Google launches ARCore 1.0, available for more than 100M Android smartphones

Google launched its augmented reality platform ARCore 1.0 to the public, with the platform being available for more than 100 million smartphones.

ARCore 1.0 includes support for anchoring virtual objects to any textured surface, not just flat, horizontal ones. ARCore allows developers to build apps that can place digital objects on top of a phone’s camera view, and then have them behave like real-world objects.

The 100 million figure boils down to just 13 Android smartphones (Android 7.0 Nougat or above is required unless otherwise specified): Google Pixel, Google Pixel XL, Google Pixel 2, Google Pixel 2 XL, Samsung Galaxy S8, Samsung Galaxy S8+, Samsung Galaxy Note8, Samsung Galaxy S7, Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, LG V30 (Android Oreo required), LG V30+ (Android Oreo required), Asus Zenfone AR, and the OnePlus 5.

ARCore 1.0 brings improvements to make the development process faster and easier, including a better environmental understanding that enables users to place virtual assets on any textured surfaces, like posters, furniture, toy boxes, books, cans, and so on. Android Studio 3.1 Beta now supports ARCore in the emulator, so developers can quickly test apps right on their desktop.

The first preview was released in August, and the second preview arrived in December.

Google today also announced plans to expand its Google Lens feature in Google Assistant and Google Photos to more devices “in the coming weeks.” Google Lens uses image recognition algorithms to identify things like the breed of a dog or different kinds of plants.