The History of Gear VR and Milk VR — Samsung's Original VR Push

Samsung's virtual reality journey began in 2014 with the Gear VR headset, developed in partnership with Oculus, and the Milk VR app — a curated 360° video player built specifically for it.

Milk VR launched with around a dozen videos spanning travel, music, and aerial footage. Within two years, Samsung rebranded the app to 'Samsung VR' and opened it to user-generated content, letting anyone upload their own 360° videos through the Samsung Creators Program launched in 2016.

By 2017, Samsung VR had grown to host over 8,000 videos and 2,000 premium VR experiences, with content partnerships spanning NYT VR, Discovery, and Comedy Central, positioning it as one of the largest curated 360° video libraries of its era.

Gear VR itself was discontinued around 2020 as Samsung shifted focus and the broader industry moved toward standalone headsets like the Meta Quest line, which needed no phone insert at all. The Samsung VR platform was gradually wound down alongside the hardware.

Today, the 360° video content style that Samsung VR pioneered — travel, documentary, and creator-submitted footage — lives on primarily through YouTube 360°, Vimeo, and content libraries built into modern standalone headsets.

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