, transparency, texture, image and domain.
• Solid Curve — write a curve in 3D or 4D and see the tube drawn around it, with adjustable thickness; several tubes from a script.
• Surface Borders — add a tube along the edges of a parametric surface, with its own color, texture and thickness.
• Geodesic Flow — explore intrinsic geometry on curved manifolds (S³, H²×R, SL(2,R) and more), integrating geodesics from initial conditions.
• 4D Spatial Exploration — dedicated controls for hyperspatial rotation (Omega, Phi, Psi), projection, and 3D and 4D camera paths.
• 4D Lighting Models — Directional, Observer, and Slice lighting designed for hyperspace.
• Dynamic GLSL Scripting — write custom shaders for procedural textures and surface logic in the built-in editor.
• Backgrounds — images and procedural effects, fixed on screen or wrapped around the scene as a sphere, cylinder or cube.
• Audio-Visual Synthesis — synchronize geometric parameters with a mathematical sound synthesizer.
• Video Recording — capture your explorations directly in the app and save them to your device.
A library of ready-made presets ships with the app, from classic parametric surfaces to black-hole ergospheres, curved-space tori and slices of the 3-torus, together with a searchable built-in manual.
Built with Qt and Metal for smooth, native performance on iPhone and iPad.
Ratings & Reviews
- This app has not received enough ratings or reviews to display an overview.
NEW
• Solid Curve — write a curve in 3D or 4D and see the tube drawn around it, with adjustable thickness. Several tubes can come from a script.
• Surface Borders — parametric surfaces can have a tube along the edges of their domain, with its own color, texture and thickness.
• Multi-Mesh without scripts — set how many copies of a surface or curve to draw with a single field, even from a constant's slider. Each copy has its own appearance.
• Images and textures on meshes — each strip can have its own image; with the scope on All, a texture or image spreads continuously over the whole figure.
• Ray marching — with the Precise marcher, Ray Steps and Step Relax are active again, and ambient occlusion no longer depends on the scale written in front of the equation. The x/y/z limits accept the constants A–F.
• Steps and Ray Steps can go beyond the slider's end by typing a larger value.
• RESET asks what to restore — the view, the motions, or both.
• Library — rename files and folders from the context menu. The Surfaces tab is now called Shapes, and Shapes remember their background color.
FIXES
• Videos now run at the same speed as the screen, with no jump when recording starts or stops.
• Restarting a 4D camera path after Stop no longer makes the slice jump.
• Presets no longer inherit settings from the one opened before: Cross Section, background, transparency, lighting, camera and motion.
• Many fixes to saving and reopening records, textures, sounds, constants and limits.
• Fixes to the Library highlight, and to copying and pasting folders.
The developer, GAETANO MOSCHETTI, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Collected
The developer does not collect any data from this app.
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
- Size
- 65.3 MB
- Category
- Education
- Compatibility
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.
- iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later. - iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later. - Mac
Requires macOS 13.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later. - Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
- iPhone
- Age Rating
4+
- 4+
- Provider
GAETANO MOSCHETTI
- GAETANO MOSCHETTI has not identified itself as a trader for this app. If you are a consumer in the European Economic Area, consumer rights do not apply to agreements between you and the provider.
- Copyright
- © 2026 Gaetano Moschetti
