Oculus released screencasting in beta late last year, and while it’s been a great way of letting someone outside of VR see what’s happening during a VR session, the company just made this a lot easier in a recent update to the Oculus Mobile app.

The only method before now to cast VR content to a phone using the Oculus Mobile App was to first initiate the cast from an in-headset menu, and then fumble with your phone to accept the invite.

Image courtesy Oculus

It’s by no means a complicated operation, but if you were setting it up for someone else, it invariably means you’d have to pop into your headset first to prompt the cast, mess with your phone to accept it, and then get back into VR to start the session.

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In a bid to reduce some of this friction, Oculus Go users can now also start casting from the Oculus app before getting into VR. Here’s a few simple steps Oculus supplies in their Oculus Go support guide.

How to Cast from Oculus Mobile app

  1. Open the Oculus app on your phone.
  2. Select  from the top right of your screen.
  3. Under Cast From, select the headset you’d like to cast from. (Make sure it says Connected under your listed headset.)
  4. Under Cast To select This Phone.
  5. Tap Start at the bottom of your screen, put on your headset and accept the in-VR prompt to start casting.

Like before, a red dot should appear in the upper right corner of your view in VR to indicate screencasting has started. You can stop casting from within VR or from the Oculus app by selecting the back button in the top left of your casting screen.

And there you have it, a slightly less encumbered way of letting your friends watch what you’re doing in VR so they don’t get too bored waiting their turn.

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Scott Hayden
Well before the first modern XR products hit the market, Scott recognized the potential of the technology and set out to understand and document its growth. He has been professionally reporting on the space for nearly a decade as Editor at Road to VR, authoring more than 4,000 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • JesuSaveSouls

    They lack one thing or two but mainly one.Its getting postional tracking.Possibly having a external sensor but that would be monumental for the product.

    • Rob Walker

      Google “Oculus Quest” which has 6DOF on both the headset and hand controllers. Release date is Q1 2019 @ $400 (American).

  • Does it also work with the IPad?

    • Peter Laurent

      The app works on iPad so the casting should as well. This is perfect timing for me since I’m going to be taking Oculus Gos to retirement homes starting next month

  • When I first looked at this post, I thought it was something else entirely. I was picturing a window into the virtual work from the perspective the phone’s holder. This is possible with phones and tablets that can handle AR and 6DOF headsets like the Quest, as demonstrated in the recent demo of Dead and Buried. Something like LIV:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwJPsi46ANc

    But this isn’t that at all. This is just screen sharing. It’s fun, it’s the same thing you get if you sit next to somebody using a PC HMD well you watch their monitor, or the PSVR well you watch their activity on the TV. But it’s not a window into their world. I’m a little disappointed. Now I *REALLY* want them to release a proper window into VR!

  • When I first looked at this post, I thought it was something else entirely. I was picturing a window into the virtual work from the perspective the phone’s holder. This is possible with phones and tablets that can handle AR and 6DOF headsets like the Quest, as demonstrated in the recent demo of Dead and Buried. Something like LIV:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj2bbgmVPgs

    But this isn’t that at all. This is just screen sharing. It’s fun, it’s the same thing you get if you sit next to somebody using a PC HMD well you watch their monitor, or the PSVR well you watch their activity on the TV. But it’s not a window into their world. I’m a little disappointed. Now I *REALLY* want them to release a proper window into VR!

  • Very interesting

  • JesuSaveSouls

    It is good but surprises me on oculus go’s success.I would of been ecstatic to get a go which requires no flagship smart when in the beta and early development years of oculus and gear vr.I purchased a new innovators edition gear vr for 200 and a used note 4 for 350.

  • JesuSaveSouls

    I would like to think I attributed to the development of vr in its early days by buying a dk2 and beta testing and contributing to many early software kickstarters.

  • daveinpublic

    So basically it allows you to start casting from your phone, rather than having to start casting from the headset. Then you can accept the request inside the headset.

  • James Thompson

    Just wondering, when screen sharing with the Oculus Go, is it similar to the Gear VR where both the headset and the stream have no audio? If the audio actually works when streaming, that would be great.