I gifted an Oculus Quest (that I got as a gift a couple of years ago) to my
brother, but because we're in 2025 and everything computer-related sucks, one
has to associate an online account with the device to make use of it. Imagine
having to do this to use a regular screen… Nevertheless, if you're trying to
factory-reset it and re-setup it, you'll end up having the (mandatory)
"health and safety video" stuck in a loop and you won't be able to finish the
process. This is because Facebook Meta is a small underfunded
independent software company, and thus it sadly can't afford to make sure that
a $500 product sold 5 years ago can still be setup today. If you're foolish
enough to call the support, you'll likely be politely told to fuck off, so
don't bother.
But I remember that when I played with it, the setup phase was trivial: odds
are that an upgrade of the (mandatory for setup) android app broke
compatibility with the device. Using an old version will likely work.
Unfortunately, as Google's Play Store doesn't allow one to install older
versions, for SeCuRiTy ReAsOnS. So instead of being able to download what
we're looking for from a trusted source, we'll have to use something like
uptodown to download the APK we're looking for,
sigh. I picked the Oculus Quest
276.0.0.15.109,
and it worked for me. Don't forget to click the "all variants" button on
uptodown to pick the right architecture (arm64-v8a or armeabi-v7a). If you
don't know which is the right one, don't worry: if you pick the wrong one, your
phone will tell you that it can't install it, and you'll simply have to install
the other one. Oh and also click ignore when it prompts you to upgrade to a
newer version when you're using the app. Try to setup the Oculus quest again,
and you should no longer be blocked on the annoying video.
Once the headset is setup, the application can be updated to its latest version in the Google Play Store, but you can remove it from your phone all the same since it's not needed once the setup is complete. Odds are that having anything Meta-related installed on your phone will give you cyber-cancer, steal your nudes and sell every pieces of information it can collect to the everyone willing to buy them, but you do you.
If you're worried about installing random APK files from the interweb (as you
should), the file has been uploaded to
VirusTotal,
and is signed by the certificate 331660b6dd3bd582f3dfd3cbae4546724668a021,
which is a correct Facebook
one.
Oh, and since it's Christmas time, I'd recommend gifting Half-Life: Alyx to go with the device, it's a great game.