Getting started with VR App Distribution via EZ360 on Oculus Go / Quest
This guide explains how you can start making use of EZ360 for the distribution, management and playback of custom VR application (.apk files) for Oculus Go. For more information about this functionality, checkout this page about VR App Distribution.
Need help or have questions? Feel free to reach out to us at info@ez-360.com.
Video tutorial: https://youtu.be/hNtfgJ2r7sk
Step 1: Register to EZ360
The first step is to create your own EZ360 account and login. Here you can store your application(s) and manage all your connected VR headsets.
Step 2: Upload and setup your application file
The second step is to upload your custom VR application(s) to your account. For this you need to login to your account and hit the “Start Upload” button. After the upload has been completed you can find your application(s) under the “Content & Playlists” tab. Here you can click on the pencil icon to change the name of the application, upload a thumbnail and assign the application to a playlist. In order to make sure that the application becomes available on your VR headsets you have to assign it to a playlist. You could create several playlists (and device groups) to organize different VR applications over different VR headsets. This could be useful to for example distribute different language versions or entirely different applications over different VR headsets (from different clients).
Step 3: Install the EZ360 VR Player application
For the third step, you need to turn on your Oculus Go VR Headsets. Make sure they are connected to a Wi-Fi network and find the “EZ360 VR Player” application in the Oculus Store. Download and install the application.
Step 4: Connect the VR headset to your EZ360 account and download your VR applications
Open the application for the first time and accept the permissions. After the loading screen disappeared, choose “login” to connect the VR headset to your EZ360 account. Here you will be asked for your personal pairing code, which you can find under the “Devices tab” when logging in to the online web portal on a computer again (see the image below). After you entered your pairing code, the headset will start downloading the content that you prepared for your account. As soon as this is finished it will either try to open the content right away (if it is just a single VR application) or it will open a content selection screen where you can choose which content you would like to start. The VR applications are downloaded to the device, but need to be installed before they can be played.
You should already find your connected VR headset under the “Devices” tab in your EZ360 account now.
Step 5: Enable developer mode (if not yet enabled)
By default, Oculus prevents that VR applications that are not publicly available in the Oculus store can be installed to the device. However, to support developers, they do allow the installation of third-party applications when the VR headset is put in “developer mode”. This does not change anything to how the VR headset works, but only adds additional functionality to play third-party applications.
Here you can find an article on how to enable developer mode: https://ez-360.com/knowledge-base/how-to-enable-developer-mode-oculus-go-quest/
Step 6: Install your VR applications (if not already done)
Note: If your headsets already had the application(s) installed (under unknown resources), you should be able to skip this step.
To install VR applications that have been downloaded to your device by EZ360 you need to connect your headset to a computer using USB. Make sure the headset is turned on and “awake” when doing this. If the headset asks for permission to connect to the PC, accept it.
After you connected your headset to your PC, you will need to run a simple computer application that will install all VR applications that were downloaded by EZ360 from your account. You can find the computer application here: www.ez-360.com/apk-installer. Download the file, unzip it somewhere on your PC and run the file “install”. If you get a Microsoft Defender safety warning, press more information and Execute anyway to open the install file. If the installation does not start, close the install prompt and try opening it again.
Wait until the install program is finished with pulling and installing the VR applications to the VR-Headset and close the program.
Step 7: Play your VR applications!
After this you should be able to play the VR application(s) through the EZ360 VR Player application! If you have multiple, you can select which one to play from the content selection screen, see image below. If you have just one application, it will start automatically.
Bonus: If you want to have your VR application startup automatically when the headset boots up, without the need to select the EZ360 VR Player from the VR Headset main menu, follow our guide to setup kiosk mode with EZ360!
If you want to delete content from your VR device(s) again, simply unpair the headsets from your account either from the headset itself or through the online web portal. If you want to add more VR applications later on, you will need to:
- Upload the apk file(s) to your account and assign it to a playlist.
- Open the EZ360 VR Player to download the content.
- Press the “install” file again on your PC after connecting the VR headset.
Video tutorial:
This is relatively new functionality that we offer through EZ360, and also the Oculus operating system is unfortunately not very cooperative on this part (yet). We’re expecting that this functionality will become more convenient from 2021 onward after Oculus launches its business platform and own sideloading tool. We’re on top of the latest development and always aim to make life easier for your VR project. Also, we’re working on support for the Pico headsets, which already should make VR app distribution a lot easier.
Encounter issues or have questions? Feel free to reach out to us at info@ez-360.com!