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ArthurFox
Participant
October 19, 2016

How to switch between VR and non-VR mode, as in the "Samsung Gear 360" app, with Unity + Android?

Hi there, I'm developing a simple app in Unity and wish to be able to switch between starting in non-VR mode, then switching into VR mode. This is much in the same way as the Samsung Gear 360 app does when you click on the "View on Gear VR" button on the top-right. 

When enabling "Virtual Reality Supported" in the Android tab of the Unity Player Settings, the app will always require the Gear VR to start up, which is less than ideal. And once its running there's no way of switching out of VR, even when a script disables the suggested "VRSettings.enabled" flag, which simply doesn't seem to do anything.

So does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
This topic has been closed for replies.

30 replies

vrdaveb
Inspiring
October 19, 2016
Apps that support VR and non-VR modes today have to use separate APKs and send intents to each other.

At some point, we plan to add support for "dual mode" in a single APK, but it will take changes in VRSVC that we can't expect to land within the next month or two. When dual mode works, you will be able to toggle it with VRSettings.enabled, but unfortunately it isn't clear when that will be.
ArthurFoxAuthor
Participant
October 19, 2016
Ah i see, thanks for the response! Do you know of any tutorials or resources where I could learn how to this sort of thing?

And also is there any sort of roadmap that I can keep up with to know when "Dual Mode" is being tackled and does indeed come through? Because if it were to say come through by January next year then that might not be a problem with the schedule I'm working towards.

Thanks!
vrdaveb
Inspiring
October 19, 2016
> Do you know of any tutorials or resources where I could learn how to this sort of thing?

Have a look at https://developer.android.com/training/sharing/send.html and http://answers.unity3d.com/questions/1040146/is-it-possible-to-open-a-unity-android-app-with-in.html.

> is there any sort of roadmap that I can keep up with to know when "Dual Mode" is being tackled 

Our engine integrations don't have a public roadmap, but dual mode should be working by the end of January.
ArthurFoxAuthor
Participant
October 20, 2016
Great stuff - I look forward to getting the Dual Mode functionality!

Thanks for the help @vrdaveb!

=D
nehaObsessVR
New Participant
January 23, 2017
Hi @vrdaveb, just wanted to check on whether the "Dual Mode" feature is available now. We are developing a similar Android app that needs to start in non-VR regular mode and then have the option to switch to VR mode with the Samsung Gear VR. Thank you!
vrdaveb
Inspiring
January 23, 2017
Unfortunately, dual mode is not on track for this month. Given the current priorities, it would be landing in March at the earliest.
Anonymous
April 6, 2017
Same question here again =P
Where are we on Dual Mode @vrdaveb ? =) 
Anonymous
May 9, 2017
Hi guys, any updates?

Thanks!
Anonymous
May 19, 2017
 :'( :'( 

I'm also interested in this. Any updates?
tejpratap0
New Participant
May 22, 2017
Any Update?
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