If you’re tired of futzing around with 3rd-party screen recorders to capture your Gear VR play sessions, your long wait is over. Oculus has finally pushed an update to all Gear VR-compatible phones on Android 5.0 that will allow you to record video and capture screenshots natively. The new function isn’t without its issues however, so there’s a few things you need to know before you get started.

Accessing the new features is easy. Just hold the back button while strapped into the headset to bring up the Universal Menu, tap on ‘Utilities’ and you’ll be presented with video and screenshot capture options.

Selecting the screenshot option, you’re immediately kicked back to whatever app you have opened at the time and are given a blinking red light to indicate about 5 seconds before the shot is taken. Line it up, and you have your screenshot automatically saved in the Oculus folder in your phone’s internal storage.

The video capture option is a bit more tricky though, and still requires some finagling to get an optimal result. Keep in mind the following before you start:

  1. No recording indicator. Unlike the screenshot function, there’s no way to visually know if you’re still recording video—outside the occasional judder of course.
  2. Segmented videos. Exiting from an app, starting a new app, or reopening the Universal Menu automatically ends your video capture, which could create some frustration for people trying to show multiple apps within a single recording session.
  3. No audio capture. Like other screen recorders, you’ll need to either get a 3.5 mm male-to-male audio cable and record audio on your PC using an app like Audacity (high quality), or use an external mic to record system audio from your speaker (low quality). Both methods require you to sync the audio and video in post.
  4. No streaming video apps, or apps without Universal Menu. Streaming-video apps like Netflix and Oculus Video block the use of both capture functions entirely. While the reasons are obvious, it’s probably the silliest way to pirate anything. Ever. Apps like Oculus Social Trivia don’t have access to the Universal Menu, so you’ll need to rely on another method.
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As far as output is concerned, you don’t really have any options to speak of, as you’re given a permanent default of single-eye 1024 x 1024 resolution jpegs and mp4 videos. While the aspect ratio is a bit uncomfortable, it’s certainly more attractive than a stereoscopic capture like in our first look at the new Oculus Social Trivia App. Video is good quality however, and frame rate is very consistent.

Unlike 3rd-party recorders—like the one we use in our first guide on how to record video for Gear VR—the built-in recorder does away with the VR distortion shaders, and also slightly reduces the FOV to 80 degrees, making for a more natural-looking gaming session.

oculus social trivia
3rd-party recording apps capture the whole display, including stereoscopic view and VR distortion
screenshot gear vr
the new 1024 x 1024 resolution photos and video

While the new video recording feature is far from perfect, it bypasses a lot of the initial frustration that 3rd party recording apps can cause, which require you to fiddle with internal settings to get a decent result. We hope to see a fix in future updates to the audio recording issue, or at least a friendly advisory that you aren’t capturing audio.

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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 3,500 articles on the topic. Scott brings that seasoned insight to his reporting from major industry events across the globe.
  • It’s still barely usable, to be honest.

  • Any support for apps in development? I’d like to capture some videos of the building game I’m working on.

  • TaxPayer

    its almost pointless… i have watched so many videos trying to understand what it would be like and its useless. You have to be in VR to understand VR.

  • Matt Malone

    Can you please tell me how to connect the 3.5 mm and use it with Audacity to get the audio? I’ve tried and I can’t seem to get Audacity to record audio from my phone.

    Thank you.

  • Is it just me, or do all the screenshots come out square and low-res?

    • Never mind, I see that you mentioned it in the story.

  • UnanimousD

    If anyone else is trying to find the folder where all your videos are going (and “saved in the Oculus folder in your phone’s internal storage” isn’t very helpful) what you’re looking for is this folder:

    /storage/emulated/0/Oculus/

    If you’re like me and you’re using a no-microsd-card-slot-having Note5, you want to offload any videos you make as soon as possible, and this one will fill up quick. WiFi file manager apps are best for this. Using USB will make it reencode the file and you’ll loose not only time but possibly video quality.

  • How do you do this using the Oculus Rift CV1?