This article covers the best virtual reality apps available on Apple’s iPhone smartphones. Some of these iPhone apps are VR games, while others showcase 360-degree movies and videos within a virtual space.
While some virtual reality iPhone apps support mobile-compatible VR headsets and controllers, all of the VR apps on this list work completely fine with just an iPhone. Additional hardware is not required.
Best Virtual Reality Movie iPhone App: Within VR
Within VR is an iPhone app all about showcasing the best and most creative 360-degree films available with a solid selection of professionally-made documentaries, music performances, and cartoons. Experiences range from fun animal videos and concerts to heavily edited travel clips and even a LEGO Batman short for kids.
High quality VR short films, cartoons, music videos, and documentaries.
The app and all of its content is completely free.
Simple UI makes it very easy to discover and play films.
Lots of films are listed in several different categories which can be frustrating if looking for something new.
Most will watch the entire library within a single weekend.
The app is one of the best-looking virtual reality titles on the iPhone, with its modern visual design and clean menu system, making navigation and finding content a breeze. You can view every video with or without a headset, and, impressively, all of the content is entirely free, with zero banner or video ads disrupting the experience.
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Best iPhone VR Solitaire Card Game: Solitaire Zen
Initially launching on iPhone way back in 2012, Solitaire Zen was the first Solitaire video game to support VR in Apple’s App Store. It still receives the occasional update for bug fixes and feature refinements.
High quality graphics with no motion blur or stuttering.
The VR solitaire card game plays better than some regular solitaire iPhone apps.
You need to sign up for a separate account for online functionality.
Inability to explore the village feels like a missed opportunity.
Solitaire Zen allows players to play the classic card game in a virtual space that resembles a quiet European village. The actual card gameplay is as solid as other non-VR card game apps, and the environment’s sound and visuals are genuinely relaxing. The only real downside of Solitaire Zen is its requirement to create a new account with the developers, Naquatic, before participating in online leaderboards and earning achievements. However, the offline solo Solitaire experience is immediately available to play as soon as you open the app.
Best iPhone VR Apps for Creators: VeeR VR and VeeR Editor
VeeR VR is one of the biggest platforms for both viewing virtual reality videos and creating them. The main VeeR VR iPhone app lets users browse and view the massive library of 360 videos and photos, while you can use the separate VeeR Editor app to upload and edit creations. It’s basically like YouTube but with a singular focus on VR video content.
A good variety of professional and user-created VR content.
Very easy to search for VR videos and play them on your iPhone.
The VeeR Editor app is a solid 360 video editing iPhone app.
VeeR Editor hasn’t been updated since 2019 though it still works completely fine.
Some 360 VR videos have an extremely low resolution which makes them look blurry.
VR videos on VeeR range from surreal artistic creations to travel videos and documentaries. Several VR films have a strong narrative, while others work as more promotional tools, such as the Prada series of VR experiences. The latter is unique in placing the viewer directly within the middle of a fashion show runway where they come, quite literally, face-to-face with Prada models showing off their looks.
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Best Social VR iPhone App: Rec Room
Rec Room is an impressive social communications app that lets users interact within 3D virtual spaces with voice chat, text chat, or physical gestures. While simplistic in design, user avatars can be fully customized while moving around the virtual areas. Participating in games can be done as soon as you complete the super-long tutorial.
Good basic character and clothes customization options.
Voice chat works really well in the virtual space.
The welcome tutorial is way too long and confusing.
The numerous menus take a while to get used to.
Parents will want to disable voice chat for children as the conversations are very adult.
Impressively, Rec Room is also available on Oculus, Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and supports full cross-play between all versions. It makes it much easier to find friends who already have access to the free-to-play title. Surprisingly, the iPhone version doesn’t support VR headsets and requires the camera to be controlled by the on-screen buttons, so it isn’t as immersive as it could be. Hopefully, with Rec Room already being on Oculus, they will add such support in a future update.
You can speed through Rec Room’s tutorial by simply running from room to room. You don’t need to complete any of the tasks the voiceover asks you to do.
Something else to watch out for is the lack of voice chat moderation in the virtual spaces. You’ll likely hear drug and sexual references, swearing, and insults within minutes of visiting a gathering, so parents may want to disable this feature when setting it up for their children.
Best Rollercoaster VR Game For iPhone: Roller Coaster VR Theme Park
Most of the other rollercoaster iPhone VR apps feature numerous similar rollercoaster tracks. Roller Coaster VR Theme Park boasts a good variety of both rollercoaster styles and different types of theme park rides like spinning teacups, a Ferris wheel, and even bumper cars.
Over 20 different theme park rides of varying types.
Updated with new content and fixes on a very regular basis.
Non-VR mode doesn’t detect camera motion and relies on manual controls.
Scrolling through the list of rides is very time-consuming due to the size of each icon.
Each ride is viewable in both non-VR phone mode and proper VR with Google Cardboard. While only three of the 21 rides are free, it only costs $1.99 to unlock additional ones or $4.99 to unlock everything. The list of three free rides also randomly rotates daily.
Virtual Reality iPhone App With Most Content: YouTube
One of the best iPhone apps for viewing virtual reality content is the main YouTube app you probably already have installed and use daily. YouTube mixes in VR videos with all of its other videos, but they can typically be found by performing a basic search and including either VR or 360 in the search phrase.
The iPhone VR functionality works within the same YouTube app you probably already use.
Large library of virtual reality videos and a good variety of genres.
Most VR videos can be viewed vertically and horizontally.
Location of video controls changes depending on how you’re watching a video.
If you don’t have YouTube Premium, the video ads and popups will get annoying very quickly.
You can watch VR videos on YouTube by simply moving your iPhone around to view different parts of the 360-degree virtual space, not dissimilar to how you play Pokemon Go.
YouTube curates a Virtual Reality channel, which regularly updates with new VR videos from several professional creators and brands. Subscribing to this channel is the easiest way to find high-quality VR videos on YouTube.
Launch your VR app and put the iPhone into the headset with the screen facing you. Place the headset on your head and adjust it if necessary to get a comfortable fit. Check out Lifewire’s guide to virtual reality on the iPhone for more detailed information.
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