This week Amazon announced it has started to make available an augmented reality (AR) feature in the Amazon shopping app. AR View, as it is called, allows Amazon shoppers to make use of AR to essentially test-run how a product might look in a certain place before buying the product. This feature has been live for owners of iOS devices since November of last year and so this update sees Android devices finally catching up.
What is likely to be the main reason Android phone owners have had to wait until now to make sure of the feature is its dependence on Google’s ARCore service. As the first proper version of the ARCore app was only released by Google within the last few days, paving the way for third-party companies (such as Amazon in this instance) to release features that make use of ARCore. This of course, does mean that you will have to have the ARCore app installed on your device as well as the Amazon shopping app. This also does mean that not all Android devices will be able to make use of the new feature. As while Google’s grander ambition for ARCore is to be compatible with as many phones as possible, only thirteen models right now are supported. These include the Google Pixel and XL (both generations), Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8, the Galaxy S8 line, the Galaxy S7 line, LG’s V30 line, the ASUS ZenFone AR, and the OnePlus 5.
Providing all the prerequisites are met, and both the Amazon shopping app and the ARCore app are installed, making use of the feature is simple. Just open the Amazon app and click on the camera icon in the top right corner. From here, swipe up where it says “See more” and then choose the “AR View” option. At which point an expandable list will be available for the user to select products from. Then it is just a matter of choosing the product, aiming the camera at the location you would like to see the product placed, and that’s it. While the entire Amazon catalog is not currently supported, the company states 15,000 popular home furnishing products are.