Below is a step-by-step guide for authoring, publishing, and distributing an Oculus Quest app. With InstaVR, you can do all of this easily and without coding, making VR apps for the Quest in minutes or hours, not days. We’ll update this as Oculus expands Quest publishing options for our clients.
Please note some of the features of Quest publishing can be utilized via your free InstaVR trial account or by upgrading to InstaVR Pro. However, many features are reserved for InstaVR Enterprise clients. This includes uploading and using non-.jpg/.png/.mp4 file formats such as STL or OBJ, adding 3D objects to scenes, and making objects movable within the VR scenes. To inquire about InstaVR Enterprise, please contact your InstaVR sales rep or our Customer Success team.
Let our support team know if you have any questions or need any assistance with these instructions.
How to Create An Oculus Quest App
Creating an Oculus Quest app is very similar to the authoring process for Oculus Go, Samsung Gear VR, mobile apps, WebVR, etc. Please reference this InstaVR Authoring Guide for the basics of adding Navigation Links, Hotspots, adding your branding, and much more.
A couple of things to note specific to Oculus Quest:
– InstaVR apps are compatible with the Oculus Touch controllers. The Touch controller integration happens automatically. You won’t see the two hand-held devices in your authoring pane while creating the app, only in the completed app.
– There’s no official size limitations given by Oculus on apps. Do keep in mind though that while authoring large apps (ie over 200 MB), you’ll need to select “Online + Download” in the upper right of the authoring window. See below. The first time the app is opened, assuming the Quest is connected to the Internet, the headset will download the entirety of the contents of the VR experience for later offline use. Quest headsets can be as small as 64 GB, so do keep that in mind when planning how big your app will be.
– We have released a Live Previewer for Oculus Quest. It can be accessed by pressing the “Play” button on the left hand part of the InstaVR authoring console. There, you can download an InstaVR Live Previewer app, and sideload it onto your Oculus Quest.
Live Previewer allows you to see in real-time changes you make in InstaVR Authoring on the Oculus Quest. Rather than packaging and loading the app to see final app results, it gives you a look into what the finished app will be — a live preview. Please note Live Previewer does require your headset to be connected to WiFi to work.
How to Publish an Oculus Quest App
Just like with packaging any other app type on InstaVR, you’ll click on Package on the left hand section of the authoring screen after you’ve finished designing your Quest app. Then you’ll select “Oculus Quest” from the headset publishing choices.
You can expand the additional pre-packaging options by hitting the “Show” button in the Oculus Quest packaging section. Please note we default to the most common options selected by our clients, including “Marker and Teleport”, “Rotate Camera”, and “Use Original” for video resolution.
As of September 2019, you do not need to make any changes to the far right category under “Show”. Quest apps are not being distributed privately via the Oculus Cloud or Release Channels yet. That’s an Oculus Go-only distribution option. So let that section default to “InHouse” for app type.
Once you’re done authoring your app, you can press the “Make Package for Oculus Quest” blue pill button to start packaging. The page will then give you updates on the progress of the packaging and estimated size. You DON’T need to keep this page open. Because Oculus Quest apps built using InstaVR Pro and InstaVR Enterprise tend to be large, packaging can take anywhere from a few minutes all the way up to even a half hour.
You’ll get an email once your Oculus Quest app is packaged up and ready to be downloaded.
How to Distribute an Oculus Quest App
As of September 2019, the only way to get your Oculus Quest app onto your headset is via a USB cable and running an ADB (Android Debug Bridge) script. The process is virtually identical to that of “sideloading” an Oculus Go app created using InstaVR on a Go headset.
As you’ll see from linked instructions above, you’ll need: 1. Physical access to the Oculus Quest headset 2. A USB cable 3. The InstaVR-generated Oculus Quest .apk file downloaded to your computer 3. Android Debug Bridge (ADB) Software on your computer
And here is a quick summary of the steps covered in more detail via the above link:
– Log into your InstaVR Account. Download the .apk Oculus Quest file you’ve packaged.
– Connect your Oculus Quest to your laptop via USB cable.
– Run the Android Debug Bridge script to transfer the Oculus Quest .apk from your computer to the headset.
– Open your headset to confirm the app has been added to your library. Launch app!
Below is a quick video overview of loading the app via ADB we made when the Oculus Go was released last year. All the steps still apply for the Oculus Quest. And check back here periodically, as we’ll update this page as Oculus makes available new methods of distributing Oculus Quest apps. Thanks for reading!
