Oculus introduced App Lab where you can distribute apps directly to consumers safely and securely via direct links without requiring any store approval or without sideloading. App Lab lets you an app directly to your community, even it is in development, or experimental.
App Lab also has options for both free and paid apps, and it is sharable via direct links or Oculus Keys. Although the App Lab is different from the Oculus Store and App Lab apps will not appear in the Oculus Store, they will be found in their Quest library by customers who download App Lab apps.
You can also scan for App Lab apps by the exact name and find them in the ‘App Lab’ section of the results. The majority of standard platform features, including automated delivery of updates, platform integration and SDKs, app analytics, release channels, and more, can be accessed through App Lab apps.
How to Submit an App for App Lab
- Log into the Oculus Developer Dashboard
- Click “Create new app”
- Enter the name of your app
- Choose “Quest (App Lab)”
- Follow the steps to upload your application, provide screenshots and description text, and submit for review
Once your app has been published, then it can be sharable to consumers via direct links, this link opens the app product description page directly, where it can displaying information, trailers, screenshots, and an option to purchase or install the app. There you can generate the Oculus Keys, which can be redeemed for a free copy of the application.
Oculus also works with SideQuest to enable app submission to their platform, which will let you submit App Lab apps links directly to SideQuest instead of Android APK, and you can promote your app directly to the SideQuest community.
