Google YouTube VR App now available but only for Daydream View

Google seems to want to be at the center of mobile VR as they unveiled the new YouTube VR app with support for Daydream view.

YouTube, which has been acquired by Google several years back, has a growing number of 360-degree video content for VR enthusiasts to gorge on. However, the company has recently started to team up with their stars and partners in order to churn out more VR content for the audience.

Instead of just sitting and trying to spin to view the 360-degree video, the new Daydream view allows users to just use the controller to navigate the scenes. Google is launching the Google VR app first for Daydream users, Pocket-Lint has learned.

It means that only a handful of people who own the Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL will be able to experience the new app. Daydream is currently supported only on the said smartphones.

YouTube VR app still has the same functionalities of the default mobile app. Users can still browse their videos, playlists and subscribed channels using the Daydream controller.

Daydream View costs $79 and is just the start of Google's focus on VR, Recode reported. Unfortunately, there is no news on whether it will support previous smartphones which would be a great boost for the Android ecosystem overall.

Google's Clay Bavor said in the An Evening with Code Mobile conference in Santa Clara: "Our fundamental goal is to enable partners and developers to build great stuff. The headset we're launching today, we're using it as, 'Hey, here's an example.' We're in such early days of VR - 99.9 percent of things in VR have yet to be discovered."

Bavor believes that they still have an advantage for implementing VR solutions for mobile. Daydream View has a controller which they claim is different from the rest.

Most Google Cardboard VR headsets support Bluetooth controllers and most VR apps in the Google Play store also do. YouTube VR app and Daydream View are just two of Google's offerings for the growing VR market.