Can I Upload Unity Game to App Store

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Ultimate Guide For Publishing And Monetizing In App Lab

Introduction

If you follow the news, yous may have heard of App Lab, released by Oculus merely a few weeks ago. Nosotros take received a lot of questions from our advanced master course 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 exist the best solution to reply the most common concerns of the VR customs in one single place.

In this detailed Step-by-Stride guide, you will meet how piece of cake information technology is to make use of App Lab and publish your app to this special release channel. We too nerveless a (long) listing of open questions and answers in our FAQ section about everything regarding App Lab, from its connectedness to SideQuest to best strategies about Monetization and Promotion of applications, non to mention how to become your app to a larger audience through platforms similar SideQuest and App Lab DB.

Special thanks to the contributors who take 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 will continue to evolve and nosotros will add updated info as well as answers to recently submitted questions.

Alright, without further due, let's start!

Step-by-Step guide for your App Lab Submission

Step one – App Creation

Showtime of all yous have to create the tape for your application in your Oculus Dashboard:

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

Step 2 – Upload your .apk

After the cosmos, you lot are going to exist redirected to the Overview folio of the newly created app. To outset the submission process just click on one of all those links, they will all lead to the aforementioned upload procedure.

Equally you tin can run across, at that place are quite a few steps to be performed for the submission, merely don't worry, it is simpler than information technology looks!

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

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

1 matter which you may have forgotten to perform is the "Application Signing". Again, if you are using the unity engine, this is a very easy thing to practise. Simply head over to "Edit→Project Settings → Player → Publishing Settings (Ringlet all the fashion downward)" and click on the "Keystore Manager". Fill up in all the required fields and you have a freshly generated Android Signing Cardinal in the form of a .keystore file. If you lot are going to build your feel again, at present it volition be signed using your keystore, and it can be approved past the submission process. Hither is a link to the Unity Documentation which explains the Keystore Manager fields in more than item: Unity Keystore Manager

And if you are not using Unity but Unreal Engine, and so Oculus provides some useful links for y'all as well: General Information nigh Awarding Signing.

Some other thing that is really important is to uncheck the developer build flag when building in Unity. The reason is that Oculus volition reject your build if information technology finds "android:debuggable="true" in your AndroidManifest.xml. And this is usually fix if y'all are creating development builds. So just uncheck it and you are proficient to go.

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

Stride 2 – Upload your .apk

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

Notes: It is worth noting that Oculus will requite yous a hint and tell you that information technology would be better to create 64 bit builds instead of 32 chip builds. You can change this in "Project Settings → Player", where you can select the target architecture that you want. ARMv7 is a 32-bit architecture and ARM64 is a 64-fleck architecture. To enable building on ARM64, it may exist that you get-go have to change the scripting backend from Mono to IL2CPP, which we would recommend anyway. Later having done this, y'all have to re-build your app, and it is better if you test it again, since in some rare conditions the backend change may create some issues with some external libraries.
If this sounds too complicated to you, don't worry, at the moment it is non strictly necessary, so you tin can skip this step for your first submission. Information technology is recommended to learn how to practice it, though, since soon it will be mandatory.

Step 3 – Filling in everything else

So in one case your .apk upload is finished you lot tin can start filling in all the other fields. Each pace is pretty cocky-explanatory and Oculus does a good chore in explaining them. One thing I noticed though is, under the "Specs" step, I could not enter "Manus tracking But" equally supported controllers and had to add Oculus Touch also in social club to Save & Continue to the adjacent step. For the sake of abyss I will list each step with a brusk clarification:

