Is this proof that Samsung's XR headset is coming soon?
Google's Play Store is prepping for XR compatibility
by Britta O'Boyle · T3Quick Summary
A report has appeared suggesting Google's Play Store is preparing to showcase XR compatibility for apps and games.
The report comes from Android Authority, via Sammobile and it has led to the suggestion that Samsung and Google's XR device is on its way.
It's been over a year since we heard rumblings about Samsung working on an XR device. The South Korean company first mentioned its plans in February 2023, and back in August 2023, its mobile experience president TM Roh said the device was "not too far away".
That was followed by a few leaks of the apparent headset (though Samsung never confirmed if it was a headset or glasses it was working on), but that was as far as it went.
After that, the rumours died down and there were reports that while Samsung initially had plans to launch the XR device in 2024, it put them on pause to improve it following the arrival of Apple's Vision Pro. We are now well into 2024 – pretty much at the end really – and no headset has appeared as yet, nor glasses for that matter.
That could change soon however. A report appeared on Android Authority, picked up by Sammobile, that claimed version 43.3.32-31 of the Google Play Store app mentions code relating to XR headsets, potentially suggesting Google is preparing for the launch of Samsung's XR headset.
For apps and games that have not been optimised for XR headsets, a message will appear on the Play Store app saying "This XR headset isn't compatible with this app". There's an XR headset icon in the Google Play Store app too, further adding to the speculation things in the Android XR department are heating up.
Of course, the code doesn't prove Samsung is any closer to launching its XR device. But when it does, it is expected to use a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip - likely to be the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chip - and run an optimised version of Android.
For now, the device – or devices if Samsung is working on more than one XR experience with Google – are not official. But if the Play Store is starting to take into account XR headsets, that's surely a good sign of what's to come.
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