ANGLE (Almost Native Graphics Layer Engine) is anopen source,cross-platformgraphics engineabstraction layer developed byGoogle.^[1] ANGLE translatesOpenGL ES 2/3 calls to DirectX 9, 11, OpenGL, Vulkan or Metal API calls.^[2][3][4][5] It is a portable version of OpenGL but with limitations ofOpenGL ES standard.^[6][7]

The API is mainly designed to bring up a high-performanceOpenGL compatibility toMicrosoft Windows and toweb browsers such asChromium by translating OpenGL calls toDirect3D, which has much betterdriver support on Windows systems.^[3][4][5] On Windows, there are two backend renderers for ANGLE: the oldest one uses Direct3D 9.0c, while the newer one uses Direct3D 11.^[8]

ANGLE is currently used byGoogle Chrome (embedded into theBlink browser engine),Firefox,^[9]Edge,WebKit, and theQt Framework.^[10] The engine is also used byWindows 10 for compatibility with apps ported fromAndroid.^[11] Throughout 2019, the Apple team contributed aMetal API backend for the ANGLE so Apple devices could run on their native graphics APIs.^[12]

ANGLE is distributed under aBSD-license.

The project started as a way forGoogle to bring full hardware acceleration forWebGL toWindows without relying onOpenGL graphicsdrivers. Google initially released the program under theBSD license.^[13]

The current production version (2.1.x) implementsOpenGL ES 2.0, 3.0,3.1 andEGL 1.5, claiming to pass the conformance tests for both. Work was started on then future OpenGL ES 3.0 version,^[8] for the newer Direct3D 11 backend.^[14]

The capability to use ANGLE in aWindows Store app was added in 2014.^[11] Microsoft contributed support for lower feature levels to the project. Supporting CoreWindow and SwapChainPanel in ANGLE's EGL allows applications to run on Windows 8.1, Windows Phone 8.1, and later.^[15]

ANGLE is currently used in a number of programs and software.

• Chromium andGoogle Chrome.^[9] Chrome uses ANGLE not only for WebGL, but also for its implementation of the 2DHTML5 canvas and for the graphics layer of theGoogle Native Client (which is OpenGL ES 2.0 compatible).^[8]
• Safari web browser uses ANGLE as basis for its WebGL implementation.^[12]
• Firefox uses ANGLE as the default WebGL backend on Windows.^[9]
• Qt 5 uses ANGLE as the default renderer for its OpenGL ES 2.0 API wrapper and other Qt elements which use it on Windows.^[10]
• Godot uses ANGLE as an option for compatibility renderer for Windows and MacOS platforms starting with Godot 4.2^[16][17]
• Candy Crush Saga uses ANGLE as the default renderer in its Windows Store version of the application.^[11]
• Cocos2d uses ANGLE as its rendering engine for applications published to theWindows Store.^[11]
• ANGLE for Windows Store^[18] provides Windows developers precompiled ANGLE binaries via a NuGet package.
• Stellarium provides two versions forWindows: the default version uses OpenGL, the alternative version uses ANGLE as the renderer.^[19]
• Shovel Knight uses ANGLE as rendering engine, as seen in final credits.^[20]
• RuneScape NXT client uses ANGLE to provide a DirectX 9 compatibility mode for older graphics cards.^[21]
• Krita started using ANGLE as the rendering engine on Windows starting on version 3.3.0.^[22]
• Microsoft Edge has ANGLE as a rendering option in the "Standards Preview" page inWindows Insider build 17025.
• Grand Theft Auto V included ANGLE in the installation, normally at Systemdrive.
• OpenRA uses ANGLE for rendering on Windows^[23]
• SolveSpace uses ANGLE on Windows.
• GameMaker: Studio uses ANGLE at compile-time to convert GLSL ES shaders to HLSL9 for the old Windows 32-bit export module.

• Official website

• Application programming interfaces
• C++ libraries
• Cross-platform software
• Free 3D graphics software
• Free software programmed in C++
• Graphics libraries
• Software using the BSD license

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