1. App Name – I bet you know this one
2. Brusk Description – A short description of your app, which will be shown in the store listing
3. Long Description – This will exist shown throughout the platform, including the store.
4. Game Mode – Is information technology a Single Thespian, Multiplayer or Coop game?
5. Supported Controllers – Which controllers do yous support? Choose between Oculus Bear upon, Gamepad, Touch (as Gamepad), and Manus tracking. Though every bit mentioned higher up, "Mitt tracking just" currently doesn't seem to work
6. Condolement Level – In an App Lab submission you can't change this
7. Internet Connection – Is an Net Connection required in your app? Choose what applies to you
8. External Subscription – Does your app crave the user to purchase an external subscription? Then yous need to set the appropriate flag
9. Category – Choose one of the categories "Apps", "Entertainment", "Games" and "System". In that location is another i chosen "Early Access" but it is greyed out in the App Lab submission process and can not exist chosen
10. Genres – Select the genre which suits your app the most
11. Programmer – Well, tell the world your dev name!
12. Publisher – If you take a publisher add together 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 data practices, including how yous collect, apply and share data about users"
15. External Support Link (Optional) – This field is optional. In case you have a link to an external support page you tin can provide it here for your users. The link volition be shown on the review creation window for your users in the Oculus Store
16. Terms of Service (Optional) – This field is optional. This describes the agreement between yous and the user of your app
17. Logo (Transparent) – "The logo allows your audience to quickly recognize your experience, this is your brand. It is most often used in-headset on the Shop, Library, and your experience PDP."
18. Icon – "The icon is primarily used when your app appears on the mobile feed. Exist certain your icon art maintains legibility across various sizes. You lot may have to modify visual elements so that they remain clear as the image is scaled down."
19. Cover Art – "Cover Assets come in iii varieties (square, portrait, landscape) and are the most usually viewed marketing content for your experience in the Shop. They may exist displayed in web browsers, mobile and pc clients, in headset, and other places at various sizes."
20. Hero Encompass – "The "Hero" paradigm is the chief nugget on your product display folio (PDP) in the Store. This epitome volition also be used in the case that your experience is featured on the Spotlight unit of the Store."
21. Screenshots (5 Images) – "Screenshots back up your feel and help users brand the decision to purchase your title. Each image should stand for a unique scene highlighting the all-time part of the experience."
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 second video for your experience. Make sure you feature the best highlights of your experience that will make users want to download information technology."
24. Content Rating – Here you tin can create the IARC certificate for your app. You lot will exist guided through each stride (it is really easy and curt) and have to answer a few questions. If you already have an existing IARC document you tin can choose to use that 1 instead
25. Pricing (USD) – Initially your App Lab submission volition be "Free". In one case the submission is approved for App Lab, price changes can be manually requested by sending an email to submissions@oculus.com

Well, and this is it. 25 steps to submit your app to the Oculus App Lab. Clicking on the "Submit" button will evidence you what is still missing to properly submit your app for approval:

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

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

Yous are in the hands of Facebook at present. Your application will go through a technical review, afterward which you lot will discover if it has been approved or rejected. The head of your arrangement will receive another electronic mail when in that location is a response from Facebook'due south technical team.

Compliments, you lot are ready to distribute your app now!

FAQ

App Lab

Q: Is there a user limit to the App Lab channel?

A: While each release channel (Blastoff, BETA, and RC) tin can take up to 100 users assigned to them, the App Lab approved app tin can exist found by everyone through exact search(using the verbal app name in the Oculus Store search, if this hateful has been enabled) or by means of a direct URL. So, because 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 fourth dimension 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 ii of this article goes through each of import signal. Things that are hands forgotten while testing a lot are the development build flags, the Oculus Store Compatible manifest, and the Android application signing key.

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

A: Yep, the approval procedure is a lot simpler, only always necessary to upload an app.

Q: App Lab doesn't allow me change the pricing for my app. Are all apps going to be free on App Lab?

A: App Lab supports both gratuitous and paid apps, which are shareable via a URL or Oculus Keys. You can alter your price at whatsoever time. If you wish to run a sale yous need to submit a ticket with no guaranteed time frame for approving.

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

A: Facebook does non list App Lab apps the same fashion it does for Oculus Store apps. Yous can find App Labs experiences directly with their app URL or with an "verbal search", how Facebook is calling it, which is zippo else than searching the app in the shop with its exact proper noun. Find that "exact search" may accept been disabled during your submission procedure, then if yous can't find your app, please check that you have not disabled this option.

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

A: You lot can access the majority 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 have admission to notifications, app install and optimizations or App Groupings. Back up for Add-ons volition be available in the future. As new platform features become bachelor, Facebook will communicate which are available to apps in App Lab.

Q: How much fourth dimension is needed to get App Lab approval?

A: It is not clear yet, just Oculus advises submitting your awarding 4 or 5 weeks earlier your intended publishing date so that you tin can exist quite sure to market place your app on the promised delivery date. This makes us understand that 5 weeks is the upper limit for the review time.

