Plex pulls the plug on VR apps, including Google Daydream

Ben Schoon | Mar 19 2024 - 7:45 am PT

While VR is getting a second wave thanks to the popularity of Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro, older implementations are fading away. This week, Plex confirmed it will shut down its VR apps, including the one for Google Daydream.

Plex first launched VR apps quite a while ago, with the app hitting Google Daydream VR back in 2018. The app allowed users to watch movies on their own, or even virtually invite their friends to watch the same content through their own headset, complete with voice chat.

But, now, that app and other Plex VR apps are coming to an end.

Plex announced the change in an email to users saying:

As part of our efforts to make sure we’re focusing our resources in ways that best serve our Plex community, we’ve decided to officially end support for our Google Daydream, Gear VR, and Oculus Go apps. You’re receiving this email because our data indicates that you’ve recently used one of these apps.

Plex says that these apps won’t simply cease to function, but as they will no longer be actively supported, they might stop working eventually. It’s also mentioned that these apps had “low usage,” which comes as no surprise.

In all reality, this probably affects only a very tiny number of users. Google Daydream was discontinued about five years ago and isn’t even operable on modern Android phones. The same applies to Samsung’s Gear VR, and even the Oculus Go was pretty much abandoned as of 2022.

But, with that in mind, Plex certainly deserves commendation for keeping its app up and running for so long on these otherwise dead platforms.