Google Chrome finally arrives on Daydream VR

Search the web in VR, if you like.

Scott Stein Editor at Large

I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.

Expertise VR and AR, gaming, metaverse technologies, wearable tech, tablets Credentials

Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps

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Scott Stein

July 30, 2018 11:33 a.m. PT

Google's Daydream VR platform has YouTube, Google Streetview, and now it has Chrome.

A VR-ready version of Google's Android Chrome app is now available to download to work with Daydream VR-ready phones, or on the standalone Lenovo Mirage Solo headset, Google announced today. It's an overdue move, since Facebook's standalone Oculus Go VR headset already has a built-in web browser, and so does the Samsung Gear VR. Google had previous, more experimental ways of browsing the web in Daydream VR via versions of Chrome, but this new standalone app should tie together all the loose ends and offer a complete solution.

The Daydream VR version of Chrome adds a widescreen Cinema View for playing back videos in VR, and supports WebVR apps. Google's YouTube app recently came to the Samsung Gear VR (but not the Oculus Go), helping Google's VR-ready videos be seen more easily. Chrome should help non-YouTube VR videos on the web to play a little more easily for Daydream VR users in return.