Problem getting Google Cardboard to work with Galaxy S4

[AustinPaul]

I'm having trouble getting my Google Cardboard to work with my Galaxy S4. I know the problem lies with my phone, because a friend also has a Cardboard unit and his phone works in my Cardboard, as well as in his own, and my phone doesn't work in either unit. Specifically, the magnet on the side of the Cardboard, which is meant to be activated by pulling and releasing to "click," doesn't produce any effect on my phone. (The magnet is supposed to function essentially as an "enter" key, and is intended to allow a user to select among different options in the Google Cardboard app.) I thought perhaps my phone's magnetometer was not operating properly, but I've run some diagnostics, and my phone seems to be sensing magnetic fields well. Also, I've installed a compass app, and after calibrating the compass, it seems to work just fine, which tells me the magnetometer is properly functioning. I can't find any relevant setting to address the problem, either.

Anyone have any ideas about why my phone is not affected by the pull-and-release magnet, and how I could fix this?

 

[mikedt]

Google Cardboard? Wasn't this some April Fools thing, and you can't make it work? I dunno.

 

[libit]

Hi,
I had the same problem with my S4. I actually bought the cardboard from a China shop and they sent me two ceramic magnets. Google design specifies one ceramic magnet on the inside and one neodymium magent (with a hole to be more easy to pull) on the outside. Apparently the ceramic magnet I got was too weak and below the threshold necessary for its movement to be recognised as a pull by the S4.
I tried with neodymum magents (from kids toys) and the S4 reacted perfectly, but unfortunately they didn't have the proper shape (disc) for the cardboard.
So I ended up glueing together the two ceramic magents (putting them together they are strong enough) and using them on the outside. And glueing one of my small neodymium magnet on the inside (where shape is not so important), and this works fine for me now.