The wait is over: The Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus now support Daydream VR
When Samsung launched the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, one of the more glaring omissions was the lack of Daydream VR support. We assumed it was not for a lack of specs – the Snapdragon 835, 4 GB of RAM, and Quad HD Super AMOLED display ensure compatibility – so it was only a matter of time until that would change.
Fortunately for Daydream VR fans, that time is now, since Google confirmed Daydream VR is rolling out to Samsung’s pair of flagship smartphones.
Google says 11 Daydream-compatible phones will be on sale by end of 2017
The two phones have had quite the journey to get to where we are today when it comes to Google’s VR solution. When we first learned that the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus launched without Daydream VR support, we did not know whether that was because of possible meddling on Samsung’s part.
The company, along with Oculus, have their own Gear VR platform for Samsung smartphones, and it was possible that Samsung’s agreement with Oculus prevented the former from reaching an agreement with Google to support Daydream VR. You could change that by altering a single line of code, though the “solution” likely voided your warranty.
We then fast-forward to Google’s developer conference in May, when the search giant announced that Daydream VR support would make its way to the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus through a software update this summer. Google did not provide more specific information, but it was enough to get folks excited. After all, the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus are the most well-known faces of Android to the general public, and having the phones support Daydream VR could make the platform more popular.
There was a bit of a waiting period, but about a week ago, Verizon rolled out an update to Samsung’s pair of flagships to support Google’s VR platform. Other carriers rolled out similar updates, though it was dependent on Google to issue server-side support.
Because of that, however, it might take a bit for the Daydream app to function as advertised on your Galaxy S8 or Galaxy S8 Plus. Either way, the waiting period should not be that long, since no further software update is required.
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