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  • [0.2.0 is released] Beta testers needed for Oculus Go / Gear VR

Hi Dear Friends,

We have released the version 0.2.0 on Oct. 29.
As this is a big upgrade from 0.1.9, we are looking for more beta testers (Oculus Go / Gear VR) to help us.
Here is a list of what we are testing:

  1. [Feature] Support SMB 2.0.
  2. [Feature] Name recognition for VR formats (360/180/3D) on DLNA.
  3. [Optimization] Big upgrade on high resolution 360 video local playback rendering quality (i.e. video looks better🙂).
  4. [Optimization] Zoom boost (350%).
  5. [Optimization] Auto play next available video in the playlist. Loop.
  6. [Optimization] Auto connect to previously connected AirScreen.
  7. [Optimization] Buffered moving effect on screen dragging.
  8. [Optimization] Remember previously used subtitle.
  9. [Optimization] More stable time display during hover.

If you signed up for the previous round, you do not have to sign up again. Simply update your SKYBOX from the Oculus Store after the Beta Release.

If you are interested in becoming a beta tester, please send your Oculus registered email to us at contact@skybox.xyz with a title include BETA TEST & your Oculus device (GO/Gear/Rift).

If you no longer wish to be a beta tester, email us at contact@skybox.xyz and we will remove you from the beta tester list right away.

To be a beta tester can be rough sometimes because the new features or upgrade could influence you negatively depending on your own usage patterns. So please don't get too mad and just talk to me 🙂 I'm sure we will solve it for you very quickly.

We thank you for your support and MOST IMPORTANTLY, we hope you have fun and enjoy SKYBOX :p

Cheers,
Yum Yanyan Zhang
SKYBOX STUDIO

Yum stickied the discussion.
    8 days later

    How much anonymity can i preserve, when becoming a betatester? My gear VR - oculus account and my skybox account so far are ficticious. But my account can of course easily be traced to a phonenumber or maybe imsi.
    I do watch a lot of porn with skybox, so i do not need a detailed trace of what i am watching connected to my phonenumber.
    I am a coder and was betatester for an antivirus company. So i am a bit informed about what there is to do.

    PS: I like skybox to be able to view *.jpg as well. Thank you for a great app, anyway. ;-)

      BadAss37

      Hi,

      We understand your concern.
      For us, if you become a beta tester, we will simply add you account into our test list; if you hope not to be a tester anymore, we will just remove you from the list per request.
      That's all we will do with your Oculus account. This is a promise to all our beta testers.

      As SKYBOX has many users around the world, we really appreciate the help from our beta testers as they help us to make sure each official version is more stable and has less bugs.

      PS. SKYBOX can recognize .jpg file if you add an extension of a video format behind it.

      Cheers,
      Yum

        6 days later

        BadAss37
        We can fully understand your concerns.
        1. SKYBOX will not record your Oculus account or your device number.
        2. SKYBOX will count the video format and file name, but will not know who is watching.
        3. We will not record your phone number, or IMSI
        4. Which means that all your actions are anonymous to SKYBOX.

        PS. We will consider the need for image format playback very seriously, because many people have mentioned this requirement. But so far our positioning of SKYBOX is still a media player software.

        Maybe we will release another software to view the picture.

            It is Oct 26 and I see this currently

            $ adb shell dumpsys package packages | grep -E 'Package [|versionName' | grep -A 1 skybox
            Package [xyz.skybox.player.ovr] (a711900):
            versionName=0.1.9

            Can I force the release to upgrade ?

            • Yum replied to this.

              Pumel
              Thank you for the detailed list.
              I cannot be sure to not compromise my anonymity by the filenames i am using. I could probably scan my videolists for IP-numbers, servernames etc. but i rather leave the opportunity of being a beta-tester to other users.

              Thank you for skybox. And always remember there are others like me who would pay for skybox.

                  CoolGames
                  Hi there,

                  We have released the beta v0.2.0 (134) this morning and your SKYBOX would be updated to this version automatically.

                  To check the version number, please launch SKYBOX and fast click on the CHANNELS for five times, then the version number and current FPS would show up in red. Fast click CHANNELS for several times again the info would disappear.

                  Thank you for your patience and support.

                  Yum

                      Yum

                      0.2.0 really disappoints me!!!

                      I was really shocked by that Void Max scale 2.5 is just a mapping of the previous 0.0~1.5 --> 0.5~2.5.
                      I am really disappoined by how dev team applyed the scale in this way.

                      I did request big screen like IMAX for almost three months in this forum.
                      And, I really waiting for your dev team to improve really big void screen.

                      But, the result really makes me unhappy.
                      You just renamed the number 1.5 to 2.5.

                      There is no size up comparing 0.1.8.3 version.

