[SKYBOX VR PLAYER] Important Announcement: SKYBOX will soon become a paid app

[Skybox.xyz]

Hello, everybody. This is Zixiong, CEO of Source Technology.

It's been six years since my first experience with VR. For all these years, I have believed that HMDs (AR & VR) are the computing platform for the next generation. It is based on this belief that we created SKYBOX. We wanted to create the most immersive video viewing experience.

We started to work on SKYBOX in 2016. It's been 4 years now. However, we have always maintained the Alpha/Beta status for SKYBOX, because we understand that there are still many things that can be improved, although SKYBOX is already the highest rated VR video player by user ratings.

We are still not quite satisfied with what we have done with SKYBOX. Our to-do-list is still long. I believe we share the same higher expectations towards SKYBOX with many of our users, like videos with 6DOF, a photo gallery, better compatibility, online videos, etc..

These features require much more manpower and energy than we currently have. So we have decided to start charging money for SKYBOX in order to support our further development.

1. The change will begin on May 18th 2020, including Steam and all the Oculus platforms, safe for Cardboard and Mi VR.

2. The initial price will be 14.99 USD.

3. For those of you we have already downloaded SKYBOX for free prior to May 18th 2020 can keep using it for free without any additional charges or changes.

4. The free version will also get the exact same updates as the paid version.

5. Before we have found any other better business models, we will just keep this pre-paid charging method. However, we reserve the right to further raise the price or return to free in the future. We hope you guys can understand. This is just another business decision.

6. If you guys wish to keep SKYBOX free, but want to support us in our development. We now have a Patreon account: https://www.patreon.com/skyboxplayer

We hope this plan can cover our development cost and let us make SKYBOX better.

Thank you.

Zixiong

[Skybox.xyz]

wuzp said:

hasson.rashad said:

Did you already remove it from the Oculus store?

And I thought I was doing something wrong!  Went looking for it the day of the OP but couldn't find it, either.

We didn't remove it.
We don't know what's wrong with the store page and we are contacting Oculus now. 

[RuneSR2]

It hasn't been removed - it's right here:

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1393269044113553/

[wuzp]

RuneSR2 said:

It hasn't been removed - it's right here:

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1393269044113553/

That link is only to the RIFT store version.

[RuneSR2]

wuzp said:

RuneSR2 said:

It hasn't been removed - it's right here:

https://www.oculus.com/experiences/rift/1393269044113553/

That link is only to the RIFT store version.

Steam? (Works on Quest and Rift too)

https://store.steampowered.com/app/721090/SKYBOX_VR_Video_Player/

Quest:
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2063931653705427/

Go:
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/go/1256687334386627/

GearVR:
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/gear-vr/1256687334386627/

[wuzp]

• If I click the "Quest" link on my phone, it opens the app and it says "Platforms: Rift"
• If I click the "Quest" link from my PC, it opens the store webpage and says "Platforms: Quest"

I think I'll wait for the official word from @"Skybox.xyz" because we still need an explanation; and all those links did is open up more questions.

[Skybox.xyz]

wuzp said:

• If I click the "Quest" link on my phone, it opens the app and it says "Platforms: Rift"
• If I click the "Quest" link from my PC, it opens the store webpage and says "Platforms: Quest"

I think I'll wait for the official word from @"Skybox.xyz" because we still need an explanation; and all those links did is open up more questions.

Have you managed to download the Quest version before it switched to paid version?
We asked Oculus about why the "Purchase" button is missing and they know nothing about it either.
But on May 16th the "Purchase" button is back. 

[cigaremoods]

Hello,

I have just read your advertisement, the transition from free to paid for your application.

It is normal, all work deserves a salary.

But during the period of free distribution of your application how were you paid?

Did you make a profile of the users that you resell, as does facebook without any qualms about the privacy of individuals?

Otherwise, to return to the application that I use with pleasure, simple and fairly reliable.

But there is still a lot to do to reach a good level and therefore a good price.

Skybox manages very few video formats / containers.

The horizontal menu bar is superimposed on the film image. Impossible to move
.

To have discussed it with other users, the interface, as and when the use / navigation in the directories undergoes a drift on the left, it is necessary regularly to center the menu by means of the Oculus recentering.

During the diffusion of a film also the image does not remain stable compared to the chosen positioning, it must be refocused. Slide also on the left.

During the broadcasting of a classic 3D film (not VR), the size / proportion of the image, depending on the scenes, does not remain the same.

The application has an international distribution, there is no translation in local languages. At least the most spoken in the world.

cordially

[kojack]

cigaremoods said:

To have discussed it with other users, the interface, as and when the use / navigation in the directories undergoes a drift on the left, it is necessary regularly to center the menu by means of the Oculus recentering.

During the diffusion of a film also the image does not remain stable compared to the chosen positioning, it must be refocused. Slide also on the left.

Are you using a Go? The Go has natural yaw drift due to being only 3DOF with no fixed reference point, it needs to be recentred occasionally.

[Skybox.xyz]

cigaremoods said:

1. Did you make a profile of the users that you resell, as does facebook without any qualms about the privacy of individuals?
We did not sell infos to anyone before and we will NEVER do that in the future.
SKYBOX complies with GDRP by all means. 
The only analytics tools we use are the Oculus embedded analytics and Fabric, which helps us to make a better decision in terms of product design.

2. Skybox manages very few video formats / containers.

SKYBOX supports most video formats in the market. If you could tell us which ones we don't support, we will study and see how we could support them in the future. 

3.To have discussed it with other users, the interface, as and when the use / navigation in the directories undergoes a drift on the left, it is necessary regularly to center the menu by means of the Oculus recentering.

Please try recalibrating the gyroscope on your device. The drifting is caused by the gyro in the hardware device and we honestly can do nothing about it. However, in SKYBOX, we provide an option "Lock Screen" in Advanced Setting which will lock the screen always at your front. It will block the drifting when you turn on the option. 

4. During the broadcasting of a classic 3D film (not VR), the size / proportion of the image, depending on the scenes, does not remain the same.

You could set the screen size and the aspect ratio according to your preference in Advanced Setting. The screen is by default larger in Void theatre than in the Space Station and Moon theatres. 

5.The application has an international distribution, there is no translation in local languages. At least the most spoken in the world.

Which language are your referring to please? We support English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Russian now. 

Cheers and looking forward to your reply.

[ViperControl]

I have the Oculus GO and I have used the Skybox app often to watch movies.  I was thinking on buying the Oculus Quest in the near future;  after,  I found out that I would have to paid extra $15 for Skybox.  I am thinking that this is a deal killer.   I am not going to take $500 to paid to the equipment; then, $15 extra for Skybox.   I think that Skybox CEOs should have made a deal with oculus CEOs to get the $15 from the cost of the equipment.   

Is there an good alternate solution to Skybox?