The Google Camera app on Pixel devices is home to a bunch of cool features, including Playground AR stickers that let you add animated augmented reality stickers to your photos and videos. Google introduced AR stickers to its Pixel lineup all the way back in 2017 and, since then, all Pixel devices have had the feature in the camera app. However, the company's latest smartphone, the Pixel 4a, doesn't include the Playground mode in the camera app. According to a recent report from 9to5Google, Google has confirmed that the absence of Playground mode on the Pixel 4a is intended and that the company plans to drop the feature from future Pixel devices.

In a statement to the publication, Google said, "We're continuing to bring ARCore and its latest features to Pixel 4a and the many other ARCore-enabled devices. Playground will still be supported on earlier Pixel devices and we'll focus our efforts on building great AR experience that serve a much wider audience." While the Playground mode will be available on older Pixel devices, the number of available sticker packs has dropped down considerably. The publication reveals that most of the noteworthy sticker packs from Marvel, Star Wars, Stranger Things, Detective Pikachu, and more are no longer available on the Play Store, and users are just left with the Google sticker packs.

For the unaware, the Playground AR stickers in the Google Camera app on Pixel devices lets you spice up your photos and videos with animated "Playmoji". The mode brings up a separate interface on the app which features a sticker button that brings up a list of available sticker packs. The company offers a wide variety of Playmoji for the feature and it also offers 2D stickers and floating signs with custom messages that you can easily add to your images.


Via: 9to5Google