Google is boosting AR performance on Android phones with their dual cameras

Google is upgrading its augmented reality SDK so that dual-camera phones can capture more in-depth details. As reported by Android Police, the most recent Google Play Services update for the AR app, which is how Google distributes ARCore features, now states “Dual camera stereo depth on compatible devices” in its changelog.

For now, it appears that the support will be limited to Google’s own Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, both launched in 2019. The list of compatible ARCore devices on Google’s developer site says that support for dual cameras will roll out in the coming weeks.

Notably, this means that the Pixel 5 and 4a 5G, both of which are 2020 Pixel phones with dual cameras, will not see the benefits for now. This could be because their secondary cameras are ultra-wide rather than Pixel 4 and 4 XL telephotos, which would have consequences for how they could create more accurate depth maps.

In any case, this is another effect of Google’s indecision on Pixel camera lenses. The company has long maintained that it only required a single camera because of computational features like Super Res Zoom on Pixel 3, but confusedly added a telephoto lens on Pixel 4 instead, then backtracked and substituted it for an ultra-wide Pixel 5.