Google doesn’t sell headsets anymore — but its app store is getting ready for them

Are we about to see what’s up Google’s sleeve after its mysterious AR / VR deals with companies like Qualcomm and Samsung? Or might it finally bring its Google Play Store to Meta’s Quest like Meta once asked? Either way, Google seems to be prepping its Play Store for headsets, according to details discovered in app store code by Android Authority.

Screenshots published by the outlet show a small graphic representing a headset in the Play Store’s “Install on more devices menu,” while a bit of text appearing on an app listing elsewhere references an “XR headset” too:

Screenshot: Android Authority

Screenshot: Android Authority

None of this means Google would necessarily release its own headsets again — but despite having heavily trimmed its AR/ VR division, the company continues to make moves in the space. Those include the “micro XR” platform it’s building and wants to license to headset makers, partnerships for new Samsung mixed-reality smart glasses, and a mysterious Magic Leap deal. But there is also that unreleased Google AR glasses prototype that made a brief cameo during the company’s I/O conference earlier this year.

Or, it could be that Google just changed its mind about putting the Play Store on Meta Quest headsets. Meta pressed Google for that very thing earlier this year, months after one of its execs revealed that Google had declined to let Quest users download regular Android apps to the headset. Since then, Meta has announced it will offer 2D apps after all — but from its own app store, not Google’s.

Or maybe — just maybe — we’re about to see the return of Google Cardboard. Hey, a guy can dream, can’t he?