Google officially launches ARCore with new AR apps for select flagship phones

Google has released ARCore 1.0 on all Pixel smartphones and a few other high-end flagship devices. Similar to Apple ARKit, Google ARCore lets you run augmented reality apps on your smartphone that leverage Google’s AR developer tools.

ARCore requires calibration and custom setup for each device model, so the minimum requirements are limited to specific models rather than based on Android version. Google has expanded ARCore’s support for devices. You can now use ARCore on all Google Pixel smartphones, all recent Samsung flagship smartphones, Android O versions of LG’s V30 and V30 Plus, Asus ZenFone AR, and OnePlus 5.

Google says more devices will be added to the list. “Samsung, Huawei, LGE, Motorola, ASUS, Xiaomi, HMD/Nokia, ZTE, Sony Mobile, and Vivo plan to implement ARCore in their upcoming smartphone releases,” the company said. ”

In case you’re wondering, Google released ARCore in limited preview in August 2017. The company has been testing it in beta ever since. Another tidbit is that Google will also launch ARCore in China. This is surprising considering the fact that the search engine giant has little business in China. However, the company will be able to partner with Chinese OEMs such as Huawei and Xiaomi.

We’ve already seen Google’s ARCore stickers. However, with this release, developers can now upload their own ARCore-based apps to the Play Store. Snapchat was one of ARCore’s early boosters, and the company has already built an experience that transports people to Camp Nou, the home stadium of FC Barcelona. Furthermore, he added:

Visualize the interiors of different rooms in your home with Sotheby’s International Realty. Take a look at Porsche’s Mission E concept vehicle in your driveway and explore how it works. With OTTO AR, you select items from specialized furniture sets and place them in your room to exact scale. Ghostbusters World, based on the movie series, is coming soon. In China, you can use Easyhome Homestyler to place furniture and over 100,000 other items, see them when you shop at JD.com, play games from NetEase, Wargaming, and Game Insight. You can place it at home.

Snapchat won’t go out of its way to tune its millions of cameras, but it says all Snapchat experiences will run optimally on all compatible devices. And in addition to Snapchat, Google is partnering with several other developers to deliver more AR experiences built around the ARCore framework.

Google Lens is available from Google Photos on Android and iOS 9 and later. It’s also available through Google Assistant on some other Android flagship devices. Google says Lens has improved support for recognizing common animal breeds and plant types. Google has announced that it will push an update to Google Photos to all English-speaking users using Android and iOS “in the coming weeks.”