Arcore-android-sdk: why Does not support samsung s8 (SM-G9500) ?

[zansbang]

please add support!

[inio]

Two reasons really:

1. We don't have a method for distributing ARCore in China right now (where the G950O is sold)
2. We were unable to acquire enough of these devices to build a calibration

[inio]

Duplicate of #89

[geverk]

@inio g9500 is sold in Hong Kong, where google play is fully legal
g9508 that in fact have arcore support is sold in China mainland where google play is ban

[inio]

@geverk Would you mind checking the build fingerprint of the Hong Kong-purchased g9500? adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint?

[geverk]

@inio this is the result of the fingerprint check: samsung/dreamqltezh/dreamqltechn:7.0/NRD90M/G9500ZHU2AQL2:user/release-keys

hope its useful

[inio]

Based on that build fingerprint, the OS on this device appears to be for a Chinese model. As with many other Android devices intended for China, the OS on this phone includes an extra restriction on background apps that prevents ARCore from operating properly (the device calibration database cannot be started). Because of this we cannot enable this device at this time, even though it can access the Play Store.

[geverk]

Sad to read that my Hon Kong phone is limited by China... but thanks for the information

Any case I'm surprised because the SM-G9508, model for China is in the list of supported devices.
http://www.teamandroid.com/2017/04/13/samsung-galaxy-s8-model-numbers-variants/

[inio]

@geverk That is odd! I'll ask why we have that as listed, as it almost certainly doesn't work well (you likely need to restart the phone or reinstall ARCore after each use).

[geverk]

Good to know! I was about to buy it... Thanks

[inio]

I'll update this issue once I have a conclusive answer on the SM-G9508. Working on acquiring one to double check my suspicions.

[inio]

Sorry - bad news: The listing of SM-G9508 was an error. It has been fixed.

[fahad86]

Is it the same case for S8 Plus SM-G9550 Hong Kong Variant. Running Oreo 8.0.0
Fingerprint: samsung/dream2qltezh/dream2qltechn:8.0.0/R16NW/G9550ZHU2CRD4:user/release-keys
??

FYI, the variant in China gets different firmwares as compared to HK variant. You can see this for reference: https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s8-plus/SM-G9550/

Also legally Hong Kong is highly likely NOT bound by any restriction as is the case with China.

[fahad86]

FYI, though HK maybe small a lot of mobile gaming revenue comes from HK. And a lot of users use Samsung devices. So it's better that at least the HK variants are included :D
https://newzoo.com/insights/rankings/top-100-countries-by-game-revenues/

[inio]

@fahad86 We would love to support these devices (no extra calibration work needed), but unfortunately the operating system on Samsung *0 and *8 models has a restriction on background processes that breaks ARCore. It will work the first time, but after the background process is killed by the OS for inactivity it cannot be re-launched and new ARCore sessions cannot be created until the device is restarted or ARCore is reinstalled.

[fahad86]

@inio I hate samsung for having such a fragmented ecosystem. Thanks for the info!

[inio]

@fahad86 I will double check and see if I can get one of the HK roms flashed onto our G9500 and see if it has the background process rule, but I don't have high hopes.

[fahad86]

@inio Thanks! That would be great.
FYI, hope this helps: https://www.sammobile.com/forum/threads/31245-S7-edge-G9350-china-to-hongkong/page3

[inio]

@fahad86 Maybe. One thing that would definitely help is knowing the exact build fingerprint of a HK rom. adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint should display it.

[fahad86]

@inio already in my previous comment but here again :D :
samsung/dream2qltezh/dream2qltechn:8.0.0/R16NW/G9550ZHU2CRD4:user/release-keys

FYI, The OTA update for Oreo 8.0.0 got released only today. So the latest firmware is not available in https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s8-plus/SM-G9550/ yet. But I assume it will be available in a day or 2.

[fahad86]

@inio Oreo (HK) update file is out for your G9500:
https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s8-plus/SM-G9500/
Do let me know if you have any success (or otherwise).

