Rive makes use of various different renderers depending on platform and runtime. We’re working towards unifying the default renderer used across all platforms/runtimes with the Rive Renderer.
Certain features, such as Vector Feathering, are only supported through the Rive Renderer. See our Feature Support page for more information.

​
Renderer Options and Default

You can opt-in to use a specific renderer, see Specifying a Renderer. The table below outlines the available, and default, renderers for Rive’s runtimes:
RuntimeDefault RendererOptions
AndroidRiveRive / Canvas / Skia (removed as of v10.0.0)
AppleRiveRive / Core Graphics / Skia (deprecated in v6.0.0)
React NativeRiveSee Apple and Android
Web (Canvas)Canvas2DCanvas2D
Web (WebGL)SkiaSkia
Web (WebGL2)RiveRive
FlutterSkia (other), Impeller (iOS)Skia / Impeller

​
Note on Rendering in Flutter

Starting in Flutter v3.10, Impeller has replaced Skia to become the default renderer for apps on iOS platforms and may continue to be the default on future platforms over time. As such, there is a possibility of rendering and performance discrepancies when using the Rive Flutter runtime with platforms that use the Impeller renderer that may not have surfaced before. If you encounter any visual or performance errors at runtime compared to expected behavior in the Rive editor, we recommend trying the following steps to triage:
  1. Try running the Flutter app with the --no-enable-impeller flag to use the Skia renderer. If the visual discrepancy does not show when using Skia, it may be a rendering bug on Impeller. However, before raising a bug with the Flutter team, try the second point below👇
flutter run --no-enable-impeller
  1. Try running the Flutter app on the latest master channel. It is possible that visual bugs may be resolved on the latest Flutter commits, but not yet released in the beta or stable channel.
  2. If you are still seeing visual discrepancies with just the Impeller renderer on the latest master branch, we recommend raising a detailed issue to the Flutter Github repo with a reproducible example, and other relevant details that can help the team debug any possible issues that may be present.

​
Rive Renderer

The Rive Renderer is now available on Android and Apple runtimes. See Specifying a Renderer to set it as your preferred renderer. While it’s ready for testing and your feedback is highly valued during this phase, we advise exercising caution before considering it for production builds. You may encounter compatibility issues with certain devices. Please reach out to us on Discord or through our Support Channel. Your collaboration helps us refine and enhance the Rive Renderer to make it more robust and reliable for broader applications. Thank you for being a part of this exciting journey!

​
Starting Version

The Rive Renderer was made the default renderer in Apple runtimes starting at v6.0.0, however, we recommend installing the latest version of the dependency to get the latest updates. See the CHANGELOG for details on the latest versions.

​
Performance

The Rive Renderer will shine best on Apple runtimes in memory usage as an animation plays out, in comparison to previous default renderers.With UIKit, you’ll be able to see the best performance differences by drawing multiple times on a single RiveView, rather than creating multiple instances of RiveViews, or multiple RiveViewModels.Example: See this stress test example to see how you can override the drawing function on RiveView to draw multiple times on the same view, with each graphic at an offset. You can switch out the renderer with the above config and test out the performance for yourself!

​
Specifying a Renderer

See below for runtime instructions to enable a specific renderer.

​
Getting Started

Options: Rive (default) / Core Graphics / Skia (deprecated in v6.0.0)Below are some notes on configuring the renderer in UIKit and SwiftUI.

​
UIKit

Set the global renderer type during your application launch:
@UIApplicationMain
class AppDelegate: UIResponder, UIApplicationDelegate {

    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey: Any]?) -> Bool {
        // Override point for customization after application launch.
        RenderContextManager.shared().defaultRenderer = RendererType.riveRenderer
        return true
    }

    ...
}

​
SwiftUI

New SwiftUI applications launch with the App protocol, but you can still add UIApplicationDelegate functionality.

​
iOS

Create a new file and class called AppDelegate as such, including a line to set the defaultRenderer to RendererType.riveRenderer:
import UIKit
import Foundation
import RiveRuntime

class AppDelegate: NSObject, UIApplicationDelegate {
    func application(_ application: UIApplication, didFinishLaunchingWithOptions launchOptions: [UIApplication.LaunchOptionsKey : Any]? = nil) -> Bool {
        RenderContextManager.shared().defaultRenderer = RendererType.riveRenderer
        return true
    }
}
Next, at the entry point of your application, use UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor to set the AppDelegate created above for the application delegate.
@main
struct MyRiveRendererApp: App {
    @UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) var appDelegate
    
    var body: some Scene {
        WindowGroup {
            ContentView()
        }
    }
}

​
macOS

Create a new file and class called AppDelegate as such, including a line to set the defaultRenderer to RendererType.riveRenderer:
import Foundation
import RiveRuntime

class AppDelegate: NSObject, NSApplicationDelegate {
    func application(_ application: NSApplication, applicationDidFinishLaunching notification: Notification) -> Bool {
        RenderContextManager.shared().defaultRenderer = RendererType.riveRenderer
        return true
Next, at the entry point of your application, use UIApplicationDelegateAdaptor to set the AppDelegate created above for the application delegate.
@main
struct MyRiveRendererApp: App {
    @NSApplicationDelegateAdaptor(AppDelegate.self) var appDelegate
    
    var body: some Scene {
        WindowGroup {
            ContentView()
        }
    }
}