Google today announced that ARCore 1.0, its augmented reality platform for Android, is now available in non-preview form.
“Developers can now publish AR apps to the Play Store, and it’s a great time to start building,” Google’s Anuj Gosalia writes. “ARCore works on 100 million Android smartphones, and advanced AR capabilities are available on all of these devices.”
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That broad reach explains the “why” of ARCore, which is Google’s second attempt at bringing AR to Android. The first, called Project Tango, required specially-made phones and was never broadly adopted.
But ARCore is already off to a great start: Google says that those 100 million phones are comprised of 13 different phones models, including the Google Pixel, Pixel XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL; Samsung Galaxy S8, S8+, Note8, S7 and S7 edge; LGE V30 and V30+ (with Android O); ASUS Zenfone AR; and OnePlus OnePlus 5. And more are on the way: Samsung, Huawei, LGE, Motorola, ASUS, Xiaomi, HMD/Nokia, ZTE, Sony Mobile, and Vivo have all pledged to support the platform.
ARCore needs all the help it can get: Apple already has a strong lead in this market thanks to the integration of its own AR solution, ARKit, in iOS. As of August 2017, there were almost 400 million ARKit-compatible iOS devices in the world. And that was before Apple shipped the iPhone 8, 8 Plus, and X.
Bats
<p>ARCore is really fun. While I was in Court and without anyone knowing, I placed a Storm Trooper right next to the Judge using my Pixel. It was hilarious showing this picture back at the office to my colleagues. </p><p>THIS STUFF IS….FUN!</p>