Daydream Home
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| Daydream Home | |
|---|---|
| |
| Information | |
| Type | VR launcher |
| Developer | |
| Operating System | Android |
| Supported Devices | Daydream-ready Android phones with Daydream View; Lenovo Mirage Solo |
| Release Date | November 10, 2016 |
Daydream Home was the in-headset home screen, Virtual Reality Portal and App Store of Google's Daydream Platform. It was the central place where users browsed, bought and launched apps, and it was reached through the Daydream app on Daydream Devices.[1][2] The interface was designed to be used inside a HMD: users pointed at tiles and menus with the Daydream Controller instead of touching the phone screen.[3]
Daydream Home launched with the Daydream View headset on November 10, 2016, starting with Google's Pixel and Pixel XL phones.[2] It was also the home screen of the standalone Lenovo Mirage Solo headset, released in 2018.[4] Daydream View was no longer available for purchase as of October 15, 2019, and Google later ended support for the Daydream VR software, which no longer receives software or security updates.[5][6]
History
Google's VR team lead Clay Bavor revealed the Daydream platform on stage at Google I/O on May 18, 2016.[7] It was released with the Daydream View headset in November 2016.[2] In Google's launch announcement, the Daydream app let users "launch your favorite VR experiences and browse from an ever-growing collection of apps, games and videos", with new featured content placed "front and center" in the headset.[2] The launch catalog included Google's own Photos, Play Movies, Street View and YouTube VR apps alongside third-party titles.[2]
At launch, only developers accepted into Google's curated Daydream Access Program could prepare content for the platform. Road to VR described this as an effort to keep the "Daydream Home portal" from being flooded with low-quality apps while the system was new.[1] In January 2017 Google lifted that restriction and opened submissions for the Daydream Home app store to any developer. Apps opted in to Daydream on Google Play were reviewed against Google's Daydream App Quality criteria, and apps that passed were made discoverable to Daydream users in VR.[1]
At Google I/O in May 2017, Google announced Daydream 2.0, codenamed "Euphrates", for release on Daydream devices later that year. The update added an in-VR dashboard with quick access to settings (such as switching Wi-Fi networks) and notifications, from which users could also switch apps, along with screenshots and video screen capture; the video could be streamed to Google Cast devices so others could see what the wearer was viewing.[8] Liliputing reported that the home screen itself was "tweaked a bit with a new content guide".[9] Euphrates was also the software for the new category of standalone Daydream headsets announced at the same event.[9] In its May 2018 review of the Lenovo Mirage Solo, 9to5Google wrote that Google put the Daydream catalog at "about 250" apps.[4]
Daydream View was withdrawn from sale on October 15, 2019.[5] In October 2020, 9to5Google reported that Google's support documentation now described Daydream VR software as unsupported.[10] Google's help page states that the Daydream VR app "may not work properly on some devices running Android 11 or later", and that many third-party Daydream apps may still be available as standalone apps on the Google Play Store.[6] Google's archived developer site adds that, as of November 2023, previously supported devices can no longer download and install Google VR Services for new users, and it directs developers to the open-source Google Cardboard SDKs.[5]
Features
Daydream Home was set in a stylized nature environment. In Road to VR's November 2016 review, Ben Lang described it as "very welcoming with its fairytale forest setting, muted earthen colors, and pleasant ambient sounds", and noted that icons and photos used depth effects that made them feel more tangible than a flat grid of icons.[11]
To navigate Daydream Home, users were required to use the Daydream Controller. Users moved between menus by swiping left and right on the controller's touchpad and pointing it at a selection. At launch, three buttons along the bottom of the home screen opened the Daydream version of the Play Store, a gallery of all installed apps, and settings.[3] The controller's Home button returned the user to Daydream Home and was also used to reset head orientation; Google's developer requirements describe a long press of this Daydream button as a system recenter.[12][13] Google's app quality requirements barred apps from interfering with the controller's home and volume buttons, and required that an app launched from VR, "such as from Daydream home", start in VR.[13]
In Android Police's review, setup was simple: the phone recognized the Daydream View when inserted, the controller was paired by holding its home button, and an interactive tutorial preceded entry into the launcher.[14]
Store
Google Play - VR version of the Android app store. Inside the headset it was presented as Play VR (Google Play VR), where the detail view of each app surrounded the user with a 360-degree stereo photosphere of the app's environment.[15] Road to VR wrote that this gave "an instant idea of what the experience might be like".[11]
