Google reportedly working on an Android-powered virtual reality platform

Virtual reality seems to be the new craze in the tech world, and it’s been growing in popularity ever since Oculus created its Rift headset. Samsung has offered up two different variants of its Gear VR headset, and we just saw HTC’s new Vive headset, created in partnership with Valve. Even Google made its way into the space with the launch of its Cardboard platform last year. But according to a new report from The Wall Street Journal, Google is developing a platform to reach more users than Cardboard ever could.

According to “sources familiar with the matter”, Google has assembled a group of engineers to bring Android to the virtual reality world. The report states:

Those people said Google has “tens of engineers” and other staff working on the project. Google plans to freely distribute the new operating system, they said, mimicking a strategy that has made Android by far the most popular operating system for smartphones, powering more than one billion phones.

At MWC 2015, Google’s Sundar Pichai commented on the virtual reality space, explaining that he thinks VR has many use cases in our world today. Pichai didn’t comment on Google progressing into the VR field, especially with Android. But still, considering Pichai’s enthusiasm on the topic, a more advanced move to the virtual reality world might make sense for the company. Just over the past few years, Google has brought its OS down different avenues like Android Auto, Android TV and even Android Wear.

But for now, Android VR is just a rumor, so we’ll need to wait and see what the company presents in the future.

Appeer will give you custom app recommendations based on people similar to you

Great applications can come and go in a moment’s notice, and if you aren’t constantly sorting through the Google Play Store, odds are you’ll miss a few. Appeer aims to change that by recommending apps to you based on people similar to you.

Here’s how it works: Appeer will look over your app inventory as well as the app inventories of people with similar interests. If three or more of those users have an app that you don’t, you’ll get a recommendation. Plus, Appeer’s unique algorithm auto-follows users for you, so the app recommendations will keep rolling in. Of course, the app also allows you to follow whomever you’d like, which brings a more social aspect to the recommendation service. The only downside to following others is that you’ll need to create a new username for Appeer, so you won’t be able to find your Google+, Facebook or Twitter friends unless you have their Appeer username.

Your Timeline shows all of the apps recommended to other users in your personal social stream. If you find an app that’s worth downloading, click it, and you’ll be launched into the Google Play Store. There’s also a handy bookmarking feature, and the ability to receive push notifications if you’d like.

I’ve only used Appeer for a few hours, and I’m already getting quite a few useful recommendations. If you think you could benefit from the service, head to the Google Play link below to download it for free.