ALVR v20.14.1

Changes

• Fix Virtual Audio Cable microphone option. @zmerp #2889 #2897 #2911 #2918

ALVR v20.14.0

This is the last minor release for the v20 release cycle! After this release you might see more frequent major version bumps.

What does this mean?
We are lifting ourselves from the difficult task of keeping protocol compatibility between different versions of headset app and streamer. For ALVR, the protocol compatibility is tied to the major version number, so major version bumps don't necessarily mean that big changes or features are released.

What should you do
You should update the ALVR streamer using the Launcher as soon as a new version comes out to keep things running smoothly. For people using the Quest store release, this is especially important since the Quest might force you to upgrade the ALVR app. People on Pico don't have yet a store release for ALVR, but they are still encouraged to update the ALVR streamer and headset app soon after a new release.

Changes

• Add new version popup. @zmerp #2850 #2872
• Allow to copy session file from other installations from the launcher. @zmerp #2828
• Make Virtual Audio Cable default. @zmerp #2861
• Change SteamVR startup process and remove driver registration modes. @zmerp #2754 #2755 #2875, @curoviyxru #2766
• Add client-side OpenXR post-processing. @Baplar #2808
• Add controller pose correction per-headset. @zmerp #2751
• Fix eye alignment on Play For Dream. @shinyquagsire23 #2814
• Fix Play For Dream controller velocity. @shinyquagsire23 #2820
• Fix missing elbow trackers. @CaveJohnson376 #2870
• Fix SteamVR launch fail when using USB mode. @Meister1593 @The-personified-devil @zmerp #2757
• Fix firewall rules script on Linux. @Meister1593 #2845
• Potentially fix SteamVR startup on Linux/Nvidia. @Meister1593 #2844
• Fix custom installation variables handling on Linux. @The-personified-devil #2800
• Fix dashboard theme being broken sometimes. @zmerp #2763
• Other dashboard improvements. @zmerp #2750, @Meister1593 #2840

ALVR v20.13.0

Changes

• Add PlayForDream MR support (by @shinyquagsire23 #2713)
• Add Snapdragon Game Super Resolution (by @zeroxoneafour #2723)
  • This is still in beta and disabled by default
• Add RGB and HSV chroma key passthrough (by @zmerp #2662 #2703)
• Add Pico and Focus Vision face tracking support (by @curoviyxru #2666, @zmerp #2695)
  • Download the latest VRCFaceTracking ALVR module to use this!
• Add Pico body tracking support (by @curoviyxru #2674 #2712)
• Add Pico 4 controller emulation (by @jarettmillard #2724)
• Better Pico 4 Ultra and G3 controller support (by @curoviyxru #2671 #2679)
• Add Android launcher icon (by @curoviyxru #2668)
• Fix judder in certain situations (by @shinyquagsire23 #2660)
• Fix running ALVR on Intel GPUs on Linux (by @Meister1593 #2664)
• Auto unblock ALVR driver on Linux (by @skryvel #2708)
• Some dashboard improvements (by @Meister1593 #2704)

ALVR v20.12.1

Changes

• Fix protocol break with client v20.12.0 and older server (by @zmerp #2637)
• Fix crash on Quest 2 (by @zmerp #2654)
• Build against GLIBC 2.35 on Linux (by @The-personified-devil #2638)
• Add "Enforce server frame pacing" while keeping GPU deadlock fix (by @zmerp #2632, @shinyquagsire23 #2634)
• Better fix for Pico and Vive tracking (by @zmerp #2633)
• Add Max prediction setting (by @zmerp #2635)
• Update controller tracking prediction default (by @zmerp #2643)
• Improve GPU dashboard checks on Linux (by @Meister1593 @The-personified-devil #2648)

We are aware of a bug that prevents streaming when using the microphone on Windows (present also in v20.11.1). We will fix that soon in another release.

ALVR v20.12.0

Changes

• Add integrated wired mode support (by @E1int #2451)
  • No more need to open ports and/or changing settings and/or using external software
  • The client is automatically launched when wired mode is enabled and the headset is connected with the USB cable
• Add passthrough support for lobby and streaming (by @zmerp #2485 #2527)
  • For now we support only transparency modes, chroma keying is