To appear in VR Home, a Daydream app needed its own VR icon, made of two 512x512 PNG files (a foreground and a background layer, with the background applied to a mesh). Google asked developers not to put a VR headset image in either the VR or 2D icon because such images "clutter the launcher". The store photosphere had to be a stereo 360-degree image in equirectangular stacked stereo format at 4096 x 4096px and no larger than 15MB. Apps could also be launched from the standard Android 2D home screen.[15]
Interface
Play Store > Select App > Select Install > Select Download on WiFi Only > Select Confirm Install > Select Back button to return to browsing
This is the in-VR installation sequence as listed in Road to VR's review, which called the process "a little clunky because the background jumps through a few transitions". Apps could also be installed outside VR on the phone.[11]
Reception
Road to VR praised the environment and the depth effects on icons, but wrote that "there's still some interface work to be done in the app to indicate what can be scrolled, dragged, and swiped".[11] 9to5Google's Stephen Hall found navigating the menus with the controller "a lot of fun to do".[3] Reviewing the standalone Lenovo Mirage Solo in 2018, 9to5Google called the homescreen layout "simple and understandable" and the ability to cast content from the headset to a TV "nothing short of fantastic", while criticizing the size of the Daydream app library.[4]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Paul James (2017-01-28). "Google Opens Daydream App Submission to All and Publishes VR App 'Quality Requirements'". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/google-opens-daydream-app-submission-publishes-quality-requirements/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Andrey Doronichev (2016-11-10). "Experience Daydream today". The Keyword. Google. https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/google-ar-vr/experience-daydream-today/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Stephen Hall (2016-11-10). "Review: Google's Daydream View is casual VR done better w/ a game-changing controller". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2016/11/10/review-google-daydream-view-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ben Schoon (2018-05-04). "Review: Lenovo's Mirage Solo VR headset is fantastic, but Daydream lacks the apps to back it up". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2018/05/04/lenovo-mirage-solo-vr-daydream-review/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Daydream - Google VR". Google for Developers. Google. https://developers.google.com/vr/discover/daydream. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Daydream service update". Daydream Help. Google. https://support.google.com/daydream/answer/7185096?hl=en. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Scott Hayden (2016-05-18). "Google Play Movies, Street View, YouTube, and More Coming to 'Daydream' Android VR Platform". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/google-play-movies-street-view-youtube-coming-daydream-android-vr-platform/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Abner Li (2017-05-18). "Upcoming Daydream 2.0 update will add Chrome, improved UI, & Google Cast support". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2017/05/18/daydream-update-chrome-interface/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Brad Linder (2017-05-18). "Google introduces Daydream 2.0 Euphrates for phones, standalone VR headsets". Liliputing. https://liliputing.com/google-introduces-daydream-2-0-euphrates-phones-standalone-vr-headsets/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Abner Li (2020-10-02). "Google officially drops support for Daydream VR with Android 11". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2020/10/02/google-daydream-vr/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Ben Lang (2016-11-10). "Google Daydream Review: Casual VR Closes the Gap". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/google-daydream-review-view-casual-vr-closes-the-gap/3/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ Azad Balabanian (2016-05-20). "Everything You Need to Know About the Google Daydream VR Controller". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/everything-need-know-google-daydream-vr-controller/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 "Daydream App Quality Requirements - Design". Google for Developers. Google. https://developers.google.com/vr/distribute/daydream/design-requirements. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ David Ruddock (2016-11-10). "Daydream View review: A step in the right direction for mobile VR, but not a big one". Android Police. https://www.androidpolice.com/2016/11/10/daydream-view-review-step-right-direction-mobile-vr-not-big-one/. Retrieved 2026-09-27.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Daydream App Quality Requirements - Publishing". Google for Developers. Google. https://developers.google.com/vr/distribute/daydream/publishing-requirements. Retrieved 2026-09-27.