useCapabilities

Source: packages/sdk/src/hardware/useCapabilities.ts

The first hook to call: it answers “does this device have that?” so an interface can hide what the phone cannot do instead of showing a control that will fail. Capabilities resolve from the model table, then upgrade to device-verified PackageManager feature flags when the PixelNative module is present. Memoised for the app lifetime. It reads expo-device and, when available, the native module; the result is computed once and reused.

Signature

function useCapabilities(): DeviceCapabilities;

Outputs

Field	Type	Description
modelName	string	Marketing model name, e.g. "Pixel 11 Pro".
isPhysicalDevice	boolean	false on an emulator or on web, where hardware claims cannot be trusted.
isPixel	boolean	Whether this is any Google Pixel.
pixelGeneration	number | null	Generation number, 11 for the Pixel 11 Pro. null when unknown.
isProModel	boolean	Pro, Pro XL or Pro Fold — the models with the Pro-exclusive hardware.
isFoldable	boolean	Any foldable Pixel.
androidApiLevel	number | null	API level: 36 = Android 16, 37 = Android 17. null on web.
hasHiLight	boolean	Whether the HiLight LED array exists (Pixel 11 Pro family).
hasUWB	boolean	Whether a UWB radio exists.
hasTitanM3	boolean	Whether the Titan M3 security chip is expected, per Google’s specification. It is not readable from the device.
geminiNanoTier	GeminiNanoTier	Which Nano tier AICore is expected to serve. useGeminiNano().status remains the runtime truth.
supportsRangingApi	boolean	Android 16+ unified RangingManager (UWB, BLE Channel Sounding, Wi-Fi RTT).
supportsHapticEnvelopes	boolean	Android 16+ VibrationEffect.BasicEnvelopeBuilder.
supportsAppFunctions	boolean	Android 16+ App Functions, which expose app capabilities to agents.
supportsAndroid17Apis	boolean	Android 17+ AdvancedProtectionManager, ML-DSA keys, Handoff, contacts picker.
verification	'device' | 'model-table'	Whether the flags below were confirmed with PackageManager.hasSystemFeature, or inferred from the model name alone. Treat 'model-table' as a hint.
hasNFC	boolean | null	Device-verified NFC feature flag. null when not verified.
hasBleChannelSounding	boolean | null	Device-verified BLE Channel Sounding support.
hasWifiRtt	boolean | null	Device-verified Wi-Fi RTT (802.11mc) support.
hasSatelliteTelephony	boolean | null	Device-verified satellite messaging support.
hasStrongBox	boolean | null	Device-verified StrongBox Keymaster, which is what makes useSecurity hardware-backed.
hasNpuFeature	boolean | null	Device-verified android.hardware.neural_processing_unit flag.
aicoreVersion	string | null	AICore version name when installed.

Functions

useCapabilities() returns no callables; it is a resolved fact set.

Example

const caps = useCapabilities();
if (!caps.hasHiLight) return null; // do not offer the control at all
if (caps.verification === 'device' && caps.hasUWB) enableRanging();