At the beginning of MHacks, during the expo, Google handed out some Cardboard units. Jake couldn't wait to assemble his, and put in his old Nexus 4. Many of the confused bystanders waiting patiently in the hardware line after kickoff remember how enthused Jake was with the awesomeness of Cardboard—he wouldn't put it down. Apparently panning around and staring at the intricacy of 3D worlds on your own free VR device is cool.


Tristan was sad because he doesn't have an Android device. Searching for a cardboard-compatible app in the iOS app store produces zilch. We fixed that.


Cardboard for iOS is quite aptly named. Dare we even say it's an extremely creative name? Probably not, but it does what it says it does, and it works well on the 5C and 4S we used for testing.

What does Cardboard for iOS do?

Cardboard for iOS does almost everything Google Cardboard does on Android, but mostly it provides a proof of concept demo and a jumping-off point for future development on the platform. Features:

  • Viewing of Google Photospheres
  • Use of the magnetic button on the Google Cardboard, integrating the iOS Magnetometer
  • Panning and adjustment of the variables for roll, pitch, and yaw from the motion of the user's head and device.
  • Inertial navigation capabilities
  • A hint of magic

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