Best Virtual Reality Apps for iPhone 7 and 7 Plus Models

Platform status and source notes

Do these iPhone 7 VR apps still work?

Only a few. Apple stopped selling the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus in September 2019, and they top out at iOS 15; Apple's security releases page lists iOS 15.8.8 (May 2026) as the latest update for them. Of the 15 apps below, the free Google Cardboard app is still maintained and supports iOS 15. InCell VR, Zombie Shooter VR, Roller Coaster VR and Liftoff VR are still listed but unchanged since 2016–2018. YouTube's VR mode doesn't work on iPhone, Street View and Within shut down in 2023, and six other apps have left the App Store (see the status table). For supported VR, a standalone headset such as the Meta Quest 3S is the realistic upgrade. Checked 24 September 2026.

15 iPhone 7 VR Apps We Recommended, and Their Status Today

Google Cardboard

Google Cardboard has two things going for it that put it at the top of our list. First, it’s a set of VR goggles. If you want to experience VR on your iPhone 7 Plus the way it was meant to be, you need virtual reality goggles. There are lots of goggles and headsets available, but Google Cardboard is among the least expensive (check the price ).

Second, Google Cardboard is more than just glasses, it comes with five VR experiences to give you an idea of what VR can be on your phone. These experiences include hikes through cities, virtual museums, an arctic journey, and more. If you have to get goggles anyway, why not get some with some VR experiences built in.

Google itself stopped selling Cardboard viewers in March 2021 after open-sourcing the platform in 2019, so viewers today come from third-party makers such as the one linked above. The demos live in the separate, free Google Cardboard app for iPhone, which was updated in December 2025, requires iOS 15.0 or later and still installs on an iPhone 7.

YouTube

YouTube is the most popular video hosting and sharing site on the Internet. You probably use it all the time, but did you know YouTube has VR content? There are tons of videos that offer 360-degree viewing.

When you watch these videos and turn your head, your view will turn as well allowing you to see everything around you. If you search for anything with 360 or VR in the title, it will most likely be a VR video. YouTube is a free VR app and of all the free or paid virtual reality applications, YouTube probably has the most content.

There used to be a VR mode for YouTube which allowed you to watch any video in VR. If the video isn’t natively shot for VR (like the 360-degree videos are), then YouTube will show you the video like you are watching it on a big screen TV a few feet away. It’s pretty neat, at least for the first few times.

Finally, there’s the YouTube Virtual Reality Channel, a collection of VR videos available on YouTube that includes a wide variety of video genres.

NYT VR (no longer on the App Store)

NYT VR was the New York Times VR app. It was a free app. Rather than just getting your news via articles and news clips, NYT VR had very well produced stories told through virtual reality that let you experience the news like never before.

It was momentous the first time reporters were able to do reports on the scene, especially in war zones. It helped people get a better sense of what was actually going on. With the VR stories, you are able to be on scene yourself (virtually), giving you the most realistic idea of what is happening in the story.

The NYT VR stories provided a way for you to go to places and experience situations you wouldn’t normally be able to, including exploring the Antarctic, being embedded with Iraqi forces fighting ISIS, and climbing the spire of the World Trade Center.

The VR stories are high-quality produced content, so don’t expect to have VR available for every news story or even have new stories every day. When we checked, the NYT VR App Store listing returned “not found” in the US store, so the app can no longer be downloaded.

VR Mojo Orbulus (no longer on the App Store)

Orbulus is a free 360-degree photo viewing app which allows you to view places you have never been before and even places you cannot go. The app has a library of orbs (thus the name Orbulus). Each orb is a 360-degree version of a photo which makes you feel like you are standing in the location of the photo.

There is a wide variety of orb locations to choose from. You can virtually visit some of the hottest tourist locations in the world such as the pyramids of Egypt. You can even virtually stand on the surface of Mars.

Note that while the images are clear and beautiful, they are just photos. You cannot move around the locations. Nonetheless, it is a much more immersive way of viewing the photo of a place than looking at a flat image in front of you.

Its App Store listing no longer loads in the US store, so treat Orbulus as unavailable.

Jaunt VR (no longer on the App Store)

Jaunt was a free VR app with a variety of content for you to experience. It had over 200 different scenarios from stories, to concerts, to travel videos and more. In real life, not everything you want or need to see happens right in front of you, as it does on TV or the movies. Jaunt captures that reality. These videos have 360-degree viewing allowing you to look around as the story or experience unfolds.

