VRHow / Headsets / Google Daydream

Google Daydream: the smartphone-VR platform

Looking for the historical background? Explore our documented history of the Google Daydream View, covering its launch milestones, ecosystem development, and industry legacy.

Short answer: Google Daydream was an Android-based smartphone-VR platform, not one headset model. A compatible phone supplied the display and computing, while a Daydream-ready viewer and motion controller formed the physical interface. Google stopped supporting the software, and stopped selling Daydream View, in the platform's 2019 wind-down; the archived developer documentation records a further restriction on new Google VR Services installs from November 2023. Last checked October 11, 2026.

What Daydream was

Google announced Daydream at Google I/O on May 18, 2016 as a VR platform built on Android N. The platform was intended for a new class of Android phones that met Google's hardware and software standard, rather than for every phone that could run an ordinary cardboard viewer. The phone was the screen and computer; a compatible viewer held it in front of the user's eyes; and a motion controller provided the handheld input. Google's design also included an in-VR home environment and Daydream versions of Google apps and third-party content. This page uses “Google Daydream” for that ecosystem, not merely the separately branded Daydream View headset. The Verge's contemporaneous announcement report describes those platform roles and the planned fall 2016 availability.

Verified platform record

PeriodWhat the sources establish
May 2016Google announced Daydream as an Android N VR platform with Daydream-ready phones, viewers and motion controllers. It was a successor to Cardboard with a narrower, company-approved device standard—not a universal Android VR mode. Contemporaneous launch report
2016–2019Google defined “Daydream-ready phones” as phones certified for the platform. Its archived developer documentation says the certified devices were built around high-resolution, low-persistence displays, VR-capable SoCs and high-fidelity sensors; those are platform eligibility characteristics, not a claim that every later Android phone qualifies. Google's archived Daydream documentation
2019 onwardGoogle said it would no longer sell Daydream View and that Pixel 4 would not support Daydream. It said the app would continue for existing users on older compatible phones, while explaining that adoption and usage had declined. The Verge's report quoting Google's statement

Compatibility: a historical certified list

Compatibility was a certification policy, not simply “Android 7.0 or newer.” Google's Daydream Help page lists these supported phones: Pixel 3, Pixel 3 XL, Pixel 2, Pixel 2 XL, Pixel, Pixel XL, Galaxy Note 8, Axon 7, Mate 9 Pro, Porsche Design Mate 9, LG V30, LG V35, ZenFone AR, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+. Google's supported-phone list is the relevant evidence for those models. It does not establish compatibility for an unlisted phone, a later Android phone, or an iPhone.

That list is historical, not a promise of current service. A compatible phone also did not by itself replace the viewer and controller: the platform assumed a phone inserted into a compatible viewer, with the controller used for interaction. “Daydream View” therefore names one Google viewer product within the ecosystem, while Daydream names the broader phone, software, content and accessory platform.

Shutdown and what remains

Google's own service notice says Daydream VR software is no longer supported, with no further software or security updates; it also says the Daydream app may not work properly on Android 11 or later. The notice says Daydream View is no longer available for sale, while some third-party experiences may remain available as standalone Play Store apps. Google's Daydream service update does not turn those surviving apps into a supported Daydream platform.

There is a small date distinction in the archive: Google developer documentation states that Daydream View was no longer available for purchase as of October 15, 2019, and that from November 2023 previously supported devices would no longer be able to download and install Google VR Services for new users. Google's archived developer page supplies those dates. The 2019 reporting and Google's service notice describe the wind-down somewhat differently (continued app access for existing users versus no new software support), so availability for an individual old phone should not be inferred from the historical compatibility list.

Sources