Are project tango apps backwards compatible with ARcore enable android devices?

Question

I noticed that Google seemed to replace their project Tango initiative with something called ARcore and I was wondering if ARcore enabled devices could also work with apps that were originally intended to work with project Tango devices.

Answer 1

No, due to the fact that Tango apps can only be used on Tango enabled devices with depth sensors.

Answer 2

This is a good question and no answer so far, the ARCore is a new framework so it will not work out of the box. But we still don't know if the ARCore will enable Smartphones with hardware capabilities like an TOF-Camera to function in a proper way.

Technically it would be good if we still could use the provided features of tango with the Zenfone AR or Lenovo Phab 2 Pro.

Answer 3

ARCore is the successor to Google’s Project Tango, which was unveiled in 2014. However, only two devices with Project Tango were made available to consumers – the Lenovo Phab 2 Pro and the Asus Zenfone AR. ARCore on the other hand, doesn’t need additional Depth sensor in order to work with Augmented Reality. As a result, ARCore can be compatible with much more devices.

Project Tango apps are potentially backwards compatible with ARCore supported devices. But this is impossible due to main condition: all these devices will need to have at least Android 7.0/Android 8.0 in order for ARCore 1.8 to work.

The latest version of the ARCore app is now compatible with more than 40 devices. And older Android OSs are useless for these smartphones' brand-new features. So, at this time, Project Tango apps are not backwards compatible with ARCore supported devices because there's no need for this.