Android XR

Given how personal and expressive glasses can be, it’s important that they are available in a wide variety of styles. Google’s upcoming Android XR glasses will eventually have designs from Gucci. 

Google is rolling out a new Android XR update that brings quality-of-life improvements to the Galaxy XR and new apps.

As per usual, Google is at MWC 2026 in Barcelona this week with its Android Avenue setup, including a host of adorable little Android figures all over the place, building an Android sign, as well as preparing for your chance to take Google’s Android XR glasses for a spin.

Google Design has an interesting article this week about “Designing for Transparent Screens” and the work that went into Jetpack Compose Glimmer, Android XR’s design system for Display AI Glasses.

Android XR glasses are coming in 2026. Here’s what you can expect from the user interface and experience. 

During Samsung’s Q4 2025 earnings call this week, the company took some time to hint at new products coming to stores in 2026, including AR glasses and a fresh lineup of foldables.

It should come as no surprise that Google is hard at work behind the scenes on the software for Android XR glasses, but a new companion app has now surfaced in the latest Android Canary builds to show off some of that work in action.

Smart glasses have been the tech dream we’ve been chasing for years now, and the technology is finally getting there. Better displays, improved hardware, and an ever-growing list of platforms for smart glasses were on full showcase at CES 2026, but I can’t help but look at them with a mind to what’s coming next.

At CES 2026, XREAL has announced a new partnership with Google that will see Android XR act as the foundation of the company’s future hardware plans.

In recent years, Google TV has been the company’s focus at the Consumer Electronics Show. That remains the case at CES 2026, but Google is also using the Las Vegas conference to promote Android XR.

During my hands-on with Android XR glasses last month, I kept returning to the digital clock that was displayed over the real world. Professionally, I have been waiting over a decade for Google to re-enter the smart glasses space, and everything is lining up for this to happen in 2026.

Meta has confirmed that its plans to bring Horizon OS, the software on Quest headsets, to third-party devices have been paused, which is probably great news for Android XR.

Welcome to episode 81 of Pixelated, a podcast by 9to5Google. This week, Abner shares his experience with trying out some early samples of glasses running on Google’s Android XR platform with Will and Damien. After a surprisingly impressive demo, is it time to start getting excited for the return of Google Glass-esque technology? The trio also dips into some new changes coming to Wear OS and take a quick look at the first One UI 8.5 beta, if only to ask: what’s up with the iOS-ification of Android?

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After launching in October, Google is rolling out a suite of new Android XR features for Samsung’s Galaxy XR, led by PC Connect.

After demoing Android XR glasses for the first time in December 2024, my takeaway was that rumors about how Google was behind in augmented reality were greatly exaggerated, if not outright wrong. A year later, Google is on the verge of releasing “AI glasses” with a display in 2026 and they fully realize the vision of Google Glass.

Last December, Android XR was officially announced. Google is now following that up with a “future of Android XR” livestream on December 8.

Welcome to The Sideload episode 11, a 9to5Google podcast. This week, Will is joined by Nick Sutrich, Senior Content Producer at Android Central, to discuss everything VR, AR, and whatever lies in between. This isn’t just a conversation surrounding the launch of Galaxy XR and the Android XR platform — together, Nick and Will walk through the entire XR landscape, ranging from the ongoing dominance of Meta Quest to the failure of PSVR2, and, of course, a look at the smart glasses that could shape our future.

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