YouTube VR is a software application which offers an interface for YouTube made for VR headsets.

Features

YouTube VR allows for access to all YouTube-hosted videos, but particularly supports headset access for 360° and 180°-degree video (both in 2D and stereoscopic 3D). The interface shows videos behind two floating panels, with the video description and comments showing on the left panel and related videos or playlists showing on the right panel. Since September 2023, the app interface allows for both immersive and 2D panel modes. The immersive mode retains a surrounding virtual background, while the 2D panel mode allows for use in augmented reality passthrough. The interface is accessible with hand tracking.

Support for 3D and 360 video

Since 2009, viewers have had the ability to watch 3D videos. In 2015, YouTube began natively supporting 360-degree video. Since April 2016, it allowed live streaming 360° video, and both normal and 360° video at up to 1440p, and since November 2016 both at up to 4K (2160p) resolution. Citing the limited number of users who watched more than 90-degrees, it began supporting an alternative stereoscopic video format known as VR180 which it said was easier to produce, which allows users to watch any video using virtual reality headsets.

History

Releases

In November 2016, YouTube released YouTube VR, a dedicated version with an interface for VR devices, for Google's Daydream mobile VR platform on Android. In December 2017, the app was released on Steam for HTC Vive. In November 2018, YouTube VR was released on the Oculus Store for the Oculus Go headset. YouTube VR was updated since for compatibility with successive Quest devices, and was ported to Pico 4.

Starting with the Oculus Quest, the app was updated for compatibility with mixed-reality passthrough modes on VR headsets. In April 2024, YouTube VR was updated to support 8K SDR video on Meta Quest 3.

Prior to the release of the Apple Vision Pro in February 2024, YouTube announced that neither YouTube VR nor YouTube's IPadOS app would be ported to VisionOS upon the launch of the headset, and suggested that Vision Pro use a web browser to access YouTube videos in-headset. However, the company later clarified that native support on visionOS was "on the roadmap".

Release history

VersionDateNotesRef.
1.00.00November 9, 2016Released on Android for Google Daydream headsets
1.00.01December 13, 2016
1.01.71February 2, 2017first to support Daydream on Android Nougat (7.0)
1.01.75March 1, 2017
1.02.55April 7, 2017
1.03.61May 30, 2017
1.04.19June 19, 2017
1.04.20July 6, 2017
1.05.31July 20, 2017
1.06.26August 16, 2017
1.07.53September 19, 2017
1.08.39October 11, 2017
1.09.50November 7, 2017
1.10.60December 13, 2017first release to support HTC Vive
1.10.63January 16, 2018
1.11.98March 12, 2018
1.12.83May 10, 2018
1.13.91July 31, 2018
1.14.53September 10, 2018
1.15.57November 9, 2018first to support Oculus Go
1.17.53February 20, 2019
1.18.49May 3, 2019
1.19.48June 28, 2019support for Brand Accounts (Oculus) first update for Oculus Quest
1.19.60July 10, 2019Updated app launcher icon to show up in the Android apps list (Daydream) Changed screen dragging to drag relative to the cursor (Daydream) Enabled screen resizing while dragging (Daydream)
1.19.61July 15, 2019
1.20.50August 5, 2019onboarding tooltips added
1.21.24September 12, 2019
1.21.50September 10, 2019passthrough support for Lenovo Mirage Solo devices (Daydream)
1.22.54November 5, 2019
1.23.53December 19, 2019haptic feedback to buttons (Oculus)
1.24.50March 4, 2020
1.26.53May 18, 2020Support for up to 4K playback of 2D videos (Oculus) Support for 72Hz mode (Oculus)
1.27.53July 23, 2020Movies destination tab launched for signed in users
1.28.63October 6, 2020Final update for Google Daydream
1.28.68November 13, 2020
1.29.71December 10, 2020hand tracking support
1.30.46February 22, 2021
1.31.41April 26, 2021video seek features updates to UI
1.32.31May 6, 2021
1.34.25July 26, 2021
1.35.30September 16, 2021comments made visible
1.36.23October 26, 2021
1.37.37November 16, 2021Search filters Updated video quality selection settings Updated UI on home and browse pages to dark mode bug fixes
1.37.43December 6, 2021
1.38.64February 22, 2022
1.39.28April 28, 2022Bug fixes and comment improvements
1.40.51June 22, 2022
1.41.38September 7, 2022
1.42.32October 19, 2022new shelf for Shows UI indicators when using controller seek controls
1.42.33November 11, 2022
1.43.32November 16, 2022
1.44.47January 24, 2023
1.44.48February 15, 2023
1.45.31March 20, 2023Support for OpenXR
1.45.32April 12, 2023
1.46.09April 27, 2023
1.47.42May 24, 2023
1.47.43June 26, 2023
1.47.44July 6, 2023Movies tab bug fixes
1.47.48July 19, 2023
1.48.35July 28, 2023new accounts page environments auto mode environment switcher button
1.48.36August 10, 2023
1.49.27August 18, 2023Enabled YT experimental features for "Enter Panel Mode"
1.49.28August 28, 2023
1.50.26September 28, 2023ability to switch between Immersive and 2D Panel Mode
1.50.27October 26, 2023
1.51.37November 14, 2023
1.51.38November 16, 2023
1.52.15December 18, 2023
1.53.27January 19, 2023
1.54.20February 28, 2024Support for 8K (4320p or 4320p60) SDR video on Meta Quest 3
1.54.21March 7, 2024
1.55.23April 2, 2024
1.56.21April 25, 2024
1.57.29May 23, 2024
1.58.14June 13, 2024
1.59.56September 13, 2024
1.60.17September 26, 2024
1.60.18October 9, 2024
1.60.19November 6, 2024Support for co-watching YouTube videos, including 2D videos in 8K, full movies in 4K, and YouTube Shorts, with up to seven mutual Horizon Home friends, whether in Horizon Home or in mixed reality mode. Paid content only viewable to those who have paid for said content.

External links