Persistent Cloud Anchor sample struggles to reach Good/Excellent FeatureMapQuality on Unity 6 + AR Foundation 6, while Unity 2021 + AR Foundation 4 works consistently

[aniketinnovatelab004]

Hi ARCore team,

I'm experiencing a significant difference in Feature Map Quality estimation between the latest Unity/ARCore stack and an older, previously working stack.

The issue can be reproduced using the official Persistent Cloud Anchor sample included with ARCore Extensions. No modifications have been made to the sample project.

Environment

New Setup (Issue)

Unity: 6000.0.53f1
AR Foundation: 6.0.7
ARCore XR Plugin: 6.0.7
ARCore Extensions: 1.54.0
Sample: Official Persistent Cloud Anchor Sample
Device: OnePlus 9 Pro
Google Play Services for AR: Latest available from Play Store

Old Setup (Works Correctly)

Unity: 2021.3.33f1
AR Foundation: 4.2.9
ARCore XR Plugin: 4.2.9
ARCore Extensions: 1.44.0
Same OnePlus 9 Pro
Same physical environment
Same lighting conditions
Expected Behavior

The sample should detect sufficient visual features within a few seconds of moving around the target, allowing the anchor to reach Good/Excellent FeatureMapQuality and be hosted.

Actual Behavior

Using the latest Unity 6 setup:

FeatureMapQuality remains Insufficient for a very long time.
The indicator rarely (or never) reaches the state required for hosting.
Considerably more movement is required compared to the older version.
In many attempts, the sample never reaches a usable quality.

Using the older Unity 2021 setup:

FeatureMapQuality reaches Good/Excellent very quickly.
Hosting works consistently.
The behavior is smooth and reliable.
Reproduction Steps
Clone/open the official ARCore Extensions Persistent Cloud Anchor sample.
Build using Unity 6000.0.53f1 with AR Foundation 6.0.7, ARCore XR Plugin 6.0.7, and ARCore Extensions 1.54.0.
Run on a OnePlus 9 Pro.
Move around the same object/environment used for comparison.
Observe that FeatureMapQuality remains Insufficient for a long time.

Then compare with:

Build the official sample (or equivalent implementation) using Unity 2021.3.33f1, AR Foundation 4.2.9, ARCore XR Plugin 4.2.9, and ARCore Extensions 1.44.0.
Run on the same device, same environment, and same lighting.
FeatureMapQuality reaches Good/Excellent within a few seconds.
Additional Information
The issue is reproducible using the official sample without any custom code.
Multiple package combinations within the Unity 6 ecosystem were tested without improvement.
Since the comparison is performed on the same device and in the same environment, it appears that the feature map quality estimation behaves differently between the older and newer ARCore/AR Foundation stacks.

Has anyone else observed this behavior, or are there any known changes in FeatureMapQuality estimation between AR Foundation 4 and AR Foundation 6?

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[aniketinnovatelab004]

Hi @devbridie,

Is there any workaround or recommended configuration for this issue?

I've tried a few things, and one observation is that disabling AR Plane Detection while estimating FeatureMapQuality slightly improves tracking, but it is still nowhere near the performance I get with my older project.

I'm currently using:

Unity 6000.0.53f1
AR Foundation 6.0.7
ARCore XR Plugin 6.0.7
ARCore Extensions 1.54.0

For comparison, my older project (Unity 2021.3.33f1 + AR Foundation 4.2.9 + ARCore Extensions 1.44.0) detects Good/Excellent FeatureMapQuality within a few seconds in the same environment and on the same device.

With the latest versions, it takes significantly longer to reach Good/Excellent, and in many cases it remains Insufficient despite scanning the area thoroughly.

Are there any recommended settings, best practices, or changes in the latest AR Foundation/ARCore versions that could improve feature detection or Cloud Anchor tracking?