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Jetpack SceneCore Gets a Second Release Candidate, and Every Fix in rc02 Targets Leaks or Races

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Google has pushed a SECOND release candidate of Jetpack SceneCore, the 3D scene-graph library at the CORE of native Android XR apps. Version 1.0.0-rc02 landed on October 7, 2026, and its changelog is almost ENTIRELY about one thing: MEMORY and CONTEXT LEAKS.

That matters because a release candidate is supposed to be the LAST stop before a stable 1.0. Google’s own SceneCore release notes now list rc02 as the latest update, with NO stable release yet and no beta or alpha track running alongside it.

What rc02 fixes

The release notes list FIVE bug fixes, and every one is about lifecycle hygiene rather than NEW features:

  • A potential MEMORY LEAK was removed by dropping a perceptionRuntimeCache in SessionExt; the runtime is now pulled directly from the Session.
  • A potential CONTEXT LEAK was closed by using applicationContext for OpenXR native handles, so the native runtime no longer holds an Activity.
  • RACE CONDITIONS in XrInstanceManager were addressed with proper synchronization and initialization locking.
  • ReferenceCleaner now supports de-registration, and Entity cleanup runs explicitly during dispose(), preventing DUPLICATE execution on garbage collection.
  • A second MEMORY LEAK in Scene was removed by dropping a sceneCache in favor of fetching the instance from sessionConnectors.

Why it reads like a stability pass

The first candidate, rc01 on September 9, added the scenecore-openxr library, REMOVED several deprecated APIs ahead of stable, and fixed a bug where an Activity reference could be RETAINED after it was destroyed. rc02 continues in the same direction: no new public surface, just tightening how SceneCore lets go of objects. Metaverse Watcher covered the move to release candidate in September.

The timeline shows how FAST the API settled this year. Beta01 arrived July 15 with BREAKING changes, including a suspend Session.create and the rename of AnchorEntity to AnchorSpace. Beta02 followed August 12, then rc01 four weeks later, then rc02 four weeks after that.

What developers should take from it

For teams building for Samsung Galaxy XR or the incoming wave of Android XR glasses, the practical read is SIMPLE: if you shipped on rc01, rc02 is a drop-in dependency bump (androidx.xr.scenecore:scenecore:1.0.0-rc02) that targets leaks you may already be seeing in long sessions. Google has NOT published a date for SceneCore 1.0 stable, and the release notes do not promise one. Treat any stable timing as UNCONFIRMED until it appears on the release page.

Source: Android Developers, Jetpack SceneCore release notes (last updated October 9, 2026).

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