Just A Line Lets You Draw On The Real World With Your Phone

Google is no stranger to phone-based augmented reality. But while it was there on the scene years before Apple put out its ARKit, Google didn't make the best use of its lead. It's trying to catch up with ARCore, but the limited number of supported devices, not to mention apps, isn't exactly making it an easy sell. Then comes Just a Line, still labeled as an AR Experiment. Simple in idea and execution, it has the potential to become an addictive example of AR on your phone. Provided it becomes even more widely available.Just a Line isn't going to win any awards in the paint app category. You only have one color and one line width. It's basically the digital equivalent of a white chalk you can draw with on almost anything. Except better, because this one doesn't leave a mess and even lets you draw in mid-air.

The concept behind Just a Line is simple. Just draw on your phone with your finger. The magic happens when you move your phone away. The marks stay, as if magically suspended in the air. And they stay that way no matter which way you move.

Of course, no one will be able to see your magical creations except through your phone and only as long as you're running the app. Fortunately, the app does allow you to record a short video clip demonstrating your mad AR art skills.

It's simple and fun and as potentially addictive as Motion Stills. The only problem now is that the number of devices supports ARCore is extremely low, and even then it might be a hit or miss (reported to crash on certain Galaxy Note 8 models). If you're looking for a slightly better AR painting app, with none of the recording functionality, you can also try PaintAR, which has a similar concept but more colors to play with. But yes, that also requires ARCore.