How To Use Cardboard Apps On Gear Vr

VR is a growing platform. The proliferation of headsets like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, PlayStation VR, and others have solidified the platform's popularity. However, none of them can even come close to the affordability of Google Cardboard. Anyone who has managed to pick one up over the last couple of years are no doubt looking for some awesome apps to put on there and use. Here are the best VR apps for Google Cardboard.

[aa_editors_tip]Google Cardboard is a very old platform and based on our research, it doesn't seem as though we'll see any new releases that push the platform forward and the interest in Google Cardboard apps has waned very considerably. Because of that, this update is our final update for Google Cardboard games. We hope you enjoy the final list! We'll check in to make sure the apps don't disappear, but otherwise, this is as good as it ever was for the platform.[/aa_editors_tip]

Check out the best VR apps and games from Google's latest platform, Daydream!

Google Daydream - best VR apps for Android

Check out the best VR apps and games from Google's latest platform, Daydream!

featured image for the best daydream games

Cardboard Theater is a unique video player for Google Cardboard. It basically lets you view your 2D and 3D movies in a virtual cinema without too much of a hassle. It also supports 360-degree and 180-degree video content. The app supports several video codecs, has simple controls, and it actually works pretty well. We also have it on good authority that the developer is a good person who doesn't smoke and works out (apparently). In any case, the app has its issues, but it's difficult to complain about a Google Cardboard app that is still updated in 2018. Give it a shot!

Google Cardboard app

Price: Free

The official Google Cardboard app is a must have. You can use the app to set up your Cardboard experience. It also has some decent VR experiences all on its own. The app lets you view you videos, photospheres, and other VR content stored on your device. More importantly, it has a directory of VR apps and games that makes finding new stuff a lot easier. Google hasn't updated this app since 2016 and that's a little concerning. However, we still recommend it for now because it's the only app that does what it does.

cardboard best vr apps for google cardboard

Sites in VR is a fairly decent VR app for Google Cardboard. It includes a bunch of virtual tours from all over the world, including some historical landmarks, museums, and other places of potential interest. The tour includes full 360-degree imagery and the developers did an excellent job with the stitching to make sure everything looks clean. It's obviously not very functional, but it's a great thing to show your friends or kids who may be interested in VR stuff.

Google Expeditions

Price: Free

Expeditions is an education oriented app that is meant to be used in a classroom environment. However, it can be used just about anywhere that you want. The app has over 200 expeditions that you can immerse yourself in. You'll be able to check out various destinations, landmarks, landforms, waterscapes, and tons of other places. There is a 360-degree mode that works without Cardboard if you need it to and the app is fairly easy to use. It's also completely free, which is nice. Google Arts and Culture is another fantastic eduction-based VR app made by Google! The only complaint we have is that Expeditions occasionally suffers from connection errors.

Google Expeditions - best google cardboard apps

Fulldive VR calls itself a VR navigation platform. What that means exactly is that the app will help you find and view tons of VR content from around the web. It has support for VR video from YouTube, a VR video player built in, and even a VR browser to view online content. There is also a camera, photo gallery, and a market place to take VR images and surf for more VR apps and games. It's definitely one of those VR apps that are worth checking out. It is also free to download. As it turns out, it's also great for Daydream!

FullDive VR - best VR apps for Google Cardboard

Here are some more excellent VR apps and games to check out!

featured image for the best Daydream apps

Here are some more excellent VR apps and games to check out!

Google Street View

Price: Free

Google Street View is an old friend of Google Maps and it was updated not long ago to support VR content. It works essentially as it always has, which has provided people with 360-degree views of various roads, addresses, landmarks, and other places. With the VR update, you can also use your Google Cardboard to look at all of that stuff. On top of that, you can view content posted by other people and provide your own content if you need to. It's a fun way to experience the world and probably the best way to experience Google Street View.

Google Street View - best Google cardboard apps

Sketchfab is a neat little educational app. It has both AR and VR elements with support for Google Cardboard. You can check out a variety of things, learn some new information, and play around with the various animations. It's really a repository for 2D and 3D animations. It boasts a collection of over two million models overall. It's not the most functional app ever. However, it works on Google Cardboard and it's actually a lot of fun to use. The app has a few bugs, but it's also completely free so we can't complain too much.

Trinus Cardboard VR

Price: Free / $9.99

Trinus Cardboard VR is a VR app that lets you play games. Here's how it basically works. You go through the process of connecting Trinus to both your computer and your phone in a Google Cardboard. It provides a VR environment where you can play your computer games. That includes support for controllers, most Cardboard style VR headsets, and more. It's quite buggy, but it's getting more stable with every update. There really isn't anything else quite like this. It's also a super cheap way to play games in VR without upgrading your computer or your game collection. Please note, it does make your non-VR games into VR games. You still play them on a flat screen of sorts. That screen is just in a virtually reality environment.

VLC for Android is a bit of a future entrant on this list. It doesn't have any VR specific features just yet. However, the beta version of this app does. It's available in Google Play. The full functionality should arrive in the main app sooner or later. VLC is a rock solid video player that supports pretty much every video codec ever. That includes DVD ISOs and even live streams if you have the URL. You can hit the download button above to join the beta and check out the 360-degree video feature if you want to. The app is free to download and use.

VLC is one of the best google cardboard apps and vr apps for android

YouTube

Price: Free / $12.99 per month

Of course, the venerable YouTube is one of the great VR apps to have in your arsenal. It is one of the largest sources of VR content on the Internet. There are tons of videos and channels you can follow that provide everything from entertainment to educational video for you to watch. It's been one of the few platforms where VR has really taken off and there really is a lot of stuff there if you want to check it out. YouTube is free for most of its features. YouTube Red removes advertising and enables some extra stuff. It'll remove the advertising and enable background listening.