I already mentioned this last Friday, but Oculus released a brand new feature called
App Sharing & Multi-Accounts or you can call it Family Sharing, and it’s available now.
They announced it in this blog post.
But I have to say.
This is one confusing post, especially this fine print.
So I am hoping to simplify things with this video.
I tested a couple of use cases out with two Quest 2’s, and I think I’m ready to answer
your most asked questions.
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First of all, here’s a simple explanation.
With this update, you can now add multiple accounts to your Quest 2.
This is nice because then, for example, you don’t have to wait until a family member
finishes a game before you can reset the save progress and play it.
Each account will also have its own scores, achievements, screenshots, etc.
And when you play multiplayer games, it’s nice because every account will have its own
names and avatars.
You can even buy some games once and play it on two accounts together, but there are
limitations, which I will explain in a bit.
One thing to keep in mind is that every person needs to login with a Facebook account for
this to work.
And as this is still experimental, this was not rolled out to Quest 1 yet.
So, unfortunately, if you have a Quest 1, you have to wait for now.
But I’ll keep you updated on this channel as always.
Let me show you how to turn it on first.
To do this, put on your Quest 2.
Go to Settings > Experimental Features > turn on Multiple Accounts & Library Settings.
(If you don’t see this by the way, make sure you are on software version 25 or up
first).
Then the submenu ‘Accounts’ will be added to the Settings.
Click on it, then click on Add An Account.
You’ll be asked to enable App Sharing; if you haven’t yet, click Enable.
Then it will ask you to set a lock pattern, which can be handy if you don’t want others
to mess with your account.
But you can skip it as well.
I could not film this because this is blocked by Oculus.
Then you can hand the Quest over to the person who you want to add.
He/she will have to log in to their Facebook account from there.
Then the tutorial shows up, and after that, they’ll have their own brand new Quest interface.
Now, if you turned on App Sharing with your primary account, this second account will
be able to install all the games supporting App Sharing.
So if you have multiple headsets, you can play multiplayer games together by buying
it once.
But only if you do this:
First, keep in mind, one primary account can only enable App Sharing on one headset.
So if you want to play multiplayer games, this is the workaround.
I will illustrate this on the screen to make it easier to understand 😊
So the primary account is the account where you should buy the games.
Use this account to log into both devices.
Then enable App Sharing on one device and add a second account there.
Then install the game you want to play on both headsets.
Now, take the headset with App Sharing enabled and use that one with your second account.
Then with the other headset, you can use the primary account; this is the headset WITHOUT
App Sharing enabled.
This works!
I tested it with Chary on two Quest 2’s... please excuse our outfits; okay it was a Saturday
evening :P
The party feature should also work, by the way, and, well, I think this is a real benefit
of this feature.
I mean, this was kinda possible before already, but now you both have your own profiles and
saves.
But there are some limitations right now.
Remember, this feature is in beta so changes may occur after posting this video, but right
now, the limits are: You can only add three additional accounts.
And since one primary account can turn on App Sharing on only one headset, you can only
do the multiplayer workaround with one other person, so you can’t do this if you want
to play with three people in total.
However, Oculus did say this may change in the future.
I hope so for the bigger families.
Because then you have to share you personal Facebook.
All this, I do think this feature is better suited for those in the same household and
not really with friends from outside.
Keep in mind, if you buy games on a secondary account.
This is NOT shareable with the main account.
One important thing to remember as well is that primary accounts can only be changed
with a factory reset.
So it’s not easy changing primary accounts.
Then all new games released after today will automatically support it, but existing games
may not support it.
For example, right now, Beat Saber and Population: ONE does not support App Sharing.
Developers of the game get to decide whether they want to add it or not in the future.
So definitely let them know if you want them to add that.
So we tested other popular multiplayer games.
The two games that worked for us in multiplayer were: Onward & Walkabout Mini Golf.
So that’s good news.
Unfortunately, I could not test every game we have in our library because we got most
of the games from the developers, then it just doesn’t work with App Sharing.
However, I found a great list on Reddit on this.
This covers whether an app supports family sharing.
However, it does NOT cover whether this also supports multiplayer.
So for this purpose, I’ve made a quick page on our website casandchary.com.
You can find it under Oculus Quest list then App Sharing list.
I made this, because I’m a little sick of not having one source to check all these unlisted
things and they seem to keep coming.
So the plan is to ask developers whether games support App Sharing and multiplayer – I
will then update the list.
I’ll also included a form so if anything isn’t correct here or if you want to add
something please send it to me, and I’ll update the list.
This is a work in progress so definitely let me know in the comments if you like this and
have any feedback at all or things you want me to keep track of.
I also added a page with App Lab games that is powered by SideQuest.
Oh and one last thing, I know a lot of you have a Quest 1 and were hoping to do this
with your second Quest 2.
Do not worry too much as Oculus has said it will be rolled out on Quest 1 as well, but
it’s not certain when yet.
Now, I hope I was able to answer some of the most asked questions.
I’m sorry if I couldn’t answer all your questions, but feel free to drop it in the
comments below, and I’ll try to check it if I can.
Also, let me know what you think of this new feature.
Is this something you’ll be using?
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