What is a Roomplan Scan? How Contractors Use iPhone Room Scanning

If you’ve heard about “RoomPlan” and wondered what it actually means for contractors, this is the breakdown. Apple released its RoomPlan API in 2022, and it’s become the underlying technology behind a number of iPhone room scanning apps — including Manifold’s Orbit Measure feature. Here’s what it does, what it doesn’t do, and whether it’s useful for field work.

What is RoomPlan?

RoomPlan is a software framework developed by Apple that uses the LiDAR scanner in iPhone Pro and iPad Pro models to scan rooms and generate structured floor plans. It uses machine learning and sensor fusion to identify walls, windows, doors, openings, and furniture in a room and outputs a clean, parametric floor plan.

RoomPlan runs entirely on-device and doesn’t require an internet connection to capture. It was designed to be fast — most rooms can be scanned in 60–90 seconds of walking around with your phone.

Which devices support RoomPlan?

RoomPlan requires a LiDAR sensor, which is available on:

• iPhone 12 Pro and Pro Max or newer (not standard iPhone models)
• iPad Pro (all models from 2020 onwards)

Standard iPhones (iPhone 14, 15, 16 — non-Pro) do not have LiDAR and cannot use RoomPlan. Android devices are not supported.

What does a RoomPlan scan output?

The raw RoomPlan output is a structured data file describing the geometry of the room — wall positions and lengths, ceiling height, door and window locations, and identified furniture objects. Apps built on RoomPlan (like Manifold) then process this into more usable formats:

• 2D floor plans (PDF or image export)
• 3D models (viewable and measurable)
• Dimension overlays for specific distances
• Shareable 3D walkthroughs

How contractors use RoomPlan scanning

The most common contractor use cases are:

• As-built documentation — capturing final conditions before handover or after renovation
• Existing conditions survey — documenting a space before starting work (particularly useful for renovations, where understanding exact existing dimensions affects material ordering and planning)
• Remote measurement — once a space is scanned, measurements can be taken from the 3D model without physically returning to site
• Client handoff — sharing an interactive 3D walkthrough with building owners, engineers, or future trades

RoomPlan vs. manual measurement

A manual room measurement with a laser distance meter and a notepad takes 20–40 minutes for a typical room, produces a sketch that needs to be drawn up separately, and is only as accurate as the person measuring. A RoomPlan scan takes 60–90 seconds, produces a dimensioned floor plan automatically, and is accurate to approximately half an inch on most surfaces.

How Manifold uses RoomPlan

Manifold’s Orbit Measure feature is built on RoomPlan and is designed specifically for construction field teams. It adds GPS tagging, project organisation, PDF report generation, and direct client sharing on top of the raw scan data. A scan taken on site is automatically uploaded, processed, and available to the whole team within minutes.

Learn more about Orbit Measure →