How to install ARCore on Android Studio emulators to test SceneForms Sample application?

Question

Problem: I'm attempting to run the SceneForms sample applications on the Android Studio Emulator SceneForms Samples Link. This requires the Latest ARCore application which must be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

• Attempt 1: The latest emulator image that Android Studio has with Google Play Store is the Google Nexus 5X. Unfortunately I recieve a This device isn't compatible when trying to install. Nexus 5X unable to install ARCore

• Attempt 2: None of the Pixel 2 images have Google Play Store.

• Attempt 3: I attempt to grab ARCore latest apk from here and install on the device but the emulator won't allow me to install. https://github.com/google-ar/arcore-android-sdk/releases

Could anyone else attempt to run this sample application on an emulator and give me advice? I doubt this is a hardware issue as I have good GPU and CPU (R9 290/i7 4790k)

Answer 1

Make sure your emulator is configured to use the latest version of OpenGL ES:

Click More in the running emulator's toolbar. Select Settings > Advanced > OpenGL ES API level > Renderer maximum (up to OpenGL ES 3.1). Restart the emulator. When prompted, do not save the current state.

After restarting the emulator, briefly interact with the emulated deivce, then check whether OpenGL ES 3.0 or higher is being used by grepping the device logs:

adb logcat | grep eglMakeCurrent

If you see ver 3 0 or higher version, then you can run Sceneform apps in the emulator:

… …  …  … D EGL_emulation: eglMakeCurrent: 0xebe63540: ver 3 0 (tinfo 0xd104cb40)

If you see a lower version, then your desktop GPU does not support OpenGL ES 3.0 and you must instead use a physical supported device

For example, MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2015) support OpenGL 2 only