Side loading has a been an option for virtual users since headsets first started getting popular. It first started when developers wanted to get their app on a headset to see how it would work, while dodging the big companies crawling through their unfinished product.
Instead of blazing a your own path to side loading on your VR headset, there has been some softwares made to make this already-complicated task a little more doable. There is also softwares that help distribute apps and app updates that the headsets store will not allow for any reason they find reasonable. This is where SideQuest comes in.
The latest version of Virtual Desktop enabled a feature that Oculus didn’t want, or even approve of. Guy Godin, the developer of Virtual Desktop enabled a feature that allowed you stop stream SteamVR to the Quest through the app. This essentially means that anything you bought or have on SteamVR, you could play inside of your Oculus Quest. This was never meant to happen, but Godin made sure it did.
Oculus then asked him to “roll back an update” that allowed this to happen. He did, but he found another way around Oculus and their software preferences, although he was still “receiving user complaints”
Godin and SideQuest have now partnered in bringing the update to Quest users that still want the feature to access SteamVR through their standalone headset. If you already own Virtual Desktop and are wanting the patched version that allows the playing of Steam games, you can visit the SideQuest portal.
The creator of SideQuest Shane Harris was contacted by UploadVR and was asked about the platform war on the Oculus Quest. This is how he responded. “Originally it was intended to provide a way for us to get our game The Expanse to users of the Oculus Quest headset as our submission pitch was declined by Oculus – something we understood as many more well established apps were also being declined. It then struck me that maybe some of those other developers could also benefit from a super easy side loading process with things like drag and drop and several apps inbuilt,” Harris wrote. “SideQuest is a side loading tool at heart and actually works with any android device but it has evolved into an unofficial source for apps that you wouldn’t otherwise get on Quest. I would love to see it fill the niche of a testbed for pre-release/alpha/beta testing or for deploying demos for users to try out. I have no plans to monetize SideQuest like a traditional app store as I don’t want to affect the Oculus bottom line and I would love to work with Oculus to become an alternative route for apps and games that have been declined or otherwise or just want to test cutting edge features. I think there has been a lot of discussion around games being declined and I would love if SideQuest could provide a more positive spin for Oculus and Facebook in those scenarios. I guess i see it as a stepping stone to an application for the full oculus store down the line.”
He clearly is not trying to undermine Oculus, but he does have a vision and that will include Oculus learning to work with him and a solid and more reliable side loading process. For you to access SideQuest you must be recognized as a developer, along with installing even more Android and Oculus-related software to you PC. As mentioned before, to install the side loaded patch of Vital Desktop, you will need to own it in the Oculus Store before anything else. This will save you some waiting time.
In response to the features of SideQuest, Godin responded with this quote. “This was the most requested feature and users loved it,” Godin wrote. “I didn’t want to remove a feature they enjoyed so this was the best way to keep it available for them. I would have preferred if it didn’t require them to side-load as this is a bit complicated but unfortunately Oculus left me no choice.”
SideQuest is meant for developers to be able to use their apps in VR to test and push the limits of the headset, and see what the can do. If every developer strictly went through Oculus, users may never know the full capabilities of the “low-powered” headset. Some apps that won’t even be considered for the Quest but still perform on them well are Google Earth VR, Museum of Other Realities, and Blocks. These apps still performed, although not great, through Virtual Desktop.
There was certainly some lag that impacted the experience, but it was nothing that would stop me, although there are some titles that are simply unplayable through the side loads. Most games and experiences you will notice some lag and latency problems. This usually will have to do with the streaming, rather than the headset not being powerful enough to run the preferred title. This is proved true with Beat Saber being much more difficult through SteamVR rather than the native version on the Quest. We know the Quest is strong enough for Beat Saber, but the side load took some juice away from the game.
This is why a partnership with Oculus to side load could prove to be pivotal in the future of not only the Quest, but any standalone virtual reality headset. Developers will be continue to wonder if their game or experience is too powerful for the Quest, or the side load through SideQuest is not supported enough through Oculus. If there was a much easier way to go about this, we could have more developers make more ground-breaking games. If we continue to limit what developers can use on the Quest, we will continue to have limited games and experiences on the Oculus Quest.
We know that the Rift is suggested to those who get turned away to run their project on the Quest, but these two headsets are completely different. One thing may run great on the Rift (with external sensors and different models of Touch controllers) and run poorly on the Quest. This is a paring we hope to see in the near future.
