ARCore V1.1 update hints at upcoming support for Huawei P20, Nexus 6P, Galaxy S9 and more


Google ARCore

After adding a bunch of new phones support and V1 release at the MWC 2018 event and announcing a range of ARCore apps last week, Google is rolling the update to ARCore app bringing its version number to V1.1 revealing its support for more devices.

Digging a little deep in the V1.1 release, there are a large set of device profiles in a folder aptly named /assets/device_profile_database. Each file contains settings appropriate for a given phone’s cameras and sensors. While there’s nothing much to tell about the content in the files, but the names of the phones are a big giveaway.

A total of 59 phones were added most of which are carrier-named variants. Since few of the models are listed by manufacturer codename, it was harder to identify. Several names are belonging to the Galaxy S9 and S9+ variants, but it’s obvious that these flagships would gradually get the support.

The list of phones include

  • angler: Huawei Nexus 6P
  • HWEML: Huawei P20
  • HWCLT: Huawei P20 Pro
  • HWNEO : Huawei Porsche Design Mate
  • nash: Moto Z2 Force
  • polaris: Xiaomi MIMIX 2S
  • a7y17: Samsung Galaxy A7 (2017)
  • a5y17: Samsung Galaxy A5 (2017)
  • SC-02K, SC-03K, SCV38, SCV39, starq, star2q: Galaxy S9 and S9+
  • WW_ASUS_A002_2: Asus ZenFone AR
  • “Generic” x86 and x86_64

Since none of the new devices are on the official list of supported hardware, but we should see the support coming soon. Google has also announced a partnership with Samsung, Huawei, LGE, Motorola, ASUS, Xiaomi, HMD/Nokia, ZTE, Sony Mobile, and Vivo to enable AR experiences on upcoming 2018 devices. The ARCore app update is starting to rolling out, but you can simply download the APK from here and side-load it manually.

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