Smash Hit VR — Reverse Engineering & Meta Quest Pro Compatibility

I've been working on bringing the original Smash Hit VR, originally designed for Gear VR / Oculus Go, to modern standalone VR headsets.

The game already runs natively on the Quest 1, but moving to newer headsets introduced some serious stereo and projection issues. On the Quest Pro, the image could appear incorrectly aligned between the eyes, with noticeable perspective distortion and a strange image-pivoting effect during head movement.

What I've done so far

1. Reverse-engineering the original APK

• Decompiled the original Android application and inspected its native libraries.
• Investigated the legacy ARMv7 / OpenGL ES rendering path and its interaction with Oculus VrApi.
• Traced the stereo rendering and projection configuration to identify potential sources of incompatibility.

2. Meta Quest Pro compatibility patch

• Fixed the IPD configuration at 61 mm for the initial release (v0.11 with 21 IPD's config)
• Tuned stereo projection parameters, including a stereo factor of 0.0305, to improve horizontal image alignment.
• Added vertical projection correction, retaining a vertical shift value of 0.20.
• Adjusted radial distortion parameters to improve visual stability.
• Kept the original runtime submission path intact, allowing VrApi and the compositor to continue handling headset tracking and final image submission.

3. v0.1 release
The first experimental release targets the Meta Quest Pro and builds upon the original work by Bassquake.

The goal was to improve stereo alignment and reduce visible projection errors without unnecessarily rewriting the original game's rendering pipeline.

4. v0.11 release

Add 21 IPD's configuration

What's next?

The Quest Pro compatibility work established a baseline for further investigation. The next step is to develop a separate Meta Quest 3 configuration, rather than reusing the Quest Pro settings blindly.

I'm investigating unofficial hardware diagrams and optical references to better understand the Quest 3's display orientation and optical geometry. The plan is to keep the existing 61 mm fixed IPD baseline and vertical shift of 0.20 while independently calibrating the Quest 3 projection and distorti

The repository : https://github.com/mawikoeur/SmashHit_VR_Quest3_Pro

(I need Quest 3 users for testing the patch)

An easier way to switch between VR apps and Samsung's 2D mirroring mode.

So a small Android app for it.

Just press the Gear VR controller's Home button, and it automatically switches back to 2D mode.

I've tested it quite a bit, and it's been very stable and reliable on my S10+.

It requires Samsung's 2D mirroring mode to already be working and enabled in Gear VR Service's Developer Options. Shizuku is also required, but no root is needed.

So you can now switch between 3D apps freely.

I haven't tested it on other phones yet.

Will share this with anyone still using Gear VR. APK available on Google Drive if anyone wants to try it ,Let me know if you're interested in trying it.

Gear VR 2D/3D Switching — Step-by-Step 1. Enable Gear VR Developer Mode

Go to phone Settings → Apps → find Gear VR Service

Enter Storage → tap Storage repeatedly until Developer Mode is enabled

Turn on all 4 switches that appear

After this, a Gear VR Service icon will show up in your app list. Use this to launch 3D apps from now on.

1. Start Shizuku

Install and open Shizuku

Start the Shizuku service via wireless debugging or USB connection to a PC

1. Configure the 2D/3D Switching App

Open the switching app and grant it Shizuku permission.

There are two switches inside:

Main switch: Must be ON, otherwise switching won't work. Below it, you can set the time: 0 seconds / 1 second / 2.2 seconds. This is how long it stays on OC Home after you press it. If you want it faster, you can set it directly to 0 seconds.

Second switch: Default is 0 seconds. You usually don't need to touch it. If you upgraded your account, you can set the time to return to OC Home. If you haven't upgraded, just set it to 0 seconds.

Rescue method for a black screen

Prerequisite: You must have Samsung Gallery(3d) installed.

state:

If you are in 2D mirror mode and close or clear 3D background apps, and accidentally run into a black screen where you can't operate anything,👉 don't worry. Try this: press and hold the trigger button on the controller, then press the Home button once. This will launch Samsung Gallery(3d) and rescue you from the black screen. Wait a moment, and you will see Samsung Gallery(3d) launch.

Note: Don't close the 3D background app too quickly. It will cause a black screen.

New App----Below

1. Daily Usage Loop

Insert the phone directly — it enters 2D mirroring mode

In 2D, open Gear VR Service and pick a 3D app to launch

To switch apps, press the Home button → the screen will first jump back to Oculus Home (or go black)

Wait for it to automatically switch back to 2D mirroring mode — don't rush it

Once back in 2D, open Gear VR Service again and pick the next 3D app

Repeat this loop

Hey guys, I recently got a Gear VR headset and decided to play Beat Saber, but I can't accept the privacy policy. Does anyone know what the problem is?

