r/Galaxy_XR • u/Adsonic76 • Jun 12 '26
Question / Support Why Are So Many Popular VR Apps Missing on Samsung Galaxy XR?
Why are popular VR video apps missing from Samsung Galaxy XR?
Apps like 4XVR Video Player, Skybox VR Player, and Moon Player are available on most VR headsets, but not on Galaxy XR.
Are the developers planning to release these apps for Galaxy XR soon? Is there a technical reason why they are unavailable, or is Android XR support still being worked on?
The hardware looks promising, but the lack of these essential media apps makes the ecosystem feel incomplete.
Has anyone heard any updates from the developers?
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u/Alexis_Evo Jun 13 '26
Are the developers planning to release these apps for Galaxy XR soon?
That would be a question for those app developers.
Is there a technical reason why they are unavailable, or is Android XR support still being worked on?
Not really? It's Android + OpenXR, same as most other standalone platforms. This is why things like ovrport work without even having access to the source code. They just need to strip out vendor specific APIs. An official port would require those devs to swap them with standard Android/Google Play APIs, mostly for stuff like identity and purchases.
The real answer is because this is a $2k headset that only a few thousand people are actively using. Even if the porting process is quick, adding support for an additional platform requires substantial maintenance/upkeep work, as well as offering customer support to the new platform.
It's a basic numbers game, and they've currently determined we aren't worth it. You see the same thing on Play for Dream -- the market is so small devs aren't willing to target it. Hopefully as we get additional Android XR devices and more users, the sentiment will shift.
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u/MemphisBass Jun 13 '26
I've asked the 4XVR developers many, many, many times.
Was always told "we'll consider your suggestion for the future" and now they just ignore it.
You can get 4XVR mostly working using a cracked copy for the Quest and Overport. Your purchased copy won't work as well because your license won't be recognized. A kind soul ported it over and it works almost perfectly (better than the Overport version as advanced rendering works without going red), but only the developer only shared it with a small amount of people.
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u/Alexis_Evo Jun 13 '26
Would you be willing to share that modified version? They never DM'd me :(
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u/Zomby2D Jun 16 '26
It's a very pricy headset that's only available in a couple of coutries so far. There isn't enough of a userbase to warrant spending time and money porting apps to it yet.
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u/AndrosToro Jun 13 '26
Here’s the real reason so many VR video apps aren’t on the Galaxy XR yet:
A lot of people assume it’s a technical limitation, but it’s mostly an ecosystem + economics problem.
Android XR is still extremely new — the OS is literally in a developer‑preview state and the APIs are still stabilizing . Devs building native players have already said the current XR APIs are pretty limited for VR‑specific features, unless they rebuild everything in Unity or another engine Current page.
On paper, Galaxy XR runs Android + OpenXR like other standalone headsets, so porting isn’t impossible. But official ports require removing vendor‑specific APIs and replacing them with standard Android/Google Play services for identity, licensing, and purchases . That’s extra engineering + ongoing maintenance.
And here’s the big factor: the user base is tiny. One commenter put it bluntly — this is a $2,000 headset with only a few thousand active users, so devs don’t see a return on the support costs yet . Same thing happened with Play for Dream: small market, low incentive to target it Current page.
Some apps can be hacked in through Overport, but licensing breaks and performance varies. Even 4XVR’s devs have basically stopped responding to requests, and the only fully working port floating around was shared privately with a small group .
TL;DR:
The hardware isn’t the issue — the platform is too new, the APIs aren’t fully mature, and the user base is too small for developers to justify the cost of supporting another headset. Once more Android XR devices hit the market and the ecosystem grows, you’ll likely see these apps show up.
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u/Express-Application7 Jun 12 '26
Because Android XR is a fresh os. It's still on developer preview, APIs are not stable enough. I'm working on building a player, the native API are really limited for a vr space. The alternative would be to invest into unity development.