// 2026.05.23

Getting Started with Android XR — Develop Today, No Hardware Required

10:00 JST

The latest twist in the native-platform thread: Android XR. Hardware isn’t broadly shipping yet, but the SDK has reached Developer Preview 4 and the toolchain is solid enough to build and test today on the emulator. Here’s the practical setup.

▸ Dev Preview 4 announcement · developer.android.com/xr

Pick a form factor first — the API split matters

Android XR is two stacks under one brand. Make the call up front because it changes your target API, your Jetpack libraries, and your emulator AVD:

Immersive — VR headsets / wired XR glasses Augmented — audio & display glasses
Target API 36 34
UI toolkit Compose for XR + SceneCore Compose Glimmer + Projected
Spatial perception ARCore for Jetpack XR ARCore for Jetpack XR (limited)
Use cases Fully immersive scenes, spatial UI, glTF content Notification chips, status panels, audio HUD

Both share androidx.xr.runtime and ARCore, but the UI/runtime stack diverges. Don’t try to share one Gradle module across the two — pick the form factor your hackathon project targets and configure to that API level.

Local setup (no headset)

1 · Canary Android Studio. Use the latest Android Studio Canary. XR APIs land in Canary first; stable channels lag.

2 · Install the XR system image + create an AVD. Open SDK Manager, install the Android XR system image, then create an AVD using the official guides — they differ per form factor:

3 · Set SDK levels. Per the Jetpack XR SDK setup:

android {
  compileSdk = 36          // 34+ minimum; use 36 for VR/immersive
  defaultConfig {
    minSdk = 24
    targetSdk = 36         // glasses projects use 34
  }
}

4 · Add the right Jetpack XR dependencies.

Immersive (VR headsets / XR glasses, targetSdk 36):

dependencies {
  implementation("androidx.xr.runtime:runtime:1.0.0-alpha14")
  implementation("androidx.xr.scenecore:scenecore:1.0.0-alpha15")
  implementation("androidx.xr.compose:compose:1.0.0-alpha14")
  implementation("androidx.xr.compose.material3:material3:1.0.0-alpha17")
  implementation("androidx.xr.arcore:arcore:1.0.0-alpha14")
  // Code-minification support (Jetpack XR alpha05+) — MUST be compileOnly:
  compileOnly("com.android.extensions.xr:extensions-xr:1.3.0")
}

Augmented (audio / display glasses, targetSdk 34):

dependencies {
  implementation("androidx.xr.runtime:runtime:1.0.0-alpha14")
  implementation("androidx.xr.glimmer:glimmer:1.0.0-alpha12")
  implementation("androidx.xr.glimmer:glimmer-google-fonts:1.0.0-alpha12")
  implementation("androidx.xr.projected:projected:1.0.0-alpha07")
  implementation("androidx.xr.arcore:arcore:1.0.0-alpha13")
}

The docs explicitly say: pin these versions even if newer Jetpack libraries are available — they’re a coordinated set.

5 · Run a sample. Don’t start from scratch — open and modify one of the official examples:

What’s new in Dev Preview 4

  • XR Runtime, SceneCore, ARCore perception → Beta for immersive.
  • Native glTF in Compose for XR via SpatialGltfModel / SpatialGltfModelState — drop a 3D model directly into a Compose scene.
  • GltfModelNode for runtime model tweaks (pose, materials, textures, animations); experimental Custom Meshes for programmatic geometry.
  • Geospatial API preview for wired XR glasses — real-world anchoring across 87+ countries (similar in spirit to the MultiSet VPS work on Ray-Ban).
  • Device Availability API in Jetpack Projected — wear/connectivity as standard Lifecycle.State values, plus a ProjectedTestRule for automated tests.

Other engine routes

If Jetpack/Kotlin isn’t your stack, Android XR also supports Unity (with the Android XR Interaction Framework, AXRIF), Unreal, Godot, and OpenXR — start at the Android XR Engine Hub and follow your engine of choice. (No first-party WebXR/Chrome story yet — for WebXR today, our A-Frame article covers Quest 3, Vision Pro, and Spectacles.)

Hackathon notes

  • Hardware: consumer Android XR devices aren’t broadly shipping yet. For pre-release access, the Android XR Developer Catalyst program is the official channel.
  • Preview status: APIs are alpha and will move. Lock your dependency versions and don’t ship anything you can’t easily rebuild against a later preview.
  • Choose one form factor per project to keep your AVD, dependencies, and target API consistent.

Questions? Reach us via the Contact page.

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