Hey everyone!
Cas here, and SideQuest got another major update so the developers asked me to make
a new video.
As I love the work they do, I’m happy to support them with one.
Plus I want to keep my promise to keep you all up-to-date with SQ.
So in this video, we’ll talk about what’s new in this update first, then we will go
through the how to install and sideload guide again but with the new design.
If you already have SideQuest installed, then you don’t need to go through the setup again.
This is just for people who are new here.
But if you are not new to SideQuest, you might be interested in the what’s new section
of this video.
Timestamps are available like always.
If you like to stay informed about VR, subscribe if you haven’t yet.
And now, join me beyond reality.
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So as part of this update, the developer of SideQuest gave the design another overhaul
to make the user experience better.
But it’s mainly to improve discovery and community.
For those new here, SideQuest is the unofficial source for Oculus Quest games and apps that
are not in the official Oculus Store.
SideQuest is not for pirated games, ok, so don’t do that.
I also have to mention that when sideloading, please keep in mind that this is unapproved
content which could potentially harm or damage your device.
If you want to be really safe, also check the Oculus Content Guidelines to check if
you’re not violating anything, because violations can get your Oculus account blocked.
And we don’t want that.
That said, I’ve been using SideQuest myself for years now and I’ve been fine.
So let’s dive into it…
As you open SideQuest, you’ll probably notice the changes immediately, like the browse and
homepage is now merged into one and there are more categories and filters.
They also added a couple of new features.
Like a newsfeed, which you can find by clicking your avatar and then dashboard.
This is a place to get the latest news or updates about games that you’ve added to
your whistlist or games you’ve installed on your Quest.
In the future, the intention is to also find events, like multiplayer sessions, in the
events tab right here.
As a consumer, you can also add news posts, but they do need to be approved by the game’s
developer.
SideQuest also added an easier way to find games that are available on PC VR too, but
this feature is currently in beta though.
And then, we have more filters now, like a dedicated one for WebXR games.
Check that out for sure if you haven’t yet, these are games you don’t even have to download
or install.
You just need to load them in your Quest’s internet browser and you can try them straight
away.
I think that covers most of the major stuff.
But there are actually more quality of life improvements and features even, which you
can read in their Reddit post.
I think the SideQuest team did an awesome job with this!
But, how about we dive into how to install & sideload now.
Ok, so there is one thing to check before you install SideQuest, is that if you’ve
ever done anything with adb or scrcpy before, make sure to remove old versions and remove
any environments variables that you might have added for it.
You can find adb by typing ‘where adb’ in your Windows Command Prompt.
If you’ve never installed anything, you’re good to go…
…Step 1.
Download & Install SideQuest on your PC Okay, go to the first link.
Go to sidequestvr.com/#/setup-howto (hello to my old video haha).
Download the install files for your operating system.
Once it’s done downloading, you can double-click on it to install SideQuest.
Double-click.
Next.
Install.
There’s no need to start it yet because we need to do a few things before we can actually
use it.
Step 2.
Register As A Developer On Oculus To sideload on your Oculus Quest, you have
to put the headset in Developer Mode.
But before you can do that, Oculus requires you to register as a developer and accept
their agreements.
Now, to do this, go to dashboard.oculus.com.
Make sure you are logged in using the same Oculus account that you’re using for your
Quest.
If you’ve never done this before, you should be redirected to this “Create New Organization”
page.
Here you can just fill out the name for your organization.
Click ‘I understand’ and then ‘Submit.’
Here you have to agree to the terms.
Once you’ve agreed, your should be put on this page and your account will now be seen
as a developer account, and it will add some settings to your account that’s otherwise
not accessible.
Step 3.
Install The Drivers Now go to this developer.oculus.com link.
I’ve put the whole link in the description at step 3.
You should go to this page.
Here, you have to accept the terms and click download.
And then go to the downloaded file by clicking here and then ‘Show in folder’
Here you can unzip it.
I’m using 7-Zip for this, which is a free open-source file archiver, but if you’re
on Windows 10, you can also have to option to use the built-in zip-extraction tool that’s
available to you if you right-click the file and then you can click ‘Extract all’ over
here.
Now, go inside the extracted folder until you find the android_winusb.inf file.
So it could be that you don’t see the .inf file name extension like I’m seeing right
here, but that’s okay.
Just make sure you have the android_winusb file.
But if you want really want to make sure, you can also go to ‘View’ and check this
box right here and it will get you the .inf file name extension.
But only do it if you know what it does.
Like right now I’m going to uncheck it so you see can what it looks like.
Just make sure you have this file: android_winusb.
Right-click it.
Click install.
Now you will get a pop-up that asks you to allow this app to make changes.
Just click yes.
And then you’ll see this pop-up that it’s completed successfully and here, you can just
click okay.
Step 4.
