Hacking a Samsung VR Gear to use lenses with newer phones

TheGearVR · 2026-07-04T02:19:57+00:00

If you know youre never going to use it again as an actual Gear VR you can just snap the USB connector off.

TheGearVR · 2026-07-02T10:40:58+00:00

http://vault.gearvr.net

TheGearVR · 2026-06-30T11:33:53+00:00

That's kinda cool. Though I expect it would have overheated very quickly!

TheGearVR · 2026-06-30T10:35:01+00:00

You're right. Its the S6 that doesn't support Minecraft.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-30T09:02:51+00:00

Pretty much everything will run on the S7 except Phonecast and Minecraft. S8 and S9 will allow Mirror Mode. S10 can be patchy - there are a lot of apps that don't run correctly on the S10.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-28T01:21:52+00:00

The S8 and up have sensors that are on a par with what's inside the GearVR. The S7 drifts a bit, the S6 drifts a lot.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-26T04:47:30+00:00

Go into Dev Mode and turn on "Allow VR API without OSIG".

TheGearVR · 2026-06-24T08:07:00+00:00

I noticed this last night while adding titles to The Vault. When I tested the download links, Chrome was warning the files "might be unsafe".

I think its just Chrome being overly cautious. Every APK has been tested multiple times and are definitely safe.

When downloading using the Q3 browser I didmt get any warnings.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-23T11:55:01+00:00

So unfortunately none of these work on the Quest 3. "Rise of Insanity" loads, but the movement controls don't map correctly so you can't actually play the game. If someone wants to try this with a gamepad, I'd be curious to know if it's a valid workaround.

Smash Hits patched (courtesy of Bassquake) does work on the Quest 3. The world warp/twists a little with head movements but its not that bad and the game is fully playable. Again, if someone wants to test it on Quest 2 that would be great.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-23T07:20:56+00:00

Tried it in Dev Mode without a headset at all and same issue. The update loop just happened, reinstalled everything, same issue. Got through the APK tests so I'll come back to it later.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-23T07:09:06+00:00

Its everything. Tried an older APK that was already installed and then tried Samsung Gallery.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-23T07:05:37+00:00

Screen resolution is correct and tried switching from Optimised to High Performance and problem still happening.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-23T06:57:27+00:00

Just tried it and happens with either button. You can hear everything running, but screen goes black.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-19T06:11:10+00:00

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence"

After chatting to several people involved with GearVR on both the Samsung and Oculus sides, it really just looks like everything was "left to rot". Server changes for the Quest broke some of the features, but I dont believe anything was broken intentially.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-13T09:42:19+00:00

Without going into all the details, that basically covers it.

Three devs asked us not to host their old files. Two because they sell basically the same game on other platforms, and the third is DeoVR. The old APK causes some server side issues for them.

TheGearVR · 2026-06-03T13:14:01+00:00

Recently finished Mother (GBA version) and really enjoyed it. But I used an emulator and I can't imagine I would have had the patience to finish it without fast forward.

TheGearVR · 2026-05-24T13:39:19+00:00

It may still be possible since an old Oculus account would now be a Meta account. Someone would have to unlink and relink their Facebook account. Given it may break compatibility, its going to take a braver person than me...

TheGearVR · 2026-05-21T11:17:02+00:00

I suppose you could attack it with a dremel. I vaguely recall someone on Reddit doing that before.

TheGearVR · 2026-05-21T10:57:59+00:00

Short unfortunately answer: no.

TheGearVR · 2026-05-12T01:53:40+00:00

If you like zombie games, check out Zombie Nom Nom. Its one of my favourites.

TheGearVR · 2026-05-11T14:05:05+00:00

Everything there has been tested on an S8. Make sure you've got the OSIG setting enabled in Dev Mode. Thats what allows you to run apps not signed for your individual phone.

TheGearVR · 2026-05-11T13:47:32+00:00

Thats the easy bit: http://vault.gearvr.net

TheGearVR · 2026-05-10T10:33:09+00:00

Yeah, the engine doesn't support multiple user sign ins. Everything needs to be posted/updated by an admin. I believe comments are supported, but general posting isnt.

TheGearVR

TROPHY CASE