Google Cardboard vs HeadTrack
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.
HeadTrack
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This app allows using your phone as a head tracking device for games on your PC. Works with games which support FreeTrack 2.0 protocol but can also connect directly with Opentrack. Many flight or racing simulation games support head tracking. HeadTrack on your phone can be your head tracking device, no additional hardware is required. HeadTrack tracks your head movement and rotation which is sent to your games. The HeadTrack app on your phone supports Gyroscope or Camera as input. The Gyroscope input has very little latency which makes it good for quick movements. The Camera input supports full 6DoF tracking. Supported Inputs • HeadTrack (recommended) - Available for iOS with Gyroscope or Camera. • Opentrack App - Connect any app which is compatible with Opentrack. • Live Link App - Another alternative iOS app with camera input Supported Outputs • FreeTrack (recommended / Windows only) - Head tracking data is sent to games which support FreeTrack 2.0. This should work with most games which support head trackers. • Opentrack - Head tracking data is sent to Opentrack on this PC. This is useful if you already have Opentrack set up. • FlightGear - Plugin for FlightGear • X-Plane - Plugin for X-Plane 9+ Supported Games Most games which support head tracking should work with HeadTrack. Some games we can confirm are working: Arma 3, BeamNG.drive, FlightGear, X-Plane. In your game, look into the settings if there is any support for FreeTrack or similar head tracking devices. If there is any input or output you would like to see added, let us know!
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: HeadTrack at every 5 weeks against Google Cardboard's every 3 months. 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Google Cardboard ships an update every 3 months, HeadTrack every 5 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Google Cardboard | HeadTrack |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.7 (679 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 26.6% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 679 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months | Every 5 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 14.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 60 MB | 44 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Thomas Vos | |
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
HeadTrack
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Google Cardboard
No in-app purchases
HeadTrack
No in-app purchases
