A week after Samsung rolled out an update to enable Daydream VR support on Verizon’s Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+, Google has announced that the Daydream update for Samsung’s latest flagship update is now rolling out.
While the unlocked variants of the Galaxy S8 and S8+ are yet to receive the Daydream enabling update, it’s likely that Samsung will enable the functionality when it rolls out the August security update for the handsets. As for carrier variants, you are at the mercy of when your carrier decides to roll out the update.
In addition to the announcement, Google has also made its Daydream VR apps like YouTube VR, Daydream, and Daydream keyboard available for the Galaxy S8 and S8+ on the Play Store.
The Daydream-ready update is rolling out now to @SamsungMobile Galaxy S8 and S8+. Explore new worlds with #Daydream. https://t.co/KaRNJEcURi pic.twitter.com/PEeC6RfyyZ
— Google AR & VR (@GoogleARVR) July 31, 2017
Samsung had already announced when it unveiled the Galaxy S8 in March that the handset would be gaining support for Daydream down the line with a software update. Do note that the Galaxy S8 supports two different VR platform: Google’s Daydream and Samsung’s GearVR. The headsets for both VR platforms differ greatly and are incompatible with each other. The apps and other services for both these platforms are also incompatible with each other.
Samsung’s GearVR platform is much better than Google Daydream for now and has plenty of games and apps available for it. As for Daydream, despite Google’s best efforts, it has a very limited number of apps and games available for it with their quality being nothing great to write about as well. However, with Google’s backing and more devices bound to support Daydream, support for the platform among developers is bound to grow.