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Before publishing your app on the Google Play Store, you must decide whether
it's AR Required or AR Optional.
AR Required means that your app is not usable without AR, and makes your
app available only on devices that support ARCore.
AR Optional means that your app includes one or more AR features that
are activated only if the device supports ARCore, but the app can be
installed and run on devices that don't support ARCore.
This classification (whether an app is AR Required or AR Optional) affects the
user's Play Store experience in the following ways:
AR Required apps are not shown on unsupported devices.
When a user installs or updates an AR Required app, the Google Play Store
indicates that Google Play Services for AR is required, and automatically
either installs it if it's not installed or updates it if it's out of date.
When a user installs or updates an AR Optional app, Google Play Services for
AR is not automatically installed or updated. AR Optional apps must
implement two runtime checks:
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2024-10-31 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eYour app must meet ARCore's User Privacy Requirements before publishing on Google Play Store.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eApps can be classified as "AR Required" (AR essential for functionality) or "AR Optional" (AR features enhance but aren't necessary).\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAR Required apps are only visible on ARCore-supported devices and automatically install/update Google Play Services for AR.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAR Optional apps can run on any device but require runtime checks for ARCore support and Google Play Services for AR availability, prompting users to update or install if needed.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],["Apps integrating ARCore must be classified as either AR Required or AR Optional. AR Required apps are only available on ARCore-supported devices, and Google Play Services for AR is automatically installed/updated. AR Optional apps function on any device; however, they must check for ARCore support and the status of Google Play Services for AR at runtime, enabling features accordingly. All apps must comply with ARCore's user privacy requirements.\n"],null,["# Publish AR apps in the Google Play Store\n\n| **Key Point:** Your app must comply with ARCore's [User Privacy Requirements](/ar/develop/privacy-requirements).\n\nBefore publishing your app on the Google Play Store, you must decide whether\nit's **AR Required** or **AR Optional**.\n\n- **AR Required** means that your app is not usable without AR, and makes your\n app available only on [devices that support ARCore](/ar/discover/supported-devices).\n\n- **AR Optional** means that your app includes one or more AR features that\n are activated only if the device supports ARCore, but the app can be\n installed and run on devices that don't support ARCore.\n\nThis classification (whether an app is AR Required or AR Optional) affects the\nuser's Play Store experience in the following ways:\n\n- AR Required apps are not shown on unsupported devices.\n\n- When a user installs or updates an AR Required app, the Google Play Store\n indicates that Google Play Services for AR is required, and automatically\n either installs it if it's not installed or updates it if it's out of date.\n\n | **Note:** Because Google Play Services for AR may have been manually uninstalled or could be an old version, AR Required apps must still [check whether it is installed](/ar/develop/java/enable-arcore#check_installed) at runtime.\n- When a user installs or updates an AR Optional app, Google Play Services for\n AR is not automatically installed or updated. AR Optional apps must\n implement two runtime checks:\n\n - When launched, the app must [check whether the device supports ARCore](/ar/develop/java/enable-arcore#check_supported), and, if so, enable AR features in the app.\n - When the user launches a feature that uses AR, it must [check whether Google Play Services for AR is installed and up to date](/ar/develop/java/enable-arcore#check_installed), and, if not, prompt the user (shown below). \n\nNext steps\n----------\n\nLearn how to add ARCore functionality to your apps:\n\n- [Enable ARCore - Android Studio](/ar/develop/java/enable-arcore)\n- [Enable ARCore - ARCore Extensions for Unity](/ar/develop/unity-arf/enable-arcore)\n- [Enable ARCore - Unreal](/ar/develop/unreal/enable-arcore)\n- [Enable ARCore - Android NDK](/ar/develop/c/enable-arcore)\n- [Add user privacy notices](/ar/develop/privacy-requirements)"]]