Enable Developer Mode and Reboot Now get your Oculus Quest headset, and a smartphone
or a tablet, whatever you installed the Oculus app on.
If you haven’t downloaded the Oculus app yet, you can just find the Oculus app in your
phone’s app store.
But when you got your Oculus Quest, you probably already paired your Quest with the app since
it’s mandatory.
Now, make sure your Oculus Quest headset is booted and turned on.
In the Oculus app, go to ‘Settings’ below.
Then tap on the ‘Oculus Quest’ that should show and wait until it connects.
Then in this drop-down right here, you have to tap ‘More Settings.’
And go to ‘Developer Mode.’
And here, you have to turn on Developer Mode.
I already have it turned on.
Then go back one setting and check ‘Unlock Pattern’.
Here, you have to make sure that you did not turn on ‘Unlock Pattern’ here.
If you see ‘Set Unlock Pattern’ like my screen right here, then you’re fine.
If you do have this on, make sure to turn it off for this process to work.
And now last step here is to reboot your Oculus Quest just in case.
Just hold-press the power off button until you hear this sound [tru dum dum]
Step 5.Connect A USB Cable
We are almost done!
Yay!
But make sure your Oculus Quest is turned on again if you’ve powered it off before.
Now find a compatible USB cable to connect the Oculus Quest to your PC where you downloaded
SideQuest on.
The cable that came with your Oculus Quest, which is the one I have right here, will work
as well.
In my previous video, I said it didn’t work, I think I was confused with something else,
so I stand corrected.
You can use most other USB 3.0 cables too as long as it supports data transfer.
You can try a phone cable, for example.
I’ve also used my official Oculus Link cable as well.
Now connect one end of the USB cable to your Quest and the other end to your PC.
Step 6.
Launch SideQuest & Allow USB Debugging
With your Oculus Quest connected to your PC, you can now start SideQuest.
Before it connects, a prompt in the headset will ask you to allow USB debugging access.
Put on your headset and click allow with your controller.
You have to select ‘Always allow from this computer’ too.
This avoids this message popping up every time you connect a cable.
Now, you might get a couple of other pop-ups inside the headset, depending on if it’s
your first time connecting a USB cable or whether you’re using the Oculus Link cable.
Just make sure that if the pop up asks to allow access to the device with a USB cable,
click allow using your controller.
If it asks to enable Oculus Link, click ‘Not now.’
Once you’ve done that, the SideQuest app on your PC should show at the top left here
that it is connected with this little green dot.
And that’s it for making SideQuest work – you’re now ready to have some fun with
sideloading!
Every step after this is optional and depending on what you want to do.
Again, you can check the timestamps in the description to see if there is something that
you might find useful or just keep watching.
You can now browse the SideQuest app for any games or apps that you would like to try out.
I will also let you know how to do this in the next step but, could you leave me a like
first if you found this video helpful at all?
It would help me out a lot, thank you.
Example APK sideload
Step 7.
Sideloading Games & Apps & How To Launch It (Optional)
The first app I recommend you to install is a handy app launcher.
So with your Oculus Quest still connected to the SideQuest app.
Look for the App Launcher right here in the search field, then just click on the thumbnail,
and right here you will see the ‘Install Latest’ button.
Click on it.
And it will now install on your Oculus Quest directly, and if it succeeds, you will see
a message at the bottom saying that all tasks are completed.
You see?
Here!
Now, if you put on your Oculus Quest.
I will tell you where to find the App Launcher now.
As you can see, the Oculus Quest also got a cool new user interface, so it’s a little
bit different.
The ‘Unknown Sources’ that we have to find is a little bit hidden now.
But to get there, just go to this icon right here.
It’s the app launcher icon.
Then go to ‘All Apps’ right here at the left and then at the top here, you can click
on the ‘All’ drop-down menu.
And if you scroll down here with your joystick.
You’ll find ‘Unknown Sources’ right here now.
And you can see the ‘App Launcher’ right here!
At least I think it’s this one…
Ah, so yes, this is the SideQuest one!
This is just a handy app that allows you to more easily launch any app that you’ve installed
on your Oculus Quest.
Even the sideloaded ones.
So this step works the same for any games or apps that you might want to install via
SideQuest.
But sometimes you might need to install your own APK file; then, you can also pretty easily
do this manually by going to this icon right here.
Click on it and then select the APK file that’s on your computer.
Outro
And that’s it!
You are all ready to get started with SideQuest now.
Just browse through the app to find games you might want to try and… have fun.
As for how to stream and record Oculus Quest videos using SideQuest, this hasn’t changed
so I decided to not add this part again.
If you want to know how to do that, check out our previous guide on it.
I’ve put a link in the description.
Now, I hope this video was helpful and I hope to see you all in the next video.
A special thanks goes to all our Patrons!
And as always, VR on!