Month after adding VR support to its Android version of Youube, Google is bringing the feature to iPhone users. An update to the iOS YouTube app notes that it now comes with Google CardBoard support, a feature that’s been notably absent do far. By selecting the small Cardboard icon under any video, users can either watch a 360-degree video in virtual reality through one of the simple cardboard headsets, or watch any other video on a flat screen in a VR environment, like a big-screen TV.
Google Cardboard is a do-it-yourself cardboard kit that Google introduced in 2014 but only recently began directly selling via the Google Play Store. You can buy it for $15 and then assemble it to end up with a virtual-reality headset. It’s technically considered a simple viewer – because it’s not a standalone device that’s ready to work from the get-go.
Many companies and websites now support 360-degree content, including Google-owned YouTube and Facebook, so you don’t need a full-blown VR headset, such as Oculus Rift, in order to view this type of media or immerse yourself in the footage. Just open the YouTube app or Facebook app, for instance, or point your browser to the video’s URL, and you’re good to go.