Google finally brings ARCore to China via Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S

Google has finally brought ARCore to users in China. In a tweet, the company announced that owners of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S are now able to download ARCore apps from the Xiaomi App Store. Previously, ARCore was only available on Google Play, which is blocked in the country.

The statement from Google also mentions “more partners coming soon.” This suggests that other manufacturers could be about to release ARCore in China on their own own app stores. Chinese brands OnePlus and HUAWEI already support ARCore on some of their devices.

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S joins a select number of phones from the likes of Samsung, HUAWEI, Google, and OnePlus that support ARCore. Google has previously said that it wants to bring ARCore to “hundreds of millions” of devices in 2018, so expect more devices to join the list in the coming months. Entering China, a huge market for Android, would help Google reach its lofty goal.

ARCore is an augmented reality development kit from Google that makes it easier for app developers to put AR experiences into their apps. If you want to get it working on your device, you need to first download the ARCore app. Once this is installed, you can then download apps that use ARCore.

Currently, there aren’t a ton of apps that make good use of ARCore. However, as the number of devices that support it grows and developers get to grips with what works and what doesn’t, you can expect that to start to change.

Next up: 10 best augmented reality apps and AR apps for Android