Google Play Services for AR

Google tools and services are many and varied. And it is quite a job to update them, keep them active and operational for the new mobiles that are coming onto the market. Something that implies that, sometimes, there are errors or malfunctions. But for that, Google is already a watchful eye. A good example is ARCore, now renamed to AR Google Play Services A name something more developed and less cryptic that gives the clue of what it is for.

It is neither more nor less than an add-on that we must download to our Android mobile if we intend to use Augmented Reality on it. That is, capturing our environment through the camera while the processor creates virtual images that it realistically places on the screen. Thus, through the screen we can see objects that do not really exist but are shown as if they were where we focus with the mobile. Processes that require resources and files that Google introduces in this kind of application-plugin

And why do I need it for Pokémon GO and other games and apps?

Linking to the above, these AR Google Play Services are a necessary add-on to exploit the Augmented Reality features of apps and games. The clearest case is that of Pokémon GO, which has a couple of formats of this technology.On the one hand, it has Augmented Reality in which it shows the Pokémon through the screen as if they were in the real world. Of course, when we move with the mobile in hand, the Pokémon stays in the same place, without recognizing that we are approaching, leaning or surrounding.

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However, the most powerful mobiles have the possibility to use AR+ in Pokémon GO, with which they can experience greater realism . That is, move around the Pokémon, zoom in or out, change perspective, etc. But, in this case, special Google services are needed to process all this information. And that's where the Google Play Services plug-in app for AR comes into play.

Thanks to these resources, compatible Android phones (the most current and with the best processor) are able to display the Pokémon in a fluid and realistic way But it also happens with applications like Just a Line, which takes full advantage of these resources. And so many other applications and games of the moment in which Augmented Reality is part of its mechanics and its reason for being. And for this reason it is necessary to download it and keep it updated, like another application, with additions that improve its features or increase its compatibility with other devices.

But my phone doesn't do that

Google works to develop its tools and make them accessible to as many Android users as possible. But there are technical limitations that cannot be overcome. That is why there is an official list of compatible terminals with all this Google technology (ARCore) and with the Google Play Services application for AR. It can be found on the Android developer blog.

The easiest formula to know if your mobile is powerful enough to manage these resources and show the best Augmented Reality of the moment is to search for the application on Google Play. And it is that this application-complement of Google Play Services for AR only appears in the application store for compatible mobiles. If you do a quick search on Google Play and you don't see any trace of this application, you will know that your mobile does not support ARCore, and that you will have to use the basic mode of Augmented Reality in games like Pokémon GO or Harry Potter Wizards Unite.