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Facebook account required?

EarlGrey
Expert Protege
I decided to purchase a GearVR headset, I look on the box but could not find any indication that a facebook registration was required... but it was one of the first obstacles I encountered. I was almost like inevitable that I had to register for facebook to get my gear vr working.
I did google what was going on, and what was happening is that I had already disabled all of the facebook services on my phone, they were stone cold dead, because that's how I like face book, stone cold dead, I stone want to use facebook, never used them and dont want to use them.
And then I buy gear vr, from samsung and oculus, and I can't use it without having facebook installed.... they want access to my photos, phone numbers, and god knows what else.
I want a refund, please send me $110 to my paypal account, thank you, you're  breaking the EU law here, totally. Next step is going to my government complaining about this, because this is illegal, perfectly illegal, to force a membership to something that is not advertised. 
46 REPLIES 46

kernow
Heroic Explorer

kojack said:

f3bogg8wxxdn.jpgHere's my phone installing GearVR. I've never had a facebook account.

The bit in the red circle is for Oculus accounts, NOT FACEBOOK. You already have an Oculus account, that's how you've been posting on here for 3 years.


To be fair, the way that that-part is written is rather ambiguous. "Don't have Facebook? Sign in or Create account" could be interpreted as referring to Facebook since a new context has not been established. A better phrasing would be, "Don't have Facebook? Sign in using your Oculus account, or Create a new Oculus account"

It's a bit of slightly pedantic copy clarification, but when you know people *do not* want to use Facebook, the little extra clarification will help prevent losing the few users who would be confused by the ambiguity.

Another bit is that, considering how prominent the "Continue Using Facebook" is, the alternative sign-in method in that screen shot more-or-less is fine print. The alternative method should be more prominent than it currently is... You don't want to lose potential customers due one part of your text (which is considered a no-go for some people) out-competing the only other way forward. It doesn't matter if the parent company is Facebook, you want potential customers to choose either path, not a third path that takes customers away from you completely.

This is all basic website design fundamentals. Not sure why the designers of that page ignored this.

Richooal
Consultant

kernow said:

To be fair, the way that that-part is written is rather ambiguous. "Don't have Facebook? Sign in or Create account" could be interpreted as referring to Facebook since a new context has not been established. A better phrasing would be, "Don't have Facebook? Sign in using your Oculus account, or Create a new Oculus account"

It's a bit of slightly pedantic copy clarification, but when you know
people *do not* want to use Facebook, the little extra clarification
will help prevent losing the few users who would be confused by the
ambiguity.


Well said. I completely agree.

i5 6600k - GTX1060 - 8GB RAM - Rift CV1 + 3 Sensors - 1 minor problem
Dear Oculus, If it ain't broke, don't fix it, please.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

kernow said:
To be fair, the way that that-part is written is rather ambiguous. "Don't have Facebook? Sign in or Create account" could be interpreted as referring to Facebook 



LMAO - wow. How could it be referring to Facebook when it is clearly giving an option for those who "don't have Facebook"??

For you to be correct, someone would have to read it this way:
"Don't have Facebook? Sign in using Facebook anyway! If it still doesn't work, Create a new Facebook Account."

The first option is to "sign in." It suggests signing in as an option for those who do not have Facebook. Sign in with what? There should be zero confusion.

People will argue about anything these days, goodness. Personally, I do not think that the wording has to be changed. This is a good way to weed out those who aren't mentally strong enough to own technology.

Yeah, this is very common these days - sign in with your Facebook account, your Google +, your this, your that

...so we can connect up the dots and track your every move...    😐
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

kojack
MVP
MVP
You have to go through almost the exact same thing just to log in to this forum.
sgwr0e3s9au3.jpg

While the "Create account" bit in the Gear VR may have been a bit confusing to some people and is better in the forum version, the "Don't have Facebook? Sign in" makes zero sense to mean sign in to facebook.

He could have just asked "Is it possible to use GearVR without a facebook account?" and one of us would have responded with something like "Sure, under the facebook button is an oculus account sign in, use your forum email/password". End of story.
At least wait until a response of "HAHAHA, Facebook scammed you! We have your money!" before jumping to government involvement.





Author: Oculus Monitor,  Auto Oculus Touch,  Forum Dark Mode, Phantom Touch Remover,  X-Plane Fixer
Hardware: Threadripper 1950x, MSI Gaming Trio 2080TI, Asrock X399 Taich
Headsets: Wrap 1200VR, DK1, DK2, CV1, Rift-S, GearVR, Go, Quest, Quest 2, Reverb G2

EarlGrey
Expert Protege
I was unable to use GearVR without enabling the facebook services on my phone. I had disabled anything facebook related, all their services, and remove any apps I could remove from my phone because I don't agree with their terms and conditions, privacy policy, etc and simply don't want to use their platform.

I was forced to enable these same facebook services because gear vr won't work without them.

There is no statement about gear vr requiring facebook services to work.



EarlGrey said:

I was unable to use GearVR without enabling the facebook services on my phone. I had disabled anything facebook related, all their services, and remove any apps I could remove from my phone because I don't agree with their terms and conditions, privacy policy, etc and simply don't want to use their platform.

I was forced to enable these same facebook services because gear vr won't work without them.

There is no statement about gear vr requiring facebook services to work.





Ah, there was a ton of threads about this on the Gear VR section, probably 18 months ago now (went on for a while).  I don't believe cyber ever confirmed it but plenty were saying it happened to them.

cyber usually said it was to do with firmware required (from your carrier) for the phone/Gear VR to work at all.  That tells me the firmware comes from the carrier's servers?  Not sure - maybe software is now coming from Facebook's servers and that is the issue?  It could be a specific service (Facebook related), not Facebook's app?

So once you've installed it, got things working, then can you delete the facebook stuff?
Big PC, all the headsets, now using Quest 3

kernow
Heroic Explorer

Zenbane said:

People will argue about anything these days, goodness. Personally, I do not think that the wording has to be changed. This is a good way to weed out those who aren't mentally strong enough to own technology.


I disagree on the "weeding out" anyone isn't "mentally strong" bit.
If Nathan and Mimsy want to use the Rift, they should be able to figure it out with no problem — no reason to limit it to those at, or above, Cartman's level.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

kernow said:
I disagree on the "weeding out" anyone isn't "mentally strong" bit. 
If Nathan and Mimsy want to use the Rift, they should be able to figure it out with no problem — no reason to limit it to those at, or above, Cartman's level.



There are plenty of reasons. Clogging up the Support Queue is one of them.

It's the same reason blind people can't drive cars.

Richooal
Consultant

Zenbane said:


It's the same reason blind people can't drive cars.


There's no artificial barrier when it comes to blindness and driving. There are limits set by law.

However, weeding out those who aren't mentally strong enough to own technology seems to be an egotistical view. Some see themselves as better than others because they understand something the other does not.

It's my view that technology's task is to make complex processes available to the whole population as far as is possible. I certainly don't understand the process of getting a picture on my TV screen or how to build one, but I, and other stupid people, can use one very well.
Having said that, early adopted technology is not for everyone, but it will be.



i5 6600k - GTX1060 - 8GB RAM - Rift CV1 + 3 Sensors - 1 minor problem
Dear Oculus, If it ain't broke, don't fix it, please.