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Is the Gear VR already dead? Can it still be installed and used in 2020?

FunKing
Expert Protege
Hi there!

Can anyone still install and use the Gear VR in 2020?

I've been using the Gear VR since 2016, and until a few months ago, it was still working fine on my Note 4 (even though it isn't officially supported anymore). I tried to put it to good use again, so I did a factory reset on the phone and reinstalled the Gear VR software. Unfortunately, I could not get past the login screen (as I've seen reported by other users on this forum as well). I managed to restore an older version of the software (Oculus Horizon 3.38) from a backup and pass that step, but afterwards I could neither update nor install any VR app (another complaint I've seen from other users). FWIW, I looked at the logcat and this problem seems to be caused by a missing API in the latest Facebook app, but I didn't try to downgrade it, too.

I've
invested a bit on my Gear VR (US$ 100), such as extra padding (US$ 35),
cooling fan (US$ 55), controller (US $38) and about US$ 100 in apps. That's almost US$ 330 that I can't use
anymore, apparently due to planned obsolescence...

I opened a support ticket, but the answer was "We will have more information to share about Gear VR in the coming months", and "The only other suggestion I can provide is to try one of the phones that is still supported" (Galaxy A9 2018, Galaxy S9, Galaxy S9+, Galaxy Note 9, Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10+, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy S10 5G).

So it seems I'm out of luck... and also, that makes me think: if I invest my money in the Oculus Quest, will the same thing happen again in the future?

5 REPLIES 5

Umpa_PC
Rising Star
It seems Oculus is developing a track record of abandonment.  The same has happened to DK1, DK2, Rift and now GearVR.  I have a GearVR running on an S7 edge, I have not needed to reinstall but was working fine a few weeks ago.


Oculus Rift S - Oculus Quest 128GB
MSI trident 3 7RB-200UK Intel Core i5-7400 3 Ghz x2
MSI GTX 1050 Ti (4GB) & MSI Aero GTX 1060 OC (6GB) & MSI Aero GTX 1070 OC 8GB
16 GB RAM x2, 1TB HDD x2, 1TB SSD x2
Windows 10 Home Edition Version 10.0.18363 Build 18363, Oculus version 17, Quest Version 17
Fan Cooling by Zotac FireStorm - AfterBurner cause me problems.

keshavbhatt68
Explorer

Umpa_PC said:

It seems Oculus is developing a track record of abandonment.  The same has happened to DK1, DK2, Rift and now GearVR.  I have a GearVR running on an S7 edge, I have not needed to reinstall but was working fine a few weeks ago.




its not working today, setup process stuck in middle. while downloading components.

itsbusinesstime
Honored Guest
I'm in a similar boat, facebook/oculus doesn't give a shit, they forced us to create an account so they can collect data but have been incredibly useless for customer support, my headset is just a piece of plastic now.... even this support box doesnt work correctly on mobile

I'm having same problems.. apps won't install or update at all on gear vr.   I attempted the same things that everyone suggested and I even did a factory resest and installed everything fresh.  I'm still unable to download or update any apps.  THe same exact issue, they download, but fail to install.

jaymackenziegazik
Honored Guest

google reddit and gearvr ...in short use .apks instead of store apps and it will work again

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