Google is purging the Play Store of unofficial Cardboard apps

Google unveiled Google Cardboard last year as an affordable alternative to high-end virtual reality headsets that can make virtual reality more accessible, and even though it didn’t make a big deal about the launch, it still trademarked the “Cardboard” name, and now its starting to defend that trademark. Earlier today, the company started purging the Google Play Store of virtual reality apps that featured the name “Cardboard” in their titles, though it’s not clear why it’s only just now getting around to doing this. 

Google is reportedly pulling virtual reality apps from its Google Play Store for featuring ‘cardboard’ in their titles. The company behind Android is famous for taking a much more hands-off approach to policing its mobile app store than Apple. However, a new report suggests that it’s taking a much tougher approach when it comes to VR. According to Variety, Google has removed a number of apps over their use of the word ‘cardboard.’ Cardboard, of course, is Google’s own cheap and cheerful VR system, which involves slotting a smartphone into a flatpack VR headset. It’s been viewed as a fun little experiment in the past, and was even seen as a bit of a joke at the time of its release in 2014. Google clearly isn’t laughing any more, though. The report claims that Cardboard VNC, Cardboard Theater and Cardboard Catapult are among the apps to have trodden on Google’s trademark toes. The fact that Cardboard Theater has since been renamed VR Theater for Cardboard after the developer received feedback from Google says a lot. It suggests that Google isn’t bothered with the use of ‘cardboard’ in app titles as such, so long as the distinction is made that it’s for the VR system rather than a part of it.