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Ultimate Guide For Publishing And Monetizing In App Lab

Introduction

If you follow the news, you may have heard of App Lab, released by Oculus just a few weeks ago. We have received a lot of questions from our advanced main class and Bootcamp developers, our industry partners, and game developers on the XR Creators Discord server who would like to publish their app/game in App Lab. We thought releasing a guideline could be the best solution to answer the most common concerns of the VR customs in one single place.

In this detailed Step-by-Step guide, y'all will come across how easy it is to make utilise of App Lab and publish your app to this special release channel. We also nerveless a (long) listing of open questions and answers in our FAQ section about everything regarding App Lab, from its connection to SideQuest to best strategies almost Monetization and Promotion of applications, not to mention how to get your app to a larger audition through platforms like SideQuest and App Lab DB.

Special thanks to the contributors who have been working with us throughout the creation of this guide (Ayhan Sakarya from XR Bootcamp, Antony Vitillo from SkarredGhost and Orla Harris from SideQuest) This guide volition keep to evolve and we volition add updated info likewise as answers to recently submitted questions.

Alright, without further due, let's get-go!

Step-by-Pace guide for your App Lab Submission

Step 1 – App Cosmos

First of all y'all take to create the record for your application in your Oculus Dashboard:

• Log in to the Oculus Developer Dashboard
• Click "Create New App" in the peak correct corner
• In the post-obit popup enter your App name and choose "Quest (App Lab)"

Step 2 – Upload your .apk

Later on the creation, you are going to be redirected to the Overview page of the newly created app. To start the submission process but click on i of all those links, they will all lead to the same upload procedure.

As you can see, there are quite a few steps to exist performed for the submission, but don't worry, information technology is simpler than information technology looks!

The first pace requires us to upload our .apk build. Click the push on the upper-left corner and then select the file from your hard drive.

Oculus now prompts yous with another popup, telling you what to take care of in your build. If you are using Unity and if yous take tested your build on an Oculus Quest device, most of these things should already be ok.

One matter which y'all may have forgotten to perform is the "Application Signing". Once more, if you are using the unity engine, this is a very easy thing to practice. Simply head over to "Edit→Project Settings → Histrion → Publishing Settings (Scroll all the style down)" and click on the "Keystore Director". Fill in all the required fields and yous have a freshly generated Android Signing Key in the class of a .keystore file. If you are going to build your feel again, now information technology will be signed using your keystore, and information technology can be canonical by the submission process. Here is a link to the Unity Documentation which explains the Keystore Manager fields in more item: Unity Keystore Manager

And if you lot are not using Unity simply Unreal Engine, then Oculus provides some useful links for you every bit well: General Information about Application Signing.

Another matter that is really important is to uncheck the developer build flag when building in Unity. The reason is that Oculus will reject your build if it finds "android:debuggable="true" in your AndroidManifest.xml. And this is usually set if y'all are creating evolution builds. And then merely uncheck it and you are good to go.

Another feature that is required is creating a Store-compatible Manifest file. To do that, you accept merely to head to Oculus→Tools→Create Store Compatible Manifest File in Unity and you y'all're good to go.

Footstep 2 – Upload your .apk

1. Uncheck development flag
2. Create Store-compatible Manifest file
3. Create Android Signing Fundamental with the Keystore Manager
4. Upload your .apk
5. Profit 🙂

Notes: It is worth noting that Oculus volition give you lot a hint and tell you that it would exist better to create 64 bit builds instead of 32 chip builds. You can change this in "Project Settings → Player", where you tin select the target architecture that you want. ARMv7 is a 32-flake compages and ARM64 is a 64-flake architecture. To enable edifice on ARM64, it may be that you outset accept to change the scripting backend from Mono to IL2CPP, which we would recommend anyway. Subsequently having done this, you accept to re-build your app, and it is better if yous test it again, since in some rare conditions the backend change may create some problems with some external libraries.
If this sounds besides complicated to yous, don't worry, at the moment it is not strictly necessary, so yous tin can skip this step for your outset submission. It is recommended to learn how to do information technology, though, since shortly it will be mandatory.