[geverk]

@fahad86 the most interesting about that is that in fact there is sm-g9500 for china and a different version for HK, my Hk testing phone seems to have the Chinese version of the firmware

[fahad86]

@geverk from your fingerprint, looks like you are running the HK version of the firmware as it has the letters ZH in it (G9500ZHU2AQL2). Which means you should have Google Play in it, which is not the case for the mainland China version)
https://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/galaxy-s8-plus/SM-G9500/

[geverk]

yes, that is right, the build number use the HK version but the phone baseband version use the G9500ZCU2AQL2, china version...

[inio]

@geverk I'm now doubting my quick assessment that your device had China firmware. I'm working with Samsung to figure out how to identify China vs. Hong Kong firmware for the G9500 and test ARCore with firmware that is definitely Hong Kong firmware.

[geverk]

@inio thanks a lot for that! (I can't imagine what a pain should be working with all that fragmentation) I have already test our project in a friends corean phone and arcore is really great! I love the light estimation!

[inio]

@geverk @fahad86 The just-released ARCore 1.2 APK includes calibration data for the SM-G9500. This device is not fully-supported (ARCore and apps will not be available from the Play Store), but with Hong Kong firmware it may be used for development. Note: ARCore may not function properly with Chinese firmware.

[inio]

(whoops, hit the wrong button earlier)

[fahad86]

includes SM-G9550 (S8+) as well?

[inio]

@fahad86 Maybe. Being able to even turn on the S8 G9500 showed up VERY late in the release cycle and was a last-minute change. I'm not sure if we did the S8+ G9550 at the same time.

[geverk]

@inio seems that the progression of sported devices is growing fast! I have seen also that some Chinese devices have support now for all the models, like Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S or Huawei P20 Pro. So that mean that the problem with Samsung firmware block in China is not a legal limitation that will block arcore to come China? and as consequence of that we will see more devices in the future compatibles for China mainland? Thanks again for your help!

[inio]

@geverk There is a small technical issue that prevents ARCore from working on many devices distributed in China. This is not a restriction on ARCore itself, just a side effect of the way ARCore works.

[kkirov00]

I am with the HK Note 8 (SM -N9500). Have absolutely the same issue. First of all the ARCore is not available on Play Store, then many apps as well. So what I did was downloaded the ARCore from 3rd party app store and installed it. The available apps in Play Store worked perfectly fine. The ones that were not available I used the same procedure as with ARCore itself --> 3rd party app store and install. They also work. First I was on ARCore 1.1, now updated on 1.2.
Never had problems with the need to restart the device or reinstall the ARCore app.
Don't know what the real issue is, but it is definitely not hardware based.

[inio]

We may be able to fix this at least in some cases with 1.3. Stay tuned.

[fahad86]

@inio would be good if 1.3 would be made available for us in the Play Store

[inio]

@fahad86 That's the hope. Right not we're just making sure there's no issues this could cause, since we can't enable it for just the non-China devices.

[hy-l]

@inio
Hello,
You mentioned that the Chinese S8 has auto-killing feature, but I think it can be turned off easily by turning on 'auto run' in the Smart Manager for the specific apps. Doing so the system won't terminate any process of the app. At least this made 'Termux:API' work for me, which would be killed just like you said. But after enabled auto run, there are no any problems at all.
So could you please do some confirmations on this? Thank you.

[inio]

ARCore 1.3 (released yesterday) May now work on some Chinese variants of supported devices.

[hy-l]

Yeah, I just saw it after posting the message. :)
I've installed it as a side-load app, then downloaded and installed Google Measure (apk) from a third-party source. Measure is now working without a single issue, even without turning on auto-run for ARCore. So I can confirm that it does work on my SM-G9500 (china mainland variant, nougat system), and the system hasn't killed it yet so far.

[inio]

Woohoo!

It actually accommodates the background process not existing now, so the system killing it doesn't cause problems. You may still occasionally get messages about ARCore quitting, but they shouldn't cause problems in apps.