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Google’s new Android XR tools let developers test apps without needing to buy expensive smart glasses

Google has also added new Android CLI tools to help AI coding agents test apps and catch performance issues.

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Gentle Moster smart glasses powered by Android XR
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At the 2026 Android Dev Summit, Google has announced some interesting features coming to both Android XR and Android CLI. Developers can now build and test apps for smart glasses without owning the hardware, while Android’s command-line tools are getting upgrades that help AI coding agents test applications and identify performance problems. Both announcements could eventually mean better apps for both Android and extended reality hardware users.

Building Android XR apps without owning smart glasses

Buying expensive hardware just to test whether an app works on it isn’t practical for every developer. Now, Google’s Android XR emulators in Android Studio are stable, letting developers simulate different types of smart glasses directly from their computers.

Google Audio glasses,
Google

The core Jetpack XR SDK libraries are also stable, giving developers production-ready tools to build applications. Google also added Geospatial APIs, which let developers anchor digital objects to real-world locations, such as placing navigation markers at street corners or displaying landmark information through AR glasses.

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Developers working with Unity, Godot, and Unreal also get a stable Android XR Engine Hub to help analyze performance. Google announced the XREAL AURA alongside these updates, calling it the first wired XR glasses powered by Android XR.

Android CLI gets new AI tools for testing and fixing apps

Android Studio interface showing a coding agent selection menu with Claude Agent, OpenAI Codex, Google Antigravity, and the built-in agent.
Google

Google has also upgraded Android CLI, its command-line development tools, to let AI coding agents do more than generate code. For starters, agents can now remotely test apps on real Android devices through Android Device Streaming. They can also generate Jetpack Compose previews to check how an app looks without launching an emulator or installing it.

There are tools for identifying slow app launches, stuttering animations, and unnecessary background activity. Google has also added app quality checks and over 30 Android skills covering areas such as security, widgets, and performance optimization. Devs who rely on AI coding agents will like this addition, while those who code the traditional way get more tools to catch problems before shipping.

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Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam
Sudhanshu Kumar Mangalam
Contributor
Sudhanshu Kumar Manglam is a tech journalist at Digital Trends, where he covers consumer technology, science, and games.
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