But the “Android XR” that runs on headsets is not the “Android XR” that runs on smart glasses. Hugh Langley of Business Insider first coined the name Android XR in January 2010 – 18 months prior to Google’s official announcement. Google called the operating systems for headsets and glasses, respectively, “Android XR” according to that report. Samsung’s device is an “Android XR headset”, while the prototype smart glasses with a small HUD it showed at
and
were “Android XR glasses”.first reportedThis is both confusing and misleading. Because in reality, these are two completely different software platforms.
The Android XR that runs on headsets is an extension of the Android experience you have on your phone or tablet, fully standalone, with access to the Play Store and a full-fledged developer SDK.in DecemberThe Android XR that runs on smart glasses, on the other hand, is a highly cut-down version of Android that Google has not announced any SDK or platform for, where your phone handles a lot of the computing, similar to the Ray-Ban Meta glasses.TEDSure, these two platforms both have the same I/O at the core, and yes you’ll find some of the same Google services on both. But the similarities end there.
Imagine if Apple had presented the Apple Watch as running “iOS”, or if Meta described the Ray-Ban Meta glasses as running Horizon OS. This is the same as Google describing the smart glasses running Android XR. Essentially, I suspect the company is intentionally trying to present its headsets and glasses work under one hype banner, rather than disclosing the distinction between these two platforms.
You could argue that the words “headset” and “glasses” will make the difference obvious for consumers. The distinction between the two categories of devices became more blurred after the release of
. Aura is designed to resemble sunglasses from certain angles, but powered by a tethered compute puck running the
headsetAOSP version of Android XR.
This means that there are two completely different meanings of “Android XR glasses”. Android XR is the type of glasses that Ray-Ban Meta will be competing with, while Android XR are the glasses that
or
Xreal Project Aura Supports Android XR Via Tethered Puck
Xreal’s Project Aura will support Google’s Android XR via a tethered compute puck with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip.
are going to compete against in their next headsets. This will obviously lead to confusion.Xreal’s Project AuraWhen a developer releases an interesting app “for Android XR”, will consumers with no understanding of the difference between “Android XR glasses” and Xreal Aura understand that buying glasses won’t give them access to said app? Are all developers aware that Android XR applications they may build won’t run on simple smart glasses? As a subscriber to UploadVR, you might think these differences are obvious. The solution is to name the smart glass operating system differently. Google can repurpose its “Glass OS” brand name for Glass or give it a new name, such as “Glasses OS”, similar to what it has called Wear OS, the platform for smart watches. Google has not been very clear about its positioning, but I think that’s because of their messaging.