There are studio produced stories (like TV, but in VR) for your entertainment. There are also adventure video series allowing you to broaden your horizons without spending all your money on airline tickets. You can experience ESPN Gameday in a whole new way, or you can sit back and enjoy Paul McCartney in concert. The wide variety of experiences can provide hours and hours of entertainment.

The Jaunt App Store listing no longer loads, so the app and its content library are no longer available to new users.

InCell VR

Have you ever wished you could travel into the human body and see what it’s like, but you don’t have a magic school bus or sci-fi shrink ray? Your wish is granted. InCell VR takes you inside the human body for a bit of fun and some education. And it’s all free.

Education doesn’t have to just be done with books and classrooms. Sometimes games can be a more engaging way to learn. InCell VR is actually a game where you are traveling around inside the body collecting points, but along the way you collect knowledge about biology, too. Pretty sneaky, but pretty fun, too.

I wish my high school biology class would have just been a VR game.

InCell VR is still listed on the App Store as a free download, but its last update (version 1.4) dates from November 2016, so expect an old app.

Google Street View (app shut down)

Google Street View has been around for a while now. It was a free app. In fact, anyone with Google Maps can go into street view mode and see any location. This can be extremely helpful when you are about to drive somewhere you haven’t been before. However, what better way to really see the location than by doing it in virtual reality.

Google Street View in VR allowed you to visit just about anywhere in the world. Unlike other 360-degree photo VR apps where you are stuck in the place the photo was taken, you can move around in Street View. You could explore Paris and visit the Eiffel Tower or visit Stonehenge. Street View even has places to explore which you might not expect, like hiking through the Amazon rainforest or swimming by the Great Barrier Reef.

Google shut down the standalone Street View app on Android and iPhone on 21 March 2023. Street View imagery remains in Google Maps, without the VR mode.

Within (app shut down)

Formerly known as VRSE, Within was a repository of virtual reality videos. These are high-quality, well-produced videos that go beyond the quality of most 360 videos on YouTube. Within was story-based VR and had stories that cover a wide variety of subject matter.

Some stories are serious, like news or education videos, and others are fun, like kids stories or music videos and more. The educational videos are so well done that, according to some of the reviews in the Apple App Store, some teachers have started using Within in the classroom. Despite the high production quality, Within was a completely free VR app.

One particularly nice feature of Within is that you can download the stories onto your iPhone 7 Plus so you can watch them when you either don’t have a connection or don’t have wifi and don’t want to use your own data. This can be great for the kids (or adults) on a road trip.

Meta bought Within in 2023, and the Within app shut down in February 2023 so the company could focus on the Supernatural fitness service for Meta Quest.

Discovery VR (no longer on the App Store)

That’s right. Discovery Channel had a VR app. Who doesn’t love watching nature shows on the Discovery Channel? For most people, everything they know about sharks came from watching Shark Week. With the app, you could dive underwater in an immersive 360-degree environment and see those sharks.

Discovery VR also had shows like MythBusters and a wide variety of virtual experiences, including sword fighting, surfing, street dancing, and rollercoasters. As you might expect, being produced by Discovery Channel, the videos and experiences are top-notch, and there was tons of content, and it was all free. Discovery VR even had an offline mode for those times you don’t have wifi.

When we checked, the Discovery VR App Store listing returned “not found”, so it can no longer be downloaded.

Zombie Shooter VR

VR has applications in a lot of fields these days, but its bread and butter is still gaming. Games have continually been trying to increase the realism, and virtual reality is the most recent big step in that direction.

As the app name suggests, Zombie Shooter VR is a first-person shooter game where you fight off the undead. The download is free, but the App Store listing shows a $1.99 “Full Game” in-app purchase (as of 24 September 2026), and the last update is from December 2018. There are a lot of great zombie shooter games, but being in VR gives the added element of 360-degree play. The zombies are all around you, and you have to be watching all directions to protect yourself in this game.

Relax VR

Life can be very stressful and often you don’t have the time or the money to jet off to some island resort for a little rest and relaxation. Now, you don’t have to. You can have your own little private vacation in the office during your lunch break.

Relax VR has several photo-realistic getaway locations to give you the break you need. If the location itself isn’t enough, there’s a guided meditation option to further help you relax and de-stress. Relax VR’s price also won’t stress you out: it cost about $3 when this list was written. Certainly much better than the cost of flying to Aruba and staying in a suite. We couldn’t confirm a current App Store listing for Relax VR, so check the store before counting on it.

Doctors and scientists are even looking into the benefits of using relaxation apps, like Relax VR, to help treat people with anxiety disorders. With the high percentage of people suffering from anxiety and hypertension, VR may be a relatively inexpensive, but effective part of addressing these health issues.

Star Chart VR (no longer on the App Store)

This is a personal favorite of mine. If you’re like me and love astronomy, Star Chart VR may top your list of favorite VR apps. Star Chart VR is a virtual planetarium. It is a paid app, but at a price of $2.99, it’s probably the least expensive planetarium you’ve ever been to. Like real planetariums, you can look around at the various planets, stars, and constellations and enjoy the brilliant night sky in ways most of us normally can’t due to light pollution.

Star Chart VR also has added educational features. You can focus your eyes on various planets, stars, and other astronomical bodies and the app will display information about that object.

Why settle for glow-in-the-dark stars on your ceiling, when you can have a virtual planetarium?

Note: the $2.99 price is from the original review. When we checked, the Star Chart VR App Store listing returned “not found” in the US store, so it can’t be bought there any more.

VR Roller Coaster

It’s time to get your thrill on. VR Roller Coaster will take you on an exciting roller coaster ride without the hour-long wait in line or the $100 ticket price. The download is free, although the App Store listing now describes a trial with a $1.99 full-game in-app purchase (as of 24 September 2026), and the last update is from December 2018. The roller coaster travels through a huge city. There are loops, turns, steep inclines and declines, and everything else you’d expect from a roller coaster.

One of the better features in VR Roller Coaster is that the city-scape and, thus, the roller coaster change every time you load the game. So, every time you load the app and hop on the roller coaster, it delivers a different experience. Since surprise is a great element on a roller coaster, this feature takes this app up a notch.

Sisters: A Virtual Reality Ghost Story

Sisters: A Virtual Reality Ghost Story is…well…a virtual reality ghost story. It creates a creepy atmosphere that will put you on edge and has lots of jump scares to get your heart racing.

While this free app isn’t quite at the level of some of the horror stories and games you can get for Oculus or HTC Vive, if you are into horror, Sisters: A Virtual Reality Ghost Story will still give you a bit of a thrill.

If there’s a downside to Sisters: A Virtual Reality Ghost Story, it’s that it’s pretty short. Also, like most games or movies that rely heavily on sudden images and sounds, the jump scares lose much of their effect the second time around.

The developer’s Sisters page still links to the App Store, but the iOS listing returned “not found” when we checked, so it is unavailable on iPhone for now. For current options, see our list of VR horror games.

Lift Off VR

Space travel for ordinary people is getting closer and closer to being reality. However, we aren’t quite there yet. But that doesn’t mean you can’t fly your own rocket into space. With Lift Off VR you can launch a Falcon Heavy, the SpaceX rocket, into orbit, release your payload, and then land a booster rocket on a landing drone.

This app is part educational experience, part game. You experience the rocket’s launch and ride up with it to watch while a satellite is released. Then you control the booster rocket as you try to land it on a drone. You can learn quite a bit about space travel and have some fun all at the same time. When real-life space travel becomes possible, it will likely cost thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.

It is still listed on the App Store as Liftoff VR for Google Cardboard, free, but its last update (version 3.0) dates from January 2016, so expect an old app.

Which iPhone 7 VR apps still work?

Phone VR on an iPhone 7 is now limited to a handful of old Cardboard apps. If you want VR that is still being developed, a standalone headset doesn’t need a phone at all: Meta’s April 2026 price update lists the Meta Quest 3S from $349.99 in the US. Our list of VR games for iPhone covers other phone options.

Wrap Up

Choose an app before spending money on a viewer. The September 2026 checks found a small remaining library for the iPhone 7, with Google Cardboard supporting iOS 15 and several other apps still listed despite years without updates.

Confirm that your local App Store offers the app and that it installs on your phone. The original roundup shows the range of experiences phone VR once offered; the status table is the useful starting point for deciding what you can try now.

Research behind this guide

Check the linked specifications and support documents, or read how we research. Original review experience stays attributed to its author.

View 15 sources

• Wikipedia: iPhone 7
• Apple Support: Apple security releases
• App Store: Google Cardboard
• Google AR & VR: Google Cardboard
• 9to5Google: Google Store stops selling Cardboard VR headsets (3 March 2021)
• YouTube Help: Watch VR180 and 360-degree videos with Cardboard
• App Store: YouTube
• Wikipedia: Google Street View
• Wikipedia: Within (company)
• App Store: InCell VR (Cardboard)
• App Store: Zombie Shooter VR
• App Store: Roller Coaster VR
• App Store: Liftoff VR for Google Cardboard
• Otherworld Interactive: Sisters, a mobile VR ghost story
• Meta: An update on Meta Quest pricing

Explore the related guides in VR apps.