Best VR Apps in 2022
VR is very much considered a gaming platform for us PC enthusiasts, but extending beyond the borders of pure interactive entertainment, you’ll stumble across a rich catalog of virtual reality apps that prove that VR can be so much more.
VR developers are creating apps as diverse as poignant visits to the hidden rooms of Anne Frank’s house and breathtaking 360-degree ascents of Mount Everest. And, then there are VR versions of popular apps such as YouTube and Google Earth and countless educational tools and even VR experiences designed to add a new immersive layer to online socializing.
Should cynical prognostics of VR gaming’s steady demise in the years ahead turn out to be true, VR won’t be going anywhere thanks to the rapid proliferation of these unique and engaging experiences.
We’ve regrouped our top picks for the best VR apps you can experience right now in this guide.
Products at a Glance
Best VR Apps in 2022
- Free
- All the functionality of Google Earth and more
- Broad headset compatibility
- Great educational tool
- None
- VR illustration and animation tool
- Intuitive VR controls
- Easy export to traditional graphics editor
- Free
- Only compatible with Oculus Rift/S
- MMO-style virtual reality playground
- Loads of content to experience and discover
- Highly social aspect
- Free-to-play
- Decent headset compatibility
- None
- Works with all YouTube content
- Lots of VR-specific content
- Compatible with loads of headsets
- Free
- None
- Immersive meditation app
- Numerous soothing locations
- Guided meditation sessions
- Requires wearable device for progress tracking
Our Verdict
A favorite of budding Geographers and the plain curious, Google’s world-viewing app ports beautifully to VR in Google Earth VR. Travel the world, visit landmarks, and learn along the way in a VR app that’s easily one of the most compelling out there. Broad compatibility for smartphones and most headsets should see most able to jump in quickly.
Quill VR proposes a blank 3D canvas for budding artists and seasoned professionals to step into their work, thanks to a robust 3D painting and animation tool kit. Quill’s interface and hands-on feel do wonders to promote experimentation and creativity. Unfortunately, it’s only let down by limited Oculus headset compatibility.
Offering users an MMO-style virtual reality playground to socialize and play, Sinespace brings hit social worlds like Second Life to the world of VR. There’s plenty to see and do with a VR headset upping the immersion levels for a genuinely unique experience.
YouTube VR pretty much does what it says on the tin, offering a new, immersive way to experience the billions of videos on the platform. But, of course, it’s video at its core. Still, the authentic VR content is certainly a novel experience and guaranteed to provide hours of entertainment whether you want to be distracted or learn something along the way.
Provata VR uses VR for a far more noble aim: offer the stressed and anxious a tool to find some respite by dropping them into various gentle locales across the globe for a fully immersive meditation experience. Guided sessions and biofeedback inject a sense of progress, and broad compatibility means Provata VR works just as well on a smartphone or an expensive VR headset.
With that, we’ll wrap up our guide to the best VR apps. If we missed any of your favorites, please let us know in the comments section below, where you can also drop in with any questions or concerns you may have.