iOS 14 Google Cardboard view is broken

Question

On all apps that I can find that use Cardboard in iOS 14 (iPhone), the VR view is insanely bugged. The camera swings wildly all over the place.

Here is a video example: https://www.reddit.com/r/youtube/comments/i1nbs0/ios_14_vr_error/

The official Google Cardboard app-store application is broken as soon as you start it. It is also broken on the app I develop for which uses GVR and Unity.

Weirdly, it will temporarily function as expected if you restart your iPhone. The time it takes to break is seemingly random - sometimes it will be broken right away, and sometimes it will work for hours before breaking.

We have tested this on two iPhone 8+, and an iPhone 11.

Things I have tried:

• Updating to beta iOS14.2 does not fix the issue.
• Rebuilding in Xcode 12.2 Beta does not fix the issue
• No errors or warning appear in my local build for our GVR project.

Beitch

I've also been able to reproduce the issue on the following devices (all iOS 14): iPhone SE (2016), iPhone XR, iPhone Xs, iPhone 8. It never happened on versions prior to iOS 14. – Heedless

Hi, did you make any progress on fixing this issue? – Reckless

Answer 1

Turns out GVR is now obsolete for IOS14 (unless someone makes a fix for it.. doubt it). Have to upgrade to Cardboard SDK. https://github.com/googlevr/cardboard/issues/118

Beitch

Answer 2

I've answered this question on the Official Goggle Cardboard repository, but here's a quick recap for who got here first:

This is a iOS 14 incompatibility with the (now obsolete) Google Cardboard Plugin for Unity. I don't know for sure if there's a workaround to continue using this plugin, but I've tested the new plugin on both iPhone XR and SE and it works exactly as expected.

I've even loaded my app and the test app side by side, having the first one with a completely bugged view as described on the post and the test app, with the new plugin, working normally.

Finally, in order to continue using Cardboard VR with Unity on iOS 14, you should:

• Upgrade to Unity 2019.3.15f1 or later
• Integrate the new Google Cardboard XR Plugin

Heedless

Answer 3

The new Cardboard XR plugin fixes this iOS 14 issue however, it was still somewhat buggy for me. My solution to this was to update my app with the Mobfish Google Cardboard package. I highly recommend it. It works with Metal/OpenGLES2/OpenGLES3 and default renderer/URP/HDRP. It also works with unity 2018 and up so no XR subsystem is needed. I published an update to my app using this plugin and it fixed the issue that arose from iOS 14.

Chess

I second the Mobfish package. It was difficult for us to upgrade to Unity 2019 quickly, so Mobfish was a great solution to fixing this issue with Unity 2018. – Beitch

Answer 4

Alright so look. I'm using an I7 updated to the most recent version of IOS14 AND Unity 2020.1.9f and xcode12, I've integrated the project EXACTLY how the https://github.com/googlevr/cardboard-xr-plugin shows it to be more specific here's the actual step by step page I followed and the ONLY way it has worked for me so far(does work outside of the test scene too just reverse engineer what's in the test scene or create a prefab of the player and drag and drop into your original scene then delete the old sample scene out of your build scenes)https://developers.google.com/cardboard/develop/unity/quickstart obviously make sure you follow the steps for your phone, but make sure you follow every step exactly how it's done.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND DOWNGRADING PAST 2019.4.11f Anything past 2019.4.11f has a bunch of depreciated scripts that will either cause issues in build or in xcode, also the new unity is set up to allow people to easily ask for permissions now needed with iOS' new privacy policy and security. For example if you build a successful VR project in an older version of Unity you MAY be giving up other cool features like voice command and etc...

Dotty

Answer 5

FYI:

I was able to make it work without the need of compiling anything. (I use a DESTEK V5 headset with an iPhone 11 running iOS 14.5 beta)

How I solved it:

• I just updated to 14.5 beta, but also
• I installed "Player360" from Mobfish.

After a restart, it works perfectly. VR cardboard view 1 VR cardboard view 2

Please the experts explain what might be the trick happening here: I don't know if it was the update to 14.5 beta and/or installing the app from Mobfish. (I thought if I installed an app with the Unity plugin update for iOS 14.X embedded, I might be forcing iOS to use the Unity VR version what was on its RAM).

CAVEATS: the issue comes back under the following conditions:

• After switching from one VR app to another
• After using the VR app for a long period (I use Holofit for indoor rowing)

Solution: Restart iOS

UPDATED

Dorsett

iOS 14+ spinning fix: This works! 1) Install "Player360" from Mobfish, Open Player360. 2) Reboot iPhone. 3) Open your PVR app 🎉 – Elenore

Here’s the link to Player360 apps.apple.com/us/app/player360-official/id1274126825 – Elenore