Get started with the HTML Model Element

A Podkey summary of Get started with the HTML Model Element, from WWDC 2026.This week’s story is really about 3D on the web getting a lot less awkward. The big shift is a native HTML model element, a practical file format in USDZ, and a handful of tools that make building 3D experiences much more realistic for regular developers. And then around that, you’ve got the stuff that makes it usable in the real world: smaller file sizes, easier AR handoff, better defaults for interaction, and some very honest limits when you fall back to a polyfill. It all adds up to the web inching closer to treating 3D like a first-class citizen instead of a side project.A native model tag changes the toneWhy USDZ keeps coming upGetting 3D assets without a 3D departmentAR Quick Look and spatial web payoffUseful defaults versus custom controlThe polyfill helps, but it’s still a fallback3D files need a dietStandards and the bigger pictureThis podcast was created with Podkey. Make your own at https://podkey.fm