How to update your Oculus Go and Vive Focus

Today I decided to take my Oculus Go out of its box again after a lot of time of inactivity. You may wonder why I’m not using it that much and the answer is that currently I’m mostly experimenting with my Vive Focus, so I’ve left its little brother Oculus Go resting in its original box for a lot of time.

If you are in my same situation, there are two problems that will haunt you:

1. As soon as you’ll take your Oculus Go out of the box where it has been enclosed for weeks, your room will be filled by a terrible smell of used leather shoes. Really, it is like a toxic bomb. So, open it in an open space, or wear a gas mask;
2. The headset has a non-up-to-date runtime and so you have to update it to its latest version if you want to experience the latest features offered by Oculus. I’m updating mine, for instance, to have Casting (the streaming to phone capability announced at OC5).

Regarding the point one, I can’t help you that much, but for point 2… I’m here to the rescue with this little and simple post! And since I want to be useful for everyone, I’ll also guide you on how to update your Vive Focus.

Keep on reading, also because it is very interesting that these two headsets have a completely different approach regarding Software Updates.

Oculus Go

So, how to update your Oculus Go operating system? Well, basically… you can’t do (almost) anything to update it. When you try cycling all the OS options to find how to update it, this is the answer that your Oculus Go will give you:

Oculus Go will decide itself when it will update and you can’t do anything to update it manually. There’s no “check for update” option. This is because Oculus wants to give a smooth experience to the user: the user is never annoyed regarding new updates, but the headset updates automatically when it detects that it is connected to a Wi-Fi, and it is in charge and/or it is not used (I remember you that Oculus recommends not using the headset while in charge). This means that you will never see update processes: you use your headset, then you put in in charge and then next time you will turn it on, it will be magically up-to-date. This is for sure a smart choice: the user experience is very smooth because the user should never take care of the updates, all happens automatically when the headset is not in use. But it is a pain in the a** for people like me that have to install all the latest updates and want to do it as fast as they can.

So, what have I done? I followed these basic steps:

1. I’ve connected by Oculus Go to a Wi-Fi network (connected to the Internet);
2. I’ve attached it to my power plug through a USB charger;
3. I’ve put my headset on the desk (letting it go in standby), and started praying Saint Zuck from Palo Alto to let it download the latest updates;

   

4. After various minutes, I put my headset on and I restarted it;
5. After the reboot, I checked the operating system version, to see if it was the latest one (you do that by selecting Settings -> Show all -> Info). If not, I restarted the process from step 3.

   

As in all Android operating systems, step 4 (the reboot) was fundamental to let the headset install the updates it had downloaded.

After various iterations of this process (at least 5), that made the headset install all the various incremental updates, I finally managed to have Casting on my Go!

It is very weird that the user has absolutely no role in this process: you can’t trigger the updates, you can’t verify the download status and so on. It is true that the update-when-not-in-use process is very smart, but at the same time, I think they should have provided also one manual option to update the device.

Vive Focus

The HTC Vive Focus has a more traditional approach regarding updates. The user manages them, as in all Android devices.

When you turn your device on, the headset will warn you regarding new updates with a black popup and you can decide if downloading the update and later on install it.

If you want, you can also trigger the update process. You just have to:

1. Select Settings in the Home menu;
2. Select System Update in the Settings window;
3. In the resulting window, select “Check for Update”. The headset will look for updates. Notice that if the headset has already found an update in a previous search, it will skip this step and will directly go to step 4;
4. If there is a new system update, a black popup will show what are its characteristics. Click Ok in this pop-up;
5. Click Download in the resulting Window;
6. The download can also take various minutes. When it has finished, it will ask you if you want to install the update and reboot your device. To install the update you will be required to have at least 35% of battery charge (or the system won’t update your device) and during the update process you won’t be able to use your headset.

If you prefer a set of video instructions, here you are:

It’s great having the possibility to trigger my updates manually, for me it is important, but it is also a nuisance that these updates take so much to download (today’s one was like 500MB). This means that during the download time the headset won’t have optimal performances… and after that, I will also have to wait for the update to happen before being able to use my headset again.

I’ve found very interesting that these devices have a so different approach regarding updates. Basically, it reflects the different attitudes of the two companies: Oculus is offering a very close product, over which you have so little control, but with a great user experience. HTC offers something that is a bit less “cool”, but where the user has more control to do what he/she wants. There are pros and cons in every solution.

I hope you have liked this post and if it is the case, pray for Saint Zuck with me…