I’ve been looking into getting a phone for some casual 3D room scanning and camera motion tracking for VFX/projects, and it’s honestly kind of crazy that if you want actual 3D depth hardware, you basically have to buy an iPhone Pro.

I know a few years ago some Android flagships (like the Galaxy S20 Ultra or Note 20) used to have ToF (Time of Flight) sensors, but it seems like every single Android OEM completely phased them out. Now, everything relies on Google ARCore and pure software/AI depth tracking.

For standard photography, the AI and laser autofocus work totally fine. But for actual spatial tracking and AR apps, pure software still feels a bit janky and prone to drifting/glitching compared to dedicated hardware.

Do you think any Android company will ever bring back proper 3D depth sensors to the rear cameras, or is the industry totally settled on letting software handle it all? If you're doing any 3D scanning or motion tracking on Android right now, what's your current setup or workaround?

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Note 1. You can search for previous weekly Sunday threads

Note 2. Join our IRC and Telegram chat-rooms! Please see our wiki for instructions.

This weekly Sunday thread is for you to let off some steam and speak out about whatever complaint you might have about:

• Your device.

• Your carrier.

• Your device's manufacturer.

• An app

• Any other company

---

Rules

1. Please do not target any individuals or try to name/shame any individual. If you hate Google/Samsung/OnePlus etc. for one thing that is fine, but do not be rude to an individual app developer.

2. If you have a suggestion to solve another user's issue, please leave a comment but be sure it's constructive! We do not want any flame-wars.

3. Be respectful of other's opinions. Even if you feel that somebody is "wrong" you don't have to go out of your way to prove them wrong. Disagree politely, and move on.

https://preview.redd.it/vpz1txwa1kah1.png?width=1536&format=png&auto=webp&s=f52f5075d2c090cbd78ea5cbbe278bdea33d60f3

Hi folks, I’ve been building Pi SD Writer, an Android app focused on one workflow: preparing and flashing SD images for Raspberry Pi/SBC devices directly from a smartphone.

The goal is to remove the laptop/desktop requirement and keep the process reliable even on mobile hardware.

What it does

• Select image source from:
  • Google Drive
  • Local file storage
  • GitLab Releases (Premium)
  • GitHub Releases (Premium)
  • Raspberry OS catalog
• Supports common formats:
  • .img
  • .img.gz
  • .img.xz
  • .iso
  • .zip
• Writes directly to microSD over USB OTG.
• Uses streaming/chunked transfer to reduce peak RAM usage during write operations.
• Includes guided 3-step flow:
  • Source selection
  • USB/device validation
  • Write progress + live log output

Technical approach (high level)

• Cloud/release sources are validated before selection so users get a list of valid image assets first.
• Write path is designed around block/chunk streaming rather than loading full images in memory.
• UI exposes progress state, ETA area, and live diagnostic logs for visibility during long writes.
• Connectivity-sensitive sources (Drive/GitLab/GitHub/Raspberry OS) are disabled when offline.
• Google auth is used for account/session features and plan management.
• Base plan has a monthly write quota; Premium unlocks unlimited writes and extra repository integrations.

Why I built it

The existing SD flashing flow is still desktop-first. I wanted a phone-first workflow that is practical when traveling or when you only have Android + OTG adapter + SD reader.

Known constraints

• OTG hardware quality matters (reader/cable stability can affect results).
• For network-backed sources, internet connectivity must remain stable during transfer.
• UX and recovery paths for interrupted writes are still being improved.

Feedback I’m looking for

1. Which source integration matters most to you (Drive/local/GitLab/GitHub/Raspberry OS)?
2. Would you prefer stricter pre-write validation (slower, safer) or faster start?
3. What diagnostics are most useful in the live log when a write fails?
4. Any must-have feature before wider release?

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.magix.sdcardimager

Thank you!

Note 1. You can search for previous daily threads.

Note 2. Join our IRC and Telegram chat-rooms! Please see our wiki for instructions.

Please post your questions here. Feel free to use this thread for general questions/discussion as well.

You might have noticed that over the past few weeks I've been sharing quite a few articles about F-Droid, open-source Android, and privacy-respecting apps. Part of that has been to highlight some genuinely great games and applications available through F-Droid, IzzyOnDroid and similar repositories, but also to tell the stories of the developers behind them. At the same time, I want to shine a light on the changes Google is making to Android that could make life significantly harder for independent developers and users who choose to install apps outside the Play Store.

https://keepandroidopen.org/

I've just published my latest developer interview, this time sitting down with PranshulGG, the creator of the open-source Android weather app WeatherMaster.

This is actually PranshulGG's first ever interview, and we talk about everything from how WeatherMaster came to be, why he chose to make it open source, the role of repositories like F-Droid and IzzyOnDroid, and his thoughts on Google's upcoming changes that could make life more difficult for independent Android developers and alternative app stores. If you're interested in open-source Android, privacy-respecting apps, or the future of software outside the Play Store, I hope you'll find it an interesting read :)

https://lineageos.org/Developer-Verification/

TL;DR: This doesn't affect LineageOS much, if at all, but the cause is supported!