Introducing the new Meta Accounts
In August 2022, they’ll begin rolling out a new Meta account structure that gives people more flexibility and control in VR.
- You’ll no longer be required to log into your Meta VR devices with a Facebook account.
- They’re also evolving your Oculus profile to a new Meta Horizon profile, which you can customize as you see fit.
- Your “Friends” will now become “Followers,” similar to Instagram’s existing model.
- You’ll have the option to add your Facebook and/or Instagram account to the same Accounts Center as your Meta account, which unlocks connected experiences in VR.
- They’re rolling out new controls to help you more easily manage your privacy settings.
As Meta shared at Connect 2021, we’re moving from being Facebook-first to metaverse-first. Since then, we’ve reflected about what type of account model would best support our work to help build the metaverse.
These days they are introducing Meta accounts, a new way for people to log into their VR headsets that don’t require a Facebook account. They took feedback from the Meta Quest community into account to create an account structure that gives you flexibility and control on whether or not Facebook and Instagram are a part of your experience, which means you no longer are required to log in using Facebook, and can instead use your email address.
Along with Meta accounts, They’re launching the next evolution of Oculus profiles—Meta Horizon profiles. These profiles represent your social presence, provide greater customization, and govern how you appear to others. To help people stay connected across the ecosystem, they’re also shifting our current “Friends” model to a “Followers” structure, similar to what they currently offer on Instagram.
Starting in August 2022, all developers creating new accounts or those with accounts previously merged with Facebook will need to create a Meta account to log into Meta Quest developer surfaces and devices.
If you’ve been logging into your VR device with your Oculus account, you can continue to do so until January 1, 2023, at which point you’ll need to create a Meta account to log into your device. Developers using Oculus accounts will maintain access to developer resources, tools, and data regardless of their login method until this date, but will be unable to create new test user accounts until they create a Meta account.
With these changes, they’re updating the Supplemental Terms of Service and Supplemental Privacy Policy to provide information about Meta accounts, what information they collect, and how they use and share it when you log into Meta VR products. These changes apply to all countries where Meta Quest devices are supported. They’re also updating our Conduct in VR Policy to better reflect the evolution of VR. Learn more here.
Below, they dive deeper into what Meta accounts mean for you, including information on other platform changes ahead. For more information about Meta accounts and how these changes affect development on Meta Quest, check out the blog post on the Oculus Blog and the developer FAQ.
Meta Accounts
Your Meta account lets you login to Meta Quest developer surfaces (like Oculus Developer Hub (ODH) and Developer Center) and VR devices—it’s not a social profile. It also lets you view and manage your app entitlements in one place. Information saved in your Meta account will include email, phone number, date of birth, and payment information.
If you create your Meta account using an email address, you have the choice to add your Meta account to the same Accounts Center as your Facebook and Instagram accounts. Adding your Facebook and/or Instagram account unlocks connected experiences across Meta technologies like finding your Instagram followers to join you in VR, or using Messenger to chat with friends. If you’ve turned on the App Sharing feature, you’ll be able to share apps across multiple Meta accounts on the same Meta Quest and Meta Quest 2 devices.
If you previously merged your Oculus developer account with your Facebook account, you will have the option to remove your Facebook account from your Meta account; however, if you’re using App Ads, you’ll need to set up your Meta account using Facebook to continue publishing ads.
You can add or remove your Facebook and Instagram accounts at any time from Accounts Center without losing your ability to login, manage your app, or enable developer mode in-headset. You’ll be able to find Accounts Center in Settings in the Oculus mobile app, on their website and in-headset. For more information, please visit the Help Center.
Test User Accounts
After Meta accounts launch, test accounts for development can be created in the Developer Dashboard after you set up your Meta account. If you continue using an Oculus account after Meta accounts launch, you will be unable to create new test accounts until you set up your Meta account.
After creating a Meta account, you’ll also need to migrate your existing test accounts to Meta test accounts to continue using them, including creating a Meta Horizon profile for each test account. To do so, login to your test account and complete the same Meta account migration steps as your primary account. New test accounts that you create after setting up your Meta account will not need to complete these steps.
Accessing Oculus Developer Hub
Starting with the release of version 2.7, ODH will accommodate Meta account login functionality. Developers who have migrated to Meta accounts and are using ODH 2.6 or earlier will need to update their software using one of the following options when Meta accounts launch:
- Versions 2.5 and 2.6: on the ODH login page, select “Update” to download the latest version
- Versions 2.4 and earlier: manually uninstall ODH and redownload the latest version from the Downloads page
Meta Horizon Profiles
After you create a Meta account, you’ll be prompted to create a Meta Horizon profile, which will replace your existing Oculus profile. While Meta accounts contain private account information, your Meta Horizon profile is your social profile in VR and other surfaces like the web. You can customize how you appear to others—you can show up as a gamer or as your buttoned-up 9-to-5 persona with your username, profile name, profile picture, avatar and more. Your Meta Horizon profile username is unique to you (e.g. WarriorMama365), while your profile name will be displayed to others (e.g. Monique Smith), and doesn’t need to be unique.
We encourage you to use profile names as the primary way people are displayed in your app, so users consistently know how to refer to one another. You can still request access to username if this unique identifier is important to your app experience (e.g. for differentiation purposes).
Stay Up-to-date with Meta Horizon Followers
The new “Followers” structure gives people more ways to be social and connect with others. People can choose to share updates such as achievements and apps they own with their followers. Also, if you follow one of your followers, you can start a Party together and message one another.
Existing Oculus friends will automatically become mutual followers, with the choice to unfollow anyone or remove followers at any time.
Privacy Controls
With this update, they’re introducing enhanced privacy controls. You’ll now find a menu to help you choose a privacy setting that best fits your needs:
- Open to Everyone
- Build a new communit
- People can find and follow you
- People can see your activity and active status
- Friends and Family
- Connect with people you know
- You control who can follow you
- Your followers can see your activity and active status
- Solo
- Explore on your own
- You control who can follow you
- People cannot see your activity or active status
As part of these privacy settings, you have the option to set your Meta Horizon profile to private, which means you’ll be asked to review and approve follower requests. If you choose this option, only your followers can see who you follow and who follows you. Keep in mind that non-followers will still be able to view your profile picture, avatar, username, profile name, follower count and the number of people you follow. People can also still search for your name or username and send you follow requests. People between the ages of 13 and 17 will have their Meta Horizon profiles set to private by default.
For more information about Meta accounts and how these changes affect development on Meta Quest, check out the blog post on the Oculus Blog and the developer FAQs.
Source: www.oculus.com
