ARCore on Android may start using second camera for depth information

ARCore on Android can now combine information from multiple cameras to create a better depth map. That was not possible until now. The first phones that can do that are the 2019 Pixel 4 and 4XL.

Support for using the second camera for ARCore will be arriving on the Pixel 4 in the coming weeks, according to the support page, which Android Police found. The Pixel 5 and 4a 5G from 2020 will not get the function yet, despite the fact that they also have two cameras on the back. This is probably because the Pixel 4 is a camera with a telephoto lens and the newer models have a camera with an ultra-wide-angle lens.

ARCore runs on many more Android smartphones with multiple cameras. It is unknown if and when support for collecting more data about depth will be available on it. Google hasn’t said anything about that yet. Until now, ARCore worked with the information from one camera.

Google also announced its March Feature Drop; once every few months, Pixel phones get an update with new features. Next week, owners of Pixel phones will be able to measure their heart rate by placing their finger on the camera, something third-party apps have been able to do for years. Also accepting whole sentences as a smart suggestion in keyboard Gboard is in the update, but that only works in English.

Google Pixel 4 and 4XL