Google Cardboard vs CubePaintAR
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- VR viewer setup
- Introductory VR experiences
- iPhone compatibility
- Cardboard viewer integration
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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.
CubePaintAR
This augmented reality coloring book lets you bring 13 different animals to life in real space. Scan a special cube with your device, choose an animal, and paint it with your finger. The animated creatures can be recorded and shared.
- Color 13 different animals
- Augmented reality integration
- Animated animal models
- Adjustable brush size
- Record and share creations
- Requires Merge Cube
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PLEASE NOTE: This app requires a Merge Cube. To find out how to get a Merge Cube and to learn more, visit www.mergevr.com/cube CubePaintAR ist a Coloring Book for kids and adults. You can choose 13 different animals and color them in real space. 1 Select the animal you want to color. 2. Put the Merge Cube on the table or elsewhere. 3. Scan the Merge Cube with your smartphone camera until you can see an animal which you have previously chosen. 4. Choose the desired color with the color palette and start to paint with your finger. 5. You can also adjust the size of the brush for more detailed painting. 6. The animals are animated. Watch them in action if you want. 7. When you are ready, record your result and share your animal with other users on the Everyplay platform.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Google Cardboard at 2.8 against CubePaintAR's 2.1. Google Cardboard also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (598 vs 18). CubePaintAR's advantage is iOS requirement (10.3 vs 15.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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
Both are free to download. CubePaintAR sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Google Cardboard asks for nothing beyond the download.
Google Cardboard holds the better App Store score, 2.8 against 2.1. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Google Cardboard has 598 ratings behind it against 18, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 27% of Google Cardboard's written reviews are positive against 10% of CubePaintAR's.
Google Cardboard ships an update every 3 months, CubePaintAR every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 17, 2026 and October 6, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Google Cardboard | CubePaintAR |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.8 (598 ratings) — better | 2.1 (18 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 26.6% of reviews — better | 10.0% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 598 — better | 18 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 2 months — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 10.3 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 160 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | highlewelt GmbH | |
Customer experience
Google Cardboard
CubePaintAR
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
CubePaintAR
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Google Cardboard
No in-app purchases
CubePaintAR
- Animals$1.99
