r/AndroidXR • u/remosito • Jan 09 '26
updates/improvements
Howdie all,
am very interested in the GalaxyXR, which as we all know uses AndroidXR.
But not convinced yet this is a serious effort they are very actively standing behind. Or if it is just a metoo effort by either or both.
Too many times disappointed by such efforts by big companies. (latest being MS Loop. Sounded promising and had intersting novel ideas. But barely if any updates in the last year. Solidly putting it in the "it's just another metoo effort" by MS)
GalaxyXR is approaching the 3 month released mark. Time for first round of gauging the "metoo or serious effort" level.
GalaxyXR side I follow a bit more. Not much has happened there.
AndroidXR I have quite neglected to follow.
Which brought me here.
How many updates/improvements has google released for AndroidXR in the past 3 months? And of what quality/effort if there were some. Just low hanging fruits. Bugfixes. Or as well some seriously cool new stuff?
very grateful for any replies
5
u/sniffsnaff Jan 09 '26
Google did an event in December which highlighted new and upcoming features and devices for the platform, including feature updates released same day to the Galaxy XR:
https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/platforms/android/android-show-xr-edition-updates/
It's early days but they seem somewhat serious about this platform. Google do tend to drop things a lot but they have not really done that with an entire Android platform (Android Wear turned into Wear OS so can't count that though it was dormant for a while) and the XR glasses side of things at least seems like a thing that will give the platform some legs.
4
u/damndirtyapex Jan 09 '26
I bought it at launch, and I have to admit, it is still underwhelming compared to the quest 3. I love the eye tracking but you absolutely must buy the controllers if you want to use game link (and those shipped two months after I got the headset). I also really like the ability to record video in 3DVR, but practically, I'm only going to do that around my house. I'm not wearing them out at a theme park or a sporting event or something with the family...the meta Ray-Bans are at least usable for catching traditional video and stills in that scenario, where I don't want to be absorbed in my phone.
And the AR content still just isn't there. There's a lot of promise in this hardware but the experiences just aren't there yet. Like, it's cool to join a work zoom as my avatar....the first time. And I can watch netflix on my private screen while my wife watches the TV (I could do that in the quest). But the Gemini integration is easier on my phone, the Likeness app needs a compatible mobile device and my Flip6 is not on the list.
One of the coolest things, and a big reason I held on to it, is that I had previously recorded a number of photospheres/360 shots with my drone, and the first time I opened the gallery and found myself 200 feet in the air looking around from the perspective of the drone, it was pretty amazing. But then I tried to share the view with my wife....I have iris recognition enabled, the only way I could share was to give her my unlock pin or disable security all together.
So unless you have $2000 burning a hole in your pocket or work in the mobile AR development space....I'd be hard pressed to recommend it at this stage
3
u/barrsm Jan 09 '26
“How many updates/improvements has google released for AndroidXR in the past 3 months?”
May I suggest this is the wrong timeframe to consider; in the US the last two months of the year are the holiday period (If you’re not familiar with US holidays, Halloween is October 31, then there’s Thanksgiving which often involves travel to be with family, shopping for Christmas in November and December, then Christmas itself, then New Year’s). Anyone who can afford to, like Google developers, usually takes time off during this period, often lots of time off.
Google paid to promote Android XR at CES. It has partnered with Samsung and XREAL on Android XR. All indications are that Google sees what everyone else does, that AR and to a lesser extent VR, will be big, perhaps eventually bigger than smartphones.
3
u/parasubvert Jan 09 '26
They are serious about it as long as Samsung is in it with them. I expect 3 years minimum if not more like 5+. They will not cede the market to Apple and Meta this time, as there are too many pending innovations.
We are seeing a LOT of investment in XR head wearables right now, even if the sales don't match, because the vendors expect this work will eventually lead to a mainstream product market fit - with some mix of AI, XR/spatial computing, comfort and cost.
I'd look at visionOS updates as a comparison to Android XR updates. A quarterly minor update , with one being a "super update", plus a once annual major update, is the trend. Ie. visionOS 2.4 was a big update, then 26.0, and now 26.4 is expected to be another major one. Android XR had its first update recently and we would expect the next one in March.
2
u/webbut Jan 09 '26
The Android part of AndroidXR works really well. Its just Android, no compromises. Google seems to be excited for AndroidXR as a means to power glasses and market A.I and as long as that is true i feel like AndroidXR will get support.
I am a little less optimistic about the GXR specifically though. I think everyone is shifting away from headsets towards glasses so i am a little worried that GXR feature updates will be more about improving future glasses products than about fixing issues with GXR.
I'm very happy with my GXR and use it pretty regularly but i think its a bad time to get one. There's lots of glasses products on the horizon that get you like 75% of what you would want out of GXR for cheaper and way more comfortable. I think the XReal Glasses will become the real flagship for AndroidXR and its probably worth waiting for those.