Google Reportedly Launching ARCore To More Android Phones During MWC 2018

ARCore, Google’s augmented reality platform for Android, is rumored to arrive to more smartphones sooner than later. ARCore is said to launch next week during Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2018.

Google is said to preparing a major push for ARCore next week during MWC 2018, reports Variety. Sources say that Google will finally be releasing ARCore’s framework to allow third-party developers to create their own AR apps for the Play Store. Additionally, Google wants to bring ARCore to major Android smartphones by March.

ARCore was first announced by Google way back in August 2017 and was first made available last year as a developer preview for the Pixel phones and Samsung’s Galaxy S8 and S7. It was the company’s successor to its previous AR effort, Project Tango. The company’s goal from last year was to bring ARCore to 100 million devices by the end of its developer preview.

The last developer preview for ARCore was made available back in December. It allowed developers to tinker and create their own AR experiences, but weren’t allowed to send their apps to the Google Play Store.

To bring ARCore to 100 million Android phones, Google has partnered with Samsung, Huawei, LG, Asus and many other phone makers. ARCore will work on most Android phones with Android Nougat or later without the need of any special hardware.

It’s possible that Google’s major push for ARCore would be the Samsung Galaxy S9, as pointed out by 9To5Google. Samsung is, after all, one of Google’s major ARCore partners. The Galaxy S9 is expected to be showcased at MWC 2018 and it would be a great opportunity to further show off the capabilities of ARCore running on a brand-new flagship Android phone.

Although Google’s major push for ARCore won’t be arriving until next week, ARCore 1.0 is already being rolled out to some Android users. Android Police discovered that ARCore 1.0 is already available from the Play Store for some, while users can also download it from APK Mirror.

The only consumer-ready version of ARCore available is exclusive to the Pixel phones through Google’s AR Stickers. Back in December, Google made Star Wars-themed AR Stickers that allowed users to drop virtual Stormtroopers, X-Wings, TIE-Fighters and Porgs in real life environments.

With Google planning to bring ARCore to more Android phones starting next week, the company will be able to seriously compete with Apple’s own augmented reality platform. Apple’s ARKit has been available for some time now and has already spawned dozens of AR apps on the App Store.