Could the old GearVR home environments be recreated from images/video using this software or similar?

It's over, guys. This repo turns ONE photo into a full explorable 3D world in 5 minutes. Physics, splats, audio! : r/singularity

Hello everyone hope you are having a great day,

I just found an unopened Gear VR SM-R322, i also have a Gear VR SM-R324, should i buy a used Samsung Galaxy S7 edge or S8, would you guys recommend me to do that or is the exeperience too messy and i shouldn't even dabble into this rabbit hole!

Greatly appreciate your inputs thanks.

I try to reverse engineer with Claude to create a VR player which uses the sensors of the gear vr for better tracking and make the GearVR usable again.

Right now Claude was able to create a test app which shows, that my Galaxy S10 with Android12 can detect the touchpad and button of the headset.

Summary:

Basically, we’re currently trying to connect the GearVR headset’s electronics directly to our IMU which stands for Inertial Measurement Unit. These are the motion sensors in the GearVR. Among other things, they measure how and how fast you turn your head. This is exactly the data we’ll need later for 3DoF head tracking: head to the left → VR image rotates to the left, and so on.

Here’s the interesting part: Your GearVR provides several separate data channels via the USB-C port. We have two “sources” that are important to us:

- IMU → our app reads the raw data directly via USB. These are the ~480 packets per second that we’re currently decoding. That’s why we’re running rest/left/right tests.

- Touchpad/buttons → Android already processes these on its own. Android recognizes the GearVR as an input device (sec_hmt) and passes touchpad movements and button presses to our app as mouse/keyboard inputs. That’s why we don’t have to decode this data ourselves from the raw USB data.

And that’s exactly why our earlier test was so important: We were able to read the IMU directly while still using the touchpad via Android.

So the ultimate goal is:

GearVR IMU → Head movement → View direction in the video

GearVR touchpad/buttons → Controls → Play/Pause, Menu, Selection, etc.

What we’re doing right now is just the more difficult first part: figuring out how the numbers in the IMU packets are encoded. As soon as we can reliably derive X/Y/Z rotational movements from them, we’ll be able to build true head tracking.

This is harder than I thought, since I'm not a developer. But I think it's theoretically possible to re-enable GearVR tracking and use it in a separate, standalone app.

Hi, i recently bought Galaxy Note9, i have installed OneUI 2.5 on it (Android 10 ofc), i wanted to play minecraft aaaaand:
version 1.16.10.02 do not install because of targed sdk android 9 max, changing it to android 10 sdk works, but i can't create any worlds

version 1.16.40.02 crashes without any info...

Is there any known version of minecraft for Note9/S9 (Android 10) that works?

The last few days I thought about vibecoding an app like DeoVR which can still use the touchpad of the GearVR.

Do you guys think that would be possible or is there 0 chance cause of oculus servers?

Technically the GearVR is just hardware. Or am I messing something?

Body:

Hi all, dealing with a Qualcomm EDL situation on an Oculus Go (Snapdragon 821, codename "Pacific") and hoping someone here has the right tools/files.

Timeline: Device had been stored unused for ~3 years. Powered on fine, but a large Wi-Fi-triggered OTA update caused overheating and a battery failure mid-update. After recharging, it hung indefinitely at the boot logo. A factory reset attempt was interrupted when the device powered off on its own mid-process, and it never booted again — even after a full battery replacement.

Current state: No display output at all. On connecting to a PC, it enumerates directly as Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008 (confirmed EDL mode), with an audible repeated beep/tick pattern from the device when a flashing tool attempts to communicate with it.

What I'm looking for:

• A working Firehose programmer (loader) for this SoC/device variant

• Stock rawprogram/patch XML files, or a full stock firmware dump for the Go

• Any advice from people who've done EDL recovery on Snapdragon 821-based standalone devices

Willing to share full device details, USB descriptors, or logs if that helps someone identify the right programmer. Thanks in advance for any pointers!

O app do you tube vr tem um problema na minha opinião. O app só deixa você escolher a resolução entre automática ou máxima.Tem alguns vídeos que rodam perfeitos quando estão na resolução baixa e começam a dar lag quando vão pra resolução máxima no s7. Talvez no s8 ou s9 não aconteça isso. Geralmente na resolução automática começa no baixo e depois vai pra máxima. Tinha que ter a opção de deixar na baixa. Já até procurei versão anteriores da 1.28 pra ver se tinha essa opção. Parece que nunca teve a opção. Sempre foi entre automática ou máxima.

