Even though the Oculus Login doesn’t work anymore, you can still use and “initialiize” Gear VR in 2024.
Prerequisites:
- a phone capable of Gear VR and a matching Gear VR HMD (Compatibility Guide)
- your phone has to running Android 11 or below
- (a working internet connection)
Guide:
Start by inserting your phone into your Gear VR. It should launch first time setup and prompt you to take it out again. Go through the first time setup and let it download all the necessary Oculus services.
After downloading, you should get prompted to login. From my attempts there isn’t really a way to login, unless you have certain legacy accounts linked to a Meta account properly. But don’t worry - there’s another way.
Go into your phone settings -> apps -> Gear VR Service -> Storage -> Manage Storage. Now tap “VR Service Version” multiple times, until you get a message telling you that Developer mode is now enabled.
You should now see the following settings:
- Developer mode
- Add icon to app list
- Allow VR API without OSIG
- Mirroring mode
If they aren’t enabled already, enable the second and third settings. You should now see “Gear VR Service” in your app drawer. You can use this to launch any installed Gear VR app. Simply install APKs and the apps will show up here.
To launch an app, select it in the Gear VR Service app, and you should be prompted to insert your phone into your Gear VR.
As you aren’t logged into Oculus, Oculus Home won’t work properly. This means you will have to take your phone out of your Gear VR to switch apps.