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.
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On the eve of WWDC 2023 and Apple’s new headset, let’s take a look back at that time Google tried to jump on the VR bandwagon with Daydream, which is now just a distant memory.
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Back in October, Google officially dropped support for its virtual reality platform with Android 11. Daydream is no longer receiving updates, and now can no longer access the Google Play Store or other VR discovery features.
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At last year’s hardware event, Google stopped selling the Daydream View, while many apps dropped support long before that. Google announced today that “Daydream VR software is no longer supported” and that it ended with Android 11.
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Google kills products all of the time, but sometimes ones stick around that seemingly no one uses. Today, Hulu revealed that it was ditching support for the Daydream VR platform and it’s got us thinking, would anyone actually care if Google pulled the plug on the entire platform?
Google’s Daydream VR platform hasn’t been talked about in quite some time, and in this case, all news seems to be bad news. Today, it’s been confirmed that Hulu has ditched support for its Daydream VR app.
We’ve not heard much about Daydream VR for a while now, and today Google is confirming some unfortunate news. No, it’s not killing the platform, but the Google Play Movies app for Daydream VR is officially shutting down.
Looking towards the future, augmented reality will be a very important technology once it gets miniaturized into wearable glasses. Till then, apps and best practices are being developed through phone-based AR and VR headsets. Google today announced experimental features for standalone Daydream including a “See-Through Mode” and 6DoF Controllers.
Google first launched its Daydream View headset at the original Google Pixel launch in 2016, but one popular Google app has been oddly missing from the platform. Almost two years later, Google has announced that its ever-popular Chrome browser is now available in Daydream.
Plex is a great way to watch your favorite movies and TV shows anywhere you are, and today, the popular service is expanding to virtual reality with Google Daydream.
One of the frequently cited uses for virtual reality is building empathy by immersing users in the viewpoint of others. Google today is doubling down on that VR use with Daydream Impact — a training program that provides equipment to various organizations.
Alongside the release of the Pixel 2 and 2 XL smartphones, Google unveiled an updated and slightly redesigned Daydream View headset. The biggest differences compared to last year’s model are added heat venting features and the ability to remove the top head strap.
Announced on October 4th at the Made by Google event in San Francisco, the new Daydream View is now available for purchase on the Google Store. Visiting the Google Daydream page between then and now presented you with an option to join a waitlist, but now you can give Google your $99 if you want.
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Google has worked hard to create both the Cardboard and Daydream platforms to make it easy for all users to access VR. Just slip your smartphone into one of the compatible headsets and escape into a virtual world. But by doing this, you’re isolating yourself. Thankfully Google now allows you to share what you see with those around you by merely Casting the display to Chromecast devices…
Web browsing is slowly making its way to virtual reality, and Google is pushing for developers to support the new “WebVR” platform. However, not everyone supports it just yet. Previously, that meant those websites couldn’t be viewed in a VR headset, but now, they can.
Google’s mobile VR platform Daydream has grown a lot over the past year, but the hardware hasn’t changed at all. Google’s Daydream View has been the only option, and it’s definitely not perfect. Now, it looks like Google is planning to refresh it at the upcoming October 4th event.
With many recent and upcoming phones now Daydream-ready, Google’s VR platform is beginning to gain traction, especially as standalone headsets are coming later this year. The company has now launched new developer tools for building and learning in VR.
With Galaxy Note 8 units shipping out now to customers that pre-ordered the handset, a lot of people will soon have their hands on Samsung’s latest and greatest. The Note 8 is packed to the gills with various features and settings to mess around with, and we now have confirmation that Google’s Daydream VR platform will be supported on the phone out of the box.
Daydream VR is easily at the top of the list when it comes to mobile VR, and the content library for Google’s platform continues to expand. Now, Google is offering a Summer Sale which gives a handful of Daydream titles discounts of up to 60% off.
Earlier this month T-Mobile slipped and accidentally included Daydream VR compatibility in its changelog after rolling out an update to the Galaxy S8 and S8+. While the update most likely did bring Daydream to the handsets, it was not enabled for use until today…
Back at Google I/O in May, Google announced that it would soon be introducing standalone VR headsets alongside the existing ones that are powered by your smartphone. HTC recently announced a new VR headset coming to China, and from what we’ve seen so far, it looks a whole lot like a forthcoming Daydream headset that should be available in the States later this year.
Google has plans for a ton of new Daydream VR-ready smartphones through the end of this year, and that’s starting with a previous announcement. Following the reveal back at I/O 2017, Samsung is finally starting to roll out Daydream support for the Galaxy S8 family, starting with the Verizon variant.
Google’s Daydream VR platform is arguably the best mobile VR option, but it only works on a small portion of the vast Android ecosystem. Devices like the Pixel, Moto Z, and ZTE Axon 7 are all supported, but there’s not much outside of that. Yesterday on Google’s earnings call, CEO (and recently appointed Alphabet board member) Sundar Pichai revealed that quite a few more compatible devices are incoming.
Many believe that virtual reality (VR) will be the next big thing in the way that humans interact with computers and with each other. While adoption of VR has been relatively slow, it hasn’t stopped companies like Google from making its own platform called Daydream that features not only hardware that works with smartphones but also unique software experiences.
Since the launch of Daydream late last year, have you used it? If so, what do you use Daydream and/or any other VR platform for?