                      0.1.8.3 version's void max size screen is somewhat bigger than 0.2.0 maximum 2.5scale Void screen size.
                      Yes, I know that 0.1.8.3's Void Max screen size is due to programming bug.
                      But,0.1.8.3's Void Max screen size was a littel bigger and more beautiful.

                      Also, SMB support was not possible in 0.2.0.
                      0.2.0 cannot find SMB server anymore.

                      0.1.9 SMB support was excellent, but 0.2.0 cannot find SMB server.

                      Again, I have sideloaded SKYBOX_0.1.8.3.apk. And It was really beautiful.

                      Once again, I was really shocked and disappointed by your 0.2.0.

                      • Yum replied to this.

                          For me the screen in void is just ouaaaw!
                          Honestly I'm impressed!! it is right in front of my face.
                          Been watching a 3D movie it's crazy!!
                          Had to reduce the size of the screen at some point, I was starting to get a headache.

                          On the other hand on some movies the quality is not that great when the image is moving fast.
                          Lots of line and it gets blurry. (didn't have this on the previous build)

                          I don't have SMB so I can't try.

                          Did you improve the sound? looks like it is louder now.

                          I will watch some movies over the week, so I will let you know if anything is wrong.

                          • Yum replied to this.

                            I can no longer access SMB at all since 0.2.0. Just an "encountered an error" appears for a split second.

                            Edit: tried uninstalling and reinstalling to see if it was a permissions thing, but still doesn't work. Let me know if you need me to test anything else.

                            • Yum replied to this.
                              Yum changed the title to [0.2.0 is released] Beta testers needed for Oculus Go / Gear VR.

                                mechrat
                                Hi there,

                                Yes we need more infos from you to take a deeper look into this issue.

                                1. What SMB server do you use?
                                2. Please send detailed SMB setting to us (screenshot is highly appreciated) at contact@skybox.xyz

                                Thank you and looking forwards to hearing from you.
                                Best,
                                Yum

                                    venux92
                                    Hi venux92,

                                    Thank you for the feedback. We really appreciate it!
                                    > On the other hand on some movies the quality is not that great when the image is moving fast.
                                    Does this happen when you watch it with zoom 2.5x?
                                    Would you please provide detailed info about one video (resolution/format/compression standard/frame rate/size) to us?
                                    Or better share the video with us at contact@skybox.xyz so we can look deeper into this problem.
                                    Thanks!

                                    > Did you improve the sound?
                                    Yes we support audio boost to those videos with low volume now 🙂

                                    Cheers,
                                    Yum

                                        qtam
                                        Hi there,
                                        We are sorry for your frustration.

                                        1. Max Zoom Size:
                                          We will probably make it to 3.0 or even bigger before the release.

                                        2. SMB:
                                          Please provide detailed SMB setting to us (screenshot is highly appreciated) at contact@skybox.xyz
                                          Also we will test SMB on Win 7.

                                        Thanks,
                                        Yum

                                            Yum You'll need to help me out with finding details of SMB I have.

                                            Hardware I'm using; Netgear R7500 Nighthawk X4 router with SMB (password protected), along with a 2TB Samsung USB3 HDD + Gear VR with S8.

                                            • Yum replied to this.

                                                mechrat
                                                Thanks for the info. Please answer the following question to help us understand the situation better.

                                                1. Confirm that you have not successfully connected to SMB since the update to v0.2.0?
                                                2. Every time you try to connect it shows the same "encountered an error"?
                                                3. Have you changed the SMB from 1.0 to 2.0 please?

                                                Thanks for the response in advance.

                                                Yum

                                                    Yum Confirm that you have not successfully connected to SMB since the update to v0.2.0?

                                                    Every time you try to connect it shows the same "encountered an error"?

                                                    Have you changed the SMB from 1.0 to 2.0 please?

                                                    • I can still successfully connect to SMB using other SMB Media Players on my phone, such as Archos Video or using a PC. Using Skybox 0.2.0 I cannot connect.

                                                    • The SMB folder appears with "SMB" written on it. When clicking the folder, I am presented with a "Network Error" popup. This error happens instantly (doesn't show any loading spinner).

                                                    • Is this a setting via my Router? I've checked and I have the latest firmware, and there are no settings to manage SMB. I cannot find what version it uses, but I'll let you know if I find it.

                                                    I've tried reinstalling Skybox, to see if it even prompts for the SMB username and password - but it does not. Just the same "Network error" message.

                                                    Thanks guys

                                                    • Yum replied to this.

                                                        mechrat
                                                        Hi,

                                                        Thanks for the info.
                                                        Please send an email to us (contact@skybox.xyz) including “mechrat” in the title and we will then send you some files to troubleshooting this issue.
                                                        We take this SMB error very seriously and we really appreciate your help here.
                                                        Thanks again!

                                                        Yum

                                                            5 days later

                                                            I would like to beta test, when does the update release?? i have been waiting for an update since august...

                                                            • Yum replied to this.