What you need to know
- iOS users can connect their devices to their Oculus Quest to receive notifications and calls without leaving VR.
- The original Oculus Quest now supports multi-user and app sharing, so multiple people can use one headset with individual profiles.
- Facebook has also added new sharing features, including a virtual overlay for streamers, a Files app for better storage management, additional Infinite Office features for working in VR, and even tweaks to Oculus Store curation.
If you're an Oculus Quest or Oculus Quest 2 user, you've come to expect big monthly updates. Facebook's support of its headsets has been legendary, regularly adding new features every month that make the most affordable VR headset even more attractive. The Oculus Quest v29 May update is adding another slew of features — 8 in total — as well as big changes to Oculus Store curation and the addition of featured apps for developers.
If you're an iPhone owner, Facebook's new feature will let you connect your iPhone — via the Oculus app — so you can receive your lock screen notifications while in VR. If you've ever been in the middle of a session of Population: One and got stressed because your phone's notifications kept dinging, stress no more. Once connected, you'll see all those notifications right from your Oculus Quest or Quest 2, so you'll finally know if you need to take the headset off and deal with your phone. Facebook says that Android support for this feature is coming soon, so don't fret if you're like me and don't use iOS.
Facebook is lumping that feature into its Infinite Office line of productivity tools on the Quest and further expanding the utilitarian nature of both Quest headsets with a new Files app. That'll make it much easier to manage the storage on your Quest, especially if you opted for one of the 64GB Oculus Quest units. A new passthrough shortcut on the universal toolbar also makes it easier to swap between seeing the real and virtual worlds with a single click.
Original Oculus Quest users will be happy to hear that the v29 May update brings multi-user and app sharing support to the headset — a feature previously only available on the Quest 2 — which enables the use of multiple Facebook profiles on one headset. With app sharing, the main Facebook account's library will be shared with other users on the same headset, so you won't have to buy multiple copies of the same game. Lastly, Facebook is updating how it curates experiences on the Oculus Store and will now have a prominently featured section for new and sponsored games, letting developers highlight their titles as other app stores allow.
Little effort, big pay off
You won't need a PC or a console to play on the Oculus Quest 2, which makes this the easiest way to play in VR.