Step iii – Filling in everything else

So in one case your .apk upload is finished you lot can start filling in all the other fields. Each stride is pretty self-explanatory and Oculus does a good job in explaining them. One thing I noticed though is, under the "Specs" step, I could not enter "Hand tracking Simply" as supported controllers and had to add Oculus Impact also in order to Relieve & Continue to the next step. For the sake of completeness I will list each stride with a curt description:

1. App Name – I bet you know this one
2. Short Clarification – A short description of your app, which will be shown in the shop list
3. Long Clarification – This will exist shown throughout the platform, including the shop.
4. Game Mode – Is information technology a Single Role player, Multiplayer or Coop game?
5. Supported Controllers – Which controllers practise yous support? Cull between Oculus Touch on, Gamepad, Touch (as Gamepad), and Hand tracking. Though every bit mentioned in a higher place, "Manus tracking only" currently doesn't seem to work
6. Comfort Level – In an App Lab submission you can't change this
7. Internet Connection – Is an Internet Connectedness required in your app? Choose what applies to y'all
8. External Subscription – Does your app require the user to purchase an external subscription? Then you demand to set the advisable flag
9. Category – Cull one of the categories "Apps", "Entertainment", "Games" and "System". There is another one called "Early Access" just it is greyed out in the App Lab submission procedure and can not be chosen
10. Genres – Select the genre which suits your app the virtually
11. Developer – Well, tell the earth your dev proper noun!
12. Publisher – If you have a publisher add its name here
13. Website – Website of your app
14. Privacy Policy – Link to the privacy policy of your app. According to Oculus, "A privacy policy describes your information practices, including how you collect, use and share information about users"
15. External Support Link (Optional) – This field is optional. In case you have a link to an external support page you can provide it here for your users. The link will be shown on the review creation window for your users in the Oculus Shop
16. Terms of Service (Optional) – This field is optional. This describes the agreement betwixt you lot and the user of your app
17. Logo (Transparent) – "The logo allows your audience to rapidly recognize your experience, this is your make. Information technology is most often used in-headset on the Store, Library, and your experience PDP."
18. Icon – "The icon is primarily used when your app appears on the mobile feed. Exist sure your icon art maintains legibility across various sizes. You may take to modify visual elements so that they remain clear every bit the image is scaled downwards."
19. Comprehend Art – "Cover Assets come in three varieties (square, portrait, landscape) and are the nearly ordinarily viewed marketing content for your feel in the Store. They may be displayed in web browsers, mobile and pc clients, in headset, and other places at various sizes."
20. Hero Comprehend – "The "Hero" paradigm is the main asset on your product display page (PDP) in the Store. This epitome will besides exist used in the case that your feel is featured on the Spotlight unit of the Store."
21. Screenshots (5 Images) – "Screenshots support your experience and assist users make the conclusion to purchase your title. Each image should represent a unique scene highlighting the best function of the feel."
22. Cubemap (optional) – "Cubemaps provide an immersive way for users to preview content inside of the Oculus VR Store."
23. Trailer – "The video trailer is the supporting 2D video for your feel. Make certain you lot feature the best highlights of your experience that will make users want to download it."
24. Content Rating – Hither you can create the IARC document for your app. Y'all will be guided through each step (it is really piece of cake and curt) and have to reply a few questions. If you already take an existing IARC certificate yous tin can choose to utilise that one instead
25. Pricing (USD) – Initially your App Lab submission will be "Gratis". Once the submission is canonical for App Lab, price changes can exist manually requested past sending an email to submissions@oculus.com

Well, and this is information technology. 25 steps to submit your app to the Oculus App Lab. Clicking on the "Submit" push button volition show you what is still missing to properly submit your app for approval:

Once everything is fixed, you can go alee and submit your app to the store.

After yous have performed the submission, the caput of your Oculus Development System will receive an e-mail confirming that the submission was successful.

Yous are in the hands of Facebook now. Your application will become through a technical review, subsequently which you volition discover if information technology has been approved or rejected. The caput of your organization will receive another electronic mail when in that location is a response from Facebook'south technical team.

Compliments, y'all are ready to distribute your app now!

FAQ

App Lab

Q: Is at that place a user limit to the App Lab channel?

A: While each release channel (ALPHA, BETA, and RC) can have up to 100 users assigned to them, the App Lab approved app can exist found by everyone through exact search(using the exact app name in the Oculus Store search, if this mean has been enabled) or past means of a directly URL. Then, considering of the lack of documentation, I would assume no, there is no user limit to App Lab approved apps.

