Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google’s Play Store may be planning to add support for new device types.
- This app has added text and image resources to help identify “XR Headset” devices.
- Both Samsung and Google are interested in XR hardware, so it makes sense to plan this way for software as well.
The Google Play Store is a destination for apps that run on all kinds of Android hardware. In addition to apps for smartphones, there are many apps optimized for tablets and other large screens, including apps that can run immediately on Wear OS smartwatches. Today, we discovered evidence that the Play Store is working on support for augmented reality (XR) headsets, so we’re looking at the possibility of Google expanding these categories to include entirely new types of products.
For those unfamiliar with the term, XR is an umbrella label that covers everything from fully immersive virtual reality to augmented and mixed reality systems that blend the real and virtual worlds. Something like that. We know that Google and Samsung are both interested in XR hardware, so it makes a lot of sense that Android apps would start getting ready to declare support for such devices.
Looking at version 43.3.32-31 of the Google Play Store app, it does contain a new icon that appears to depict an XR headset, as well as a new text string that explicitly mentions “XR headset.” You can see that there are.
It’s not a big deal at this point, but it’s pretty clear where this is going and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if Google prepares a new section of the Play Store for the arrival of some of the next Android versions. Sho. Powered XR headset.
Many companies are already developing headsets that utilize Android in some way, and many are tackling the software problem in different ways. For example, we looked at some Rokid glasses that are actually based on Android TV. . And, of course, there was Cardboard and Daydream for phone-based VR, but that fad has largely died down. For manufacturers looking to take their new XR efforts seriously, the fact that Google is taking its XR app seriously is exactly the kind of sign they want to see.
For now, I’m interested to see when I’ll get a chance to check out some of this hardware in the flesh. CES is just a few months away…
