Samsung slowly shuts down XR apps until September

If you’re still using Samsung XR apps, we have bad news for you. Samsung has announced that they will be gradually shutting down the apps until they’re all officially gone by September 30. This is mainly because phone-based Virtual Reality systems are practically useless now as the industry has shifted to PC-based and stand-alone ones, therefore making the Samsung XR apps useless. The Samsung VR Video app itself will also disappear from the Oculus store by June 30 and eventually with other platforms by September as well.

This announcement isn’t really a surprise as we’ve been seeing some changes happening to Samsung’s VR properties. We don’t have 360-degree videos anymore and users have not been able to purchase premium videos for some time now. The Samsung XR app itself hasn’t seen any updates lately. This is largely due to the fact that we’re seeing more PC-based VR systems like Oculus Rift as well as stand-alone ones like Oculus Quest. And of course, Samsung’s own Gear VR system is now gone.

So starting now and over the next few months, the Samsung XR apps will start shutting down until September 30 when everything will be shuttered. By then, all XR user accounts will be suspended and removed. Samsung has also ended the XR service for headsets, web, and mobile. Probably no one will be sad that it’s gone but in case you still have any user information and data from there that you would like to save, now is the time to do so. All videos that were published on the platform will also be permanently deleted.

By June 30, the Samsung VR video app will no longer be on the Oculus devices (Rift, Quest, Go) and the Oculus store. By September, it will then stop working on the Windows Odyssey and Samsung Gear VR and it will also be removed from the Microsoft Mixed Reality store. The Samsung XR app will not be supported on Android devices and will be removed from the Google Play and the Galaxy Store.

As to where Samsung’s virtual reality plans will go next, they didn’t really say. If you did ever enjoy Samsung XR apps and all that, it’s now time to say goodbye.