Patched by OMNI !

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusGo/s/AH5Z9dVLZ9

link to DD: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19pqPii0L780fUyq7GRea33zP8Np5BR5d/view

info: install apk and make sure Allow VR API without OSIG is selected in Developer options

Samsung vr, oculus video files or whatever its called, all the apps i used that disappeared from oculus home a couple weeks ago.

It's all gone very quiet on GearVr, I'm getting withdrawal symptoms and expecting a huge announcement of exciting news!🤣

https://imgur.com/a/QaUxuZ2

So I was looking back at this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/GearVR/comments/1krk3io/beat_saber_1132_for_gear_vr_fully_working/

And I realised that the game is more limiting when using just one controller. Sure I've never played Beat saber before, but stuff like the campaign is impossible for us. Surely there's a way we can connect two controllers, even if it's just for one game?

I got inspired by Dream Mouse for Android and Windows, and figured if it works there, it should work for macOS. It has its disconnection issue, but still fun to put your old GearVR Controller to work!

Check it out:
https://github.com/volkanger/GearVR-Air-Mouse-4-macOS

I know this sounds stupid, and my story is not believable at all, but just bear with me.

On my S10, I downloaded Snow Strike from the Gear VR vault. When it opened, instead of getting an error, it actually booted me into the game, with the tutorial for launching snowballs. Now it didn't work completely, as it was only displaying the right eye, the left eye was blank.

I tried restarting the app, and since then it has not worked, taking me back to the samsung home screen every time. I tried two more apps, Action Bowling and Quest App Launcher, and they both had the same outcome of going straight to the home screen.

I'm a little suspicious because how did it work at all in the first place? I know there was still a bit of functionality left in the S10, but that was just to say "Because of One UI 4 updates, the Gear VR service cannot be used." It worked once, is it possible to get it working again? This S10 was rooted, bootloader unlocked, and I did eventually install Samsung's latest firmware. The only apps I have installed are Bitdefender, Moonlight, Chrome Remote Desktop, and a generic VR escape room (Not Gear VR). Also I tried this just after turning on the phone since a while, so that could maybe be something.

I see an old reddit megathread on how to DL some custom APK files and setup your Gear VR to avoid using Meta servers but it doesn't seem to include the Note8 and then I also see instructions on the Gear VR Codex site but there is no indication that the files are compatible with Note8.

I have a Note8 that was sitting in a box and I pulled it out to try the Gear VR but the app kept crashing. I'm trying to see if there is a straightforward way to use the apps that I used to love. I don't really feel comfortable trying it out unless there is a known working solution however.

my s7 and s11 are both entirely broken so all I have is my s22, does anyone know how to use my old gear vr headset with a 2022 smartphone to play games. I would like to try some of the gear vr games like face your fears and minecraft: gear vr edition though I haven't been able too because my old phones are broken

Hi, I'm looking to get a newer phone for Gear VR, as my S7 is low on storage, uses different connector type than the headset (I'd rather buy a new device than the adapter) and I just want a bit of an upgrade without shelling out a ton of money for a Quest.

I'm looking between the S8, S9, S10, or the plus variants. Which is best? I know that the S10 is the newest and most powerful, but there is a chance they were updated to Android 12, and I haven't found anything mentioning software version. (I do have an S10, but serves no purpose as it was updated to Android 12) S8 is cheapest but I wonder if it is a lot worse than the S10 in terms of performance.

What do you all suggest, do I risk getting an updated S10 or can I get the S8 for similar performance?

Hi, I am considering rooting my s7 (with magisk, or by unlocking bootloader as I have done before). Can this disable the Gear vr services in any way, or could this delete data? (When I've unlocked the bootloader traditionally without magisk, it does require a factory reset)

I plan on doing it to:

1. Spoof the device Id to try getting phonecast working (could lead to something good if it works)

2. Get video recording working in oculus home

On an old S6 of mine, I've noticed that the Gear VR icons are the old blue ones instead of the gray one which I've seen on the s7 and s10. Is there any benefit to getting a copy of these?

Update: So while the apps are still installed, I did accidentally delete the data for them. While trying to enable developer options, it was saying that the setup was incomplete anyways, so I don't believe anything is truly lost. This phone hasn't been used since 2020 though... did I screw up?

Hi, last post I mentioned extracting ktx files to get the oculus home 'loft' background alongside some others. I'm wanting to do the same but for the older backgrounds, but I don't have any old apks to do so. Is there a source to get older versions of these apks?