VRChat Mobile Beta Now Live!
We’re excited to announce that the VRChat Mobile Alpha has begun! This is a big moment for us – and we’re excited to give our users the ability to take VRChat with them, wherever they happen to be going.
Remember, this is an alpha! This is an opportunity for you to help our team test the mobile app across devices and in a variety of different environments. Your feedback will help us create a better overall experience for all users of VRChat. That also means that you should expect a few bugs, as well as a changing, ever-evolving experience as we continuously test what works best for mobile users.
So – let’s jump right to it: how do you get into the alpha?
Provided your Android phone or tablet meets the minimum requirements (see below!) and that you have VRChat Plus, you can download the alpha right now from this link.
Hey! The VRChat Mobile Alpha… is now the VRChat Mobile Beta! Ignore the above — you no longer need VRChat Plus to access the Beta — anyone can with an appropriate Android device!
We know you probably have many more questions, though – we’ve gathered up what we imagine the most commonly asked ones will be, and we’ll be answering them below. If your specific question isn’t on this list, we’d suggest checking out the relevant thread on the Ask forums and posting there!
VRChat Mobile FAQ
The VRChat Beta is open to everyone with a compatible Android device!
While the Android Alpha was locked to accounts with VRChat Plus only, the Beta is open to everyone who owns a device that meets our requirements.
Now, then – where do you get it?
You can do so here.
Where can I find the latest release notes / known issues?
Same place as our usual release notes — check here! Look for releases that end in “m.” (You know, m for mobile.)
Next up: What are the minimum requirements?
Most mid-range phones should be fine, but as a baseline, your phone needs at least 6 gigs of RAM. Any less, and it’s unlikely the app will run. Likewise, you need to be running on at least Android 10.
As we said before, though, one of the reasons for this test is to sniff out any technical landmines. While we’ve been able to get it to run smoothly on a variety of devices so far, it’s entirely possible that your particular phone might have a hardware quirk that we haven’t anticipated. Finding those landmines is what an alpha is for, after all!
Okay, but how does it run?
Pretty smoothly, we think!
In our tests, the Android client performs well across a variety of devices. We’d expect it to run at least as well as the Quest version – maybe even better, in a few cases.
There is one caveat, though: on a phone, users could be multitasking between a bunch of different apps. If you’re encountering frame drops, we’d encourage you to try closing apps running in the background to see if it improves performance.
Does the mobile app work on a cell connection?
Yes! Provided you have a good signal, VRChat should work just fine. With that said, switching between cell service and WiFi can be tricky, and won’t be present for the alpha release. That means that if you swap between mobile data and WiFi while playing VRC, you’ll probably drop connection. We’ll work on that, though.
What content is visible?
As was mentioned in the animation, all Quest content will be viewable on Android. However, viewable does not necessarily mean usable. While most stuff will work just fine, Quest content has typically been crafted for… well, Quest users!
That means that some content on phones might be a little wonky. We’d like you to find it – and we’d also like to figure out how to help creators make their existing Quest content more mobile friendly. If you find something that has an awkward control scheme, or just looks weird on mobile, let us know.
Will mobile users be labeled differently?
Just like Quest and PC users, mobile users will have a different tag over their head. With that said, during the alpha this will likely just say Quest – although it will be changing in the future.
Can you disable push notifications?
Of course! You can toggle them on or off as you please. We think most users will probably want to keep them on. We’ve found during internal testing that the notifications were really useful even if you spent most of your time on Quest or PCVR!
When will the mobile app come out of alpha?
We don’t know! Our intent is to gather as much feedback as we can, and continuously update the mobile build until we’re happy with it. We’d like to say sometime this year, but we aren’t committing to any concrete date just yet.
What about iOS?
We’re still working on our iOS build – but progress so far has been fairly smooth. There are a lot of roadblocks we could hit, so once again, we aren’t ready to announce anything just yet, outside of the fact that we’re working hard on it.
See You in the Alpha!
We’re so excited to finally get the Android VRChat Beta out the door.
As a reminder, this is an alpha! If you have suggestions for us, or you’d like to report a bug, please head over to our Feedback forums.
As usual, thanks so much for loving VRChat as much as we do. See you in the alpha!
For press or media inquiries, please contact press@vrchat.com
We’re hiring! Check out open positions on our site
