ARCore SDKs for Unity migration guide

ARCore provides two different SDKs for using Unity to develop AR apps for Android.

AR Foundation with ARCore XR Plugin, and ARCore Extensions — Recommended for all new projects

ARCore Extensions (installation instructions) is a package that provides additional ARCore functionality that can be used with AR Foundation (installation instructions). When targeting Android, AR Foundation requires ARCore XR Plugin.
[deprecated] ARCore SDK for Unity — Not compatible with AR Foundation

ARCore SDK for Unity is a standalone SDK that lets you use ARCore's features when targeting Android. It is provided as a standalone *.unitypackage, available from the Downloads page. The ARCore SDK for Unity is not compatible with AR Foundation.

Caution: The ARCore SDK for Unity is deprecated, and no longer supported in Unity 2020 and later. This SDK should only be used by developers working on existing projects which are unable to migrate to Unity's AR Foundation.
Key Point: Developers starting new projects should instead use the ARCore Extensions for AR Foundation with Unity.

Available features by development platform

ARCore feature	AR Foundation with ARCore Extensions (Recommended for all new projects)	ARCore SDK for Unity (Not compatible with AR Foundation)
Supported Unity versions	Unity 2019.4.3f1 or later	Unity from 2017.4.40 to 2020
Unity XR support	Install the AR Foundation and ARCore XR Plugin packages, and enable ARCore plug-in provider under Project Settings > XR Plug-in Management (Android)	Project Settings (Android) > XR Settings > ARCore Supported
GitHub repo(s) (SDK / samples)	`google-ar/arcore-unity-extensions` `Unity-Technologies/arfoundation-samples`	`google-ar/arcore-unity-sdk`
In-editor development workflow	AR Remoting & Simulation	Instant Preview
Pause the AR Session	Disable the `ARSession` game object	Disable the ARCore Device game object, which in turns disables the child ARCoreSession component
Detect tracking issues	Use `notTrackingReason` provided by `ARSession` and returning a `NotTrackingReason`	Use `LostTrackingReason`
Select camera config	See Configuring the camera for ARCore Extensions	See Configuring the camera for ARCore SDK for Unity
Plane finding	Use Plane Detection provided by `ARPlaneManager`	✓
Local anchors	Use Anchors provided by `ARAnchorManager`	✓
Cloud Anchors	Provided by ARCore Extensions	See Cloud Anchors
Basic light estimation	Use Ambient Intensity Light Estimation mode provided by `ARCameraManager`	See Light Estimation
Environmental HDR light estimation	Automatically enabled when a compatible camera config is selected and one or more Environmental HDR settings are selected: Ambient Spherical Harmonics, Main Light Direction, Main Light Intensity in the Light Estimation mode provided by `ARCameraManager` Environmental Probes are enabled in an `AREnvironmentProbeManager`	See Light Estimation
Augmented Images	Use (2D) Image Tracking provided by `ARTrackedImageManager`	See Augmented Images
Augmented Faces	Use Face Tracking provided by `ARFaceManager`	See Augmented Faces
Depth API	Use `AROcclusionManager` to enable Automatic Occlusion in AR Foundation `4.1.0-preview.2` or later with ARCore XR Plugin `4.1.0-preview.2` or later	See Depth API
Raycasting	Use Raycasting provided by `ARRaycastManager`	✓
Feature points	Use Point Clouds provided by `ARPointCloudMaganer`	✓
AR camera image access	Use Pass-through video provided by `ARCameraBackground`	✓
CPU image access	Provided by AR Foundation	✓
GPU texture access	Accessible as external Texture2Ds.	✓
Multithreaded rendering	Supported in Android Player Settings in AR Foundation	✓

Next steps

To get started using AR Foundation with ARCore Extensions, see:
- Quickstart for ARCore Extensions for Android
- Quickstart for ARCore Extensions for iOS
To get started using the ARCore SDK for Unity, see:
- Quickstart for ARCore SDK for Android