Q: My .apk is rejected each time I upload it. What am I doing wrong?

A: Usually, Oculus gives you a few hints when rejecting your .apk directly after the upload. Step 2 of this commodity goes through each important indicate. Things that are hands forgotten while testing a lot are the evolution build flags, the Oculus Store Compatible manifest, and the Android application signing key.

Q: Is it easier to be approved by Oculus when I first upload my app to App Lab?

A: Aye, the approval process is a lot simpler, but always necessary to upload an app.

Q: App Lab doesn't let me alter the pricing for my app. Are all apps going to exist complimentary on App Lab?

A: App Lab supports both free and paid apps, which are shareable via a URL or Oculus Keys. Yous can change your price at any time. If you wish to run a sale you need to submit a ticket with no guaranteed time frame for blessing.

Q: I can't notice my app on App Lab, what am I doing incorrect?

A: Facebook does not list App Lab apps the aforementioned style information technology does for Oculus Store apps. You tin find App Labs experiences direct with their app URL or with an "verbal search", how Facebook is calling information technology, which is nothing else than searching the app in the store with its exact proper noun. Find that "exact search" may have been disabled during your submission process, so if you can't find your app, delight check that you have not disabled this option.

Q: What developer features are bachelor to apps in App Lab?

A: Yous tin access the bulk of standard platform features including automatic update distribution, platform integration and SDKs, app analytics, developer posts, events, release channels, App Sharing, and more. Apps in App Lab do not take access to notifications, app install and optimizations or App Groupings. Support for Add-ons volition be available in the future. As new platform features go available, Facebook volition communicate which are available to apps in App Lab.

Q: How much time is needed to become App Lab blessing?

A: Information technology is not clear withal, but Oculus advises submitting your awarding 4 or 5 weeks before your intended publishing date and so that you can be quite sure to market your app on the promised delivery appointment. This makes us empathize that 5 weeks is the upper limit for the review fourth dimension.

Q: Is this blessing time required for every update of my app?

A: The app must be canonical whatsoever time that you publish an update, but the blessing of updates should be much faster.

Q: Tin App Lab applications use Oculus Platform SDK and Avatar SDK in Unity?

A: Yep, all the features offered by the Oculus SDK are enabled on App Lab. They are disabled on SideQuest applications, though.

Q: How practice I know that an application has been canonical on App Lab?

A: You should receive a notification on the main email of your Oculus Developer Arrangement. If yous are not the admin of the organization, you can anyway check from time to time the publishing condition on the related page of your application on the Oculus Dashboard.

Q: Are all kinds of content allowed on App Lab?

A: No, there are guidelines on immune content that yous have to follow. About of the content is immune, only gambling and adult content are not. If you want to publish an application of this kind, you lot however have to use SideQuest and sideloading. Annotation that Sidequest has a restriction on adult content as well merely platforms similar Crawling.io allow information technology.

Q: Are all kinds of technical features immune on App Lab?

A: No, in that location are guidelines on immune technical features that y'all have to follow. For instance, cloud VR streaming is not allowed on App Lab. If yous plan to use a service like NVIDIA CloudXR, you accept to publish your application through SideQuest.

Q: Exercise users still need to activate developer mode on their Quest to be able to download and install my App Lab application?

A: No. The purpose of App Lab is to avert the complicacy of developer mode.

Q: Are my users required to have a Facebook account to access my App Lab experience?

A: Yes, App Lab applications are published on the Oculus Store platform, so their users must be registered with a valid Facebook account.

Q: Am I required to have a Facebook business relationship to publish an App Lab experience?

A: No, an Oculus Programmer account doesn't demand a mandatory Facebook business relationship. Simply you must make certain to verify your account past providing your telephone number or credit card number.

Q: If my app is very successful on App Lab does it go promoted automatically to the Oculus Store?

A: This is probable, but not guaranteed. John Carmack himself has clarified this point: Facebook will be constantly monitoring the statistics of the applications on App Lab and will consider promoting to the official store the ones that are the about successful, but this is not something that must exist taken for granted. Facebook will evaluate other factors than the download numbers, like for instance the reliability of the developing team, the memory factor of the application, the profitability in the long term, etc…

SideQuest

Q: What is the divergence betwixt App Lab, the Oculus Store, and SideQuest?

