Giving your apps a new home on Samsung Galaxy XR, the first device powered by Android XR

The first device powered by Android XR is here: engineered by Samsung, Galaxy XR, is available now, putting the possibilities of immersive experiences directly into users' hands. With this launch, the Android XR platform, built for the era of AI, leverages the helpfulness of Gemini to bring users new ways to use an AI assistant and experience apps and games.

Galaxy XR unlocks a new form factor that extends the reach of the Android ecosystem, seamlessly blending digital content with the physical world in ways that feel intuitive and natural. This creates innovative opportunities for your app, allowing you to transform existing 2D content into interactive 3D elements and allowing users to intuitively place and resize your app's experience directly in their living environments. If you're building for Android, you're building for Android XR - because of the underlying adaptive app framework. And to help you get started, we are kicking off the Android XR Spotlight Week today. 

During this week, we’ll deep dive into what you need to know about bringing your 2D app to the platform, building spatial experiences, and publishing your app. You’ll even have the opportunity to get your questions answered directly from our team, so be sure to tune in. 

Android XR extends your apps into a new reality 

Galaxy XR offers a new way of interacting with computing that is anchored by natural input like hands, eyes, and voice input. It moves beyond the constraints of a physical screen, unlocking new ways for users to watch, create, and explore.

Android XR is an extension of the Android development foundation, offering a unified development target for the next generation of extended reality devices. This means you can efficiently scale your work, leveraging the established foundation of the Android ecosystem while utilizing familiar tools and APIs. The platform is built to simplify your transition to spatial development. 

You can adapt your existing apps and build new experiences using the Jetpack XR SDK, which integrates seamlessly with Android Studio and the Android APIs you already use, or utilize industry-standard tools like the Unity engine and open frameworks such as OpenXR and WebXR. 

Android XR is designed to lower the barrier to entry, allowing you to use your current expertise to create truly differentiated apps. The platform is ready for your innovation, offering both familiarity and powerful new capabilities.

Adapt your existing apps and build new immersive experiences

Getting started on Android XR is a flexible process, allowing you to choose the path that best suits your current app status and development goals.

Adapting existing apps:  In most cases, your mobile app will run great on Android XR with little to no additional development through Google Play, now available on headsets. Apps that require a bit of effort should start by ensuring your current Android apps are optimized using the adaptive app principles. Many of the best practices you've already implemented for foldables and tablets will help your app shine on headsets. 

Building new experiences: The Jetpack XR SDK provides the tools you need to create entirely new spatial experiences that truly take advantage of the form factor. The SDK allows you to spatialize your UI, utilize Jetpack Compose for XR to build declarative spatial layouts, and integrate 3D models and rich content using Jetpack SceneCore. And, with the addition of ARCore for Jetpack XR, you can include perception capabilities to seamlessly blend digital content with the real world. 

Now is the time to design for focused productivity, immersive entertainment, and next-generation discovery. And, developers are already building for the platform. The team at Calm successfully transformed their mobile app into an immersive spatial experience by leveraging their existing Android codebase. They were able to build their first functional XR menus on the first day and a core XR experience in just two weeks, proving that building for XR is a natural extension of existing Android work.

Port your Unity titles with ease with OpenXR: Android XR supports the OpenXR standard, which ensures a common set of APIs and standards across devices.  Early access partners have been impressed at how smooth it is to port existing XR titles, leveraging both OpenXR and the established Android XR SDK for Unity. Building on this solid foundation gives you access to a wide array of features, from hand and eye tracking to scene meshing and anchor persistence, making truly immersive apps possible. To get started, download Unity 6 and bring your games and experiences to Android XR.

Start Building for Android XR Today

The future of extended reality is here, and your current Android expertise is the catalyst for shaping what comes next. Get started building your next experience and adapting your current apps to meet users on this new form factor.

Head over to developer.android.com/xr for documentation, guides, and resources to begin building for Android XR. And be sure to tune in to the Android XR Spotlight week to get your questions answered and deep dive into the technical details

As we continue to refine the tooling, please share your feedback, your input directly guides the evolution of the Android XR development experience.

We can't wait to experience what you build.