Restore Samsung Oculus Gear VR email login API or allow users to continue using app without login

[Anyverse]

Presently when you attempt to login to Samsung Oculus Gear VR using the email login option the app displays a 'No network connection' error. I assume this is because legacy Oculus accounts cannot be created since Jan 2023 and now they are Meta accounts only and there is a compatibility issue here.

Please keep live the legacy login API for the Samsung Oculus Gear VR app so users can still login with either their old Oculus account or modern Meta account. If the app is no longer supported, at least keeping the webserver online purely for login purposes will make sure people can continue using the service instead of turning it into technology history. It doesn't require an app update as it would be using the old login endpoint with improved support for meta accounts for users joining after January 2023.

When the Google Stadia service shutdown, Google offered a final software update to allow owners to continue using their Gamepad hardware offline. If Meta does not want to support Gear VR it could try this. It is not possible to use the Gear VR app and access the Universal Menu features fully without signing in e.g. the Library appears empty offline even when apps are installed locally. Alternative workarounds are not user friendly.

The ideal solution will be similar to how you can play locally installed games on a Playstation or Xbox without being signed in and the sign in is required only when you need those extra online gaming features.

As more services come online and naturally come to end of service this should be the default process to allow hardware to be of value many years into the future for users.

Presently connecting a supported device to the headset will direct users to login. If the user cannot login, the device becomes unusable.

[it.hurts.when.ip]

Well said! +1

[mobilty]

The user himself suggested a realistic solution to the problem, even giving an example of the use of such a practice... And not a single response from an official account. Not even from a bot. A distinct characteristic of the quality of tech support and in general the degree of attention to the problem on behalf of the meta.

[equality70802]

Does your Meta account have a linked Horizon profile? I believe you should be able to still log in so long as you at minimum have a Horizon profile.

[Anyverse]

@equality70802Hi. Thanks. I came across the same suggestion before, I created a horizon profile at the same time as the Meta account and the issue still exists. I don't have an old Oculus account as it was created after the change to Meta sign on only in January 2023. Having done some browsing on this forum, others have experienced similar issues

[it.hurts.when.ip]

@MetaQuestSupport Can you please comment on this and offer a solution? 

[YEC1243]

@MetaQuestSupport please

[Metallkiller]

This should be a general policy as this problem will become relevant with each device going out of support. Right now you can still play things on the Quest 1, but what if, at some point, there is a breaking change to the authentication or authorization? Existing Quest 1 devices will be trash.

IMO part of this policy also should be the ability to install an APK (or whatever meta wants to make the app format) manually. Yes newer apps won't work on older devices, but people that go as far as downloading an APK and enabling third-party sources already know what they're getting into.