A: The Oculus Store is the official app store for the Oculus Quest, and it has a very strict content curation. App Lab apps are hosted on the same Oculus infrastructure as Quest Store apps, allowing customers to purchase and run App Lab apps in the same mode they do with Quest Store apps. The difference is that there is almost no curation for App Lab experiences, but their product detail pages are discoverable only past means of a straight URL or verbal search. Every bit this listing is difficult to discover, SideQuest is i of the avenues developers tin can use to provide straight links to App Lab content. Furthermore, SideQuest also offers applications that are bachelor through sideloading.

Q: Is at that place a manner to install App Lab apps from SideQuest straight to the Oculus Quest?

A: Just recently SideQuest has released AppLab.games which is a mobile-friendly site that tin can be opened in the Oculus browser and enables the direct installation to the device.

Q: How can you open App Lab submissions from SideQuest? Do I have to postal service the link to my App Lab list in the SideQuest description?

A: When y'all visit the SideQuest folio for a game that'south on App Lab, there is at present an "Oculus App" button in the peak correct corner of the page too as an "App Lab" label at the top corner of the asset library. Click the button and it takes yous to the App Lab page.

Q: Why should I connect my App Lab listing to SideQuest?

A: One time your awarding is on App Lab, no one tin observe it: it is like a Youtube unlisted video: unless you know the link, you can't access it. You must make your content discoverable if you desire information technology to succeed. SideQuest partnered with Oculus to launch App Lab. With over one million+ monthly active users it is a skillful way to open up your creation for discovery and promotion. In addition to that, the Sidequest listing tin as well connect to your app on other platforms like Crawling.io, Steam, etc.

Monetization & Promotion

Q: How do I promote my published app on App Lab?

A: Whether the goal is to build a business, create a community, test, and experiment with new apps, or get feedback on new ideas, you control how your app is distributed. Apps from App Lab exercise not appear in the Oculus Store catalog. Apps are shareable via a URL or Oculus Keys, and discoverable by searching the exact app name and found in the "App Lab" department of results. Still, you can partner with an external link aggregator, like SideQuest. SideQuest recently released an Open Source aggregator which tin be easily embedded into any site and enables a single source of App Lab data for consistency. There are other aggregators such as App Lab DB that require contained submission of your app via your app's URL.

Q: I desire to sell my app and collect payment for information technology. How do I do that?

A: Yous cannot collect payment for your app via whatsoever mechanism other than those explicitly canonical by Oculus. Collecting payment by selling keys is an approved mechanism documented in the Oculus Distribution Options.

Q: What are these Oculus Keys and how do I create them?

A: You lot tin can choose to have a more controlled release of your App Lab app past requesting Oculus Keys. Oculus Keys are unique 25 character alphanumeric codes that are generated by the system. These codes can be redeemed for a copy of your app and tin be promoted and distributed as you see fit. Yous tin can also define the time interval inside which a key is valid.
Annotation that for requests over 250 keys, you volition need to click the bulk quantities inline link to go to the bulk request page. Bulk requests are reviewed by Oculus and granted at Oculus'southward discretion. For more data on distribution, visit Oculus Distribution Options.

Q: Do Oculus developers need their ain privacy policy, or tin can they use Oculus's privacy policy?

A: Developers must implement and disembalm their own consummate and accurate privacy policy explaining how they collect, utilize, and disclose data as required by applicative law. Because each developer has unlike practices and uses information in different ways, using Oculus's privacy policy would not be advisable.

Q: Tin can I charge users through my app? (In-app Purchases)

A: Normally yes, by using the In-App Purchase Integration. (Though nosotros are still investigating this with Oculus)

Q: Is at that place acquirement share on apps sold on App Lab?

A: Aye, App Lab shares the same payments and ad policy as the applications on the Oculus Shop, and a revenue share is paid pursuant to Oculus Distribution Understanding. This means that Facebook will become a thirty% cutting over your earnings. Also, equally noted above y'all can request majority keys to sell on other platforms but this will be at the discretion of Oculus.

Resources:

harrisevold1951.blogspot.com

Source: https://xrbootcamp.com/ultimate-guide-for-publishing-and-monetizing-in-app-lab/