Environment
- Device: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 (SM-F766U)
- Android: 16 (API 36), build BP2A.250605.031.A3.F766USQS8AZC3, security patch 2026-03-05
- ARCore version: 1.53.260340693 (auto-updated 2026-04-11)
- AR Foundation: 5.2.0 (Unity 2022.3.62f3)
Description
After ARCore auto-updated to version 1.53 on April 11, 2026, AR tracking is completely broken on this device. The same app with the same build worked perfectly for weeks prior to the update.
A standalone AR Mobile template APK built fresh from Unity also exhibits degraded tracking behavior, while the same template built with an older ARCore version worked fine.
Symptoms
- AR session oscillates rapidly between
SessionTracking and SessionInitializing (~5000+ transitions)
- Camera feed displays but world tracking never stabilizes
- No plane detection or point cloud generation
Root Cause from Logs
The IMU (accelerometer/gyroscope) buffer is consistently empty, preventing visual-inertial odometry:
W imu_state_integration.cc:221] IMU buffer is empty or has only one sample. Returns central state only.
Samsung's sensor HAL is rejecting acceleration data:
W VendorSensorActivity: [increaseErrorCount:166] skip the Acceleration data. ret -11
ARCore's sensor data source dispatches events in large stale batches instead of real-time:
I android_sensors.cc:321] [Live DS] Dispatched 925 gyro events
I android_sensors.cc:306] [Live DS] Dispatched 925 accel events
The motion stereo depth pipeline also fails downstream:
E motion_stereo_manager.cc:189
E motion_stereo_manager.cc:817
And IMU/feature measurement sync is broken:
E motion_tracking_context.cc:2703] INVALID_ARGUMENT: IMU and feature measurements are not synced
E feature_track_ml_depth_provider.cc:163
Reproduction
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 with Android 16 and ARCore 1.53
- Launch any AR Foundation app using world tracking
- Observe continuous SessionTracking ↔ SessionInitializing oscillation
- Check logcat for IMU buffer empty warnings
Expected Behavior
ARCore should properly initialize and read IMU sensor data for visual-inertial tracking, as it did with the previous ARCore version on this same device and OS.
Workaround
None found yet. Rebooting the device does not resolve the issue. The issue persists across both single-process and multi-process (android:process) configurations.
Environment
Description
After ARCore auto-updated to version 1.53 on April 11, 2026, AR tracking is completely broken on this device. The same app with the same build worked perfectly for weeks prior to the update.
A standalone AR Mobile template APK built fresh from Unity also exhibits degraded tracking behavior, while the same template built with an older ARCore version worked fine.
Symptoms
SessionTrackingandSessionInitializing(~5000+ transitions)Root Cause from Logs
The IMU (accelerometer/gyroscope) buffer is consistently empty, preventing visual-inertial odometry:
Samsung's sensor HAL is rejecting acceleration data:
ARCore's sensor data source dispatches events in large stale batches instead of real-time:
The motion stereo depth pipeline also fails downstream:
And IMU/feature measurement sync is broken:
Reproduction
Expected Behavior
ARCore should properly initialize and read IMU sensor data for visual-inertial tracking, as it did with the previous ARCore version on this same device and OS.
Workaround
None found yet. Rebooting the device does not resolve the issue. The issue persists across both single-process and multi-process (
android:process) configurations.