Q: Is this approval fourth dimension required for every update of my app?

A: The app must exist approved any time that you publish an update, but the approval of updates should be much faster.

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

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

Q: How do I know that an awarding has been approved on App Lab?

A: You should receive a notification on the principal email of your Oculus Programmer Organization. If yous are not the admin of the arrangement, you lot tin can anyhow check from time to fourth dimension the publishing status on the related page of your application on the Oculus Dashboard.

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

A: No, in that location are guidelines on allowed content that you have to follow. Well-nigh of the content is immune, but gambling and adult content are not. If you want to publish an application of this kind, you still have to utilise SideQuest and sideloading. Notation that Sidequest has a restriction on adult content as well but platforms like Itch.io allow it.

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

A: No, at that place are guidelines on allowed technical features that you have to follow. For instance, cloud VR streaming is not allowed on App Lab. If you plan to use a service like NVIDIA CloudXR, you have to publish your application through SideQuest.

Q: Do users however need to activate programmer mode on their Quest to be able to download and install my App Lab awarding?

A: No. The purpose of App Lab is to avert the complicacy of programmer style.

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

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

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

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

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

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

SideQuest

Q: What is the difference between 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 Shop apps, allowing customers to purchase and run App Lab apps in the same fashion they do with Quest Store apps. The divergence is that in that location is almost no curation for App Lab experiences, but their production detail pages are discoverable just past means of a direct URL or exact search. Every bit this listing is difficult to discover, SideQuest is one of the avenues developers can employ to provide direct links to App Lab content. Furthermore, SideQuest likewise offers applications that are bachelor through sideloading.

Q: Is there a fashion to install App Lab apps from SideQuest directly to the Oculus Quest?

A: Only 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 y'all open App Lab submissions from SideQuest? Do I have to post the link to my App Lab listing in the SideQuest description?

A: When you visit the SideQuest page for a game that's on App Lab, in that location is at present an "Oculus App" button in the elevation correct corner of the page as well equally an "App Lab" label at the top corner of the asset library. Click the push and it takes you to the App Lab folio.

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

A: One time your application is on App Lab, no one can detect it: it is similar a Youtube unlisted video: unless yous know the link, yous can't access it. You must make your content discoverable if you want it to succeed. SideQuest partnered with Oculus to launch App Lab. With over ane million+ monthly active users it is a good style to open up up your creation for discovery and promotion. In addition to that, the Sidequest list can also connect to your app on other platforms like Itch.io, Steam, etc.

Monetization & Promotion

Q: How practise 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, yous control how your app is distributed. Apps from App Lab do not appear in the Oculus Store itemize. Apps are shareable via a URL or Oculus Keys, and discoverable by searching the exact app proper noun and plant in the "App Lab" department of results. All the same, you tin can partner with an external link aggregator, like SideQuest. SideQuest recently released an Open Source aggregator which can be easily embedded into any site and enables a single source of App Lab information for consistency. There are other aggregators such as App Lab DB that require independent submission of your app via your app's URL.

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

A: Yous cannot collect payment for your app via whatever 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 can cull to have a more controlled release of your App Lab app by requesting Oculus Keys. Oculus Keys are unique 25 character alphanumeric codes that are generated by the organization. These codes tin can be redeemed for a re-create of your app and tin can be promoted and distributed as you see fit. You tin can also define the time interval inside which a key is valid.
Annotation that for requests over 250 keys, you will 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's discretion. For more than information on distribution, visit Oculus Distribution Options.

Q: Do Oculus developers need their own privacy policy, or can they apply Oculus's privacy policy?

A: Developers must implement and disclose their ain complete and authentic privacy policy explaining how they collect, use, and disclose data equally required by applicable constabulary. Because each developer has dissimilar practices and uses information in different means, using Oculus's privacy policy would not be appropriate.

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

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

Q: Is there revenue share on apps sold on App Lab?

A: Yes, App Lab shares the same payments and advertizing policy as the applications on the Oculus Shop, and a acquirement share is paid pursuant to Oculus Distribution Agreement. This means that Facebook will go a 30% cutting over your earnings. Also, as noted above you can request majority keys to sell on other platforms but this volition be at the discretion of Oculus.

Resources:

fairfaxwifen1945.blogspot.com

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

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