Comparison

Google Cardboard vs Notes on Blindness VR

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Google Cardboard

Experience virtual reality on your iPhone. This app guides you through setting up a compatible viewer and offers initial immersive experiences to explore.

Highlights
  • VR viewer setup
  • Introductory VR experiences
  • iPhone compatibility
  • Cardboard viewer integration
Read full description

Cardboard puts virtual reality on your iPhone. The Google Cardboard app helps you set up a Cardboard viewer and includes a few experiences to get you started. To fully enjoy this app you'll need a Cardboard viewer. Learn more and get your own Cardboard viewer at http://g.co/cardboard. Do not use this app while driving, walking, or otherwise by being distracted or disoriented from real world situations that prevent you from obeying traffic or safety laws.

About

Notes on Blindness VR

Experience a virtual reality journey into the world of John Hull, who became totally blind in 1983. This interactive non-fiction app uses original audio diary recordings and 3D animations to explore his cognitive and emotional experience of blindness.

Highlights
  • Virtual reality journey
  • Interactive non-fiction
  • Original audio diary recordings
  • 3D animations
  • Binaural audio
  • Multi-language support
Features
Read full description

Arte Experience presents: Notes On Blindness, a virtual reality journey into a world beyond sight. "A magical VR Experience" - Guardian "Mesmerizing" - Motherboard - Vice "Poetic and timeless" - Le Monde In 1983, after decades of steady deterioration, John Hull became totally blind. To help him make sense of the upheaval in his life, he began documenting his experiences on audio cassette. These original diary recordings form the basis of this six-part VR experience, an interactive non fiction using new forms of storytelling and gameplay mechanics to explore his cognitive and emotional experience of blindness. Each chapter will address a memory, a moment and a specific location from John’s audio diary, using binaural audio and real time 3D animations to create a fully immersive experience in a ‘world beyond sight’. Notes on Blindness VR is viewable with or without virtual reality headset (cardboard mode or smartphone mode). Notes on Blindness VR is available in English, French and German. Runs on iPhone 5 (or later) and Ipad 5 (or later). Requires iOS 9.3.4 or later versions. For full user experience, please use headphones, raise the volume and increase the luminosity of your phone. Notes On Blindness VR is produced by Ex Nihilo, ARTE France, and the French startup AudioGaming, in co-production with Archer’s Mark. It has been supported by the TFI New Media Fund and Ford Foundation – JustFilms, Centre National du Cinéma et de l’Image Animée (CNC) and Région Midi-Pyrénées.

Screenshots

Google Cardboard4 screens
Notes on Blindness VR4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Notes on Blindness VR at 3.8 against Google Cardboard's 2.8. Notes on Blindness VR also leads on update cadence (weekly vs every 3 months) and review sentiment (49% vs 24%). Google Cardboard's advantage is monetization model (free vs paid) and ratings volume (598 vs 10). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Notes on Blindness VR holds the better App Store score, 3.8 against 2.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Google Cardboard has 598 ratings behind it against 10, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 24% of Google Cardboard's written reviews are positive against 49% of Notes on Blindness VR's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Google Cardboard ships an update every 3 months, Notes on Blindness VR weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Google Cardboard versus Notes on Blindness VR: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGoogle CardboardNotes on Blindness VR
PriceFreeFree
Rating2.8 (598 ratings)3.8 (10 ratings) — better
Positive reviews24.2% of reviews48.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings598 — better10
Update frequencyEvery 3 monthsWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.09.1 — better
Further details — not scored
Size60 MB421 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGoogleARTE France Apps

Customer experience

Google Cardboard

All ratings598 ratings
Positive40.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews281 reviews
Positive24.2%
Neutral12.5%
Negative63.3%

Notes on Blindness VR

All ratings10 ratings
Positive70.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative30.0%
Written reviews35 reviews
Positive48.6%
Neutral2.9%
Negative48.6%

Bugs and requests

Google Cardboard

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Constant spinning/shaking on some devices
  • Crashes and freezes on launch
  • Incompatibility with certain VR headsets

Requested features

4 requests
  • More VR games and interactive experiences
  • Ability to view own photos/videos in VR
  • Support for newer iOS versions
  • Improved navigation and controls

Notes on Blindness VR

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

Google Cardboard

No in-app purchases

None

Notes on Blindness VR

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Google Cardboard free?
Google Cardboard is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Notes on Blindness VR free?
Notes on Blindness VR is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Google Cardboard or Notes on Blindness VR?
Notes on Blindness VR is rated higher. Google Cardboard averages 2.8 out of 5 from 598 ratings, while Notes on Blindness VR averages 3.8 from 10 ratings.
Do Google Cardboard or Notes on Blindness VR have ads?
Neither Google Cardboard nor Notes on Blindness VR shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Google Cardboard or Notes on Blindness VR?
Google Cardboard ships an update every 3 months, and Notes on Blindness VR weekly. Most recently, Google Cardboard was updated on September 23, 2026 and Notes on Blindness VR on September 21, 2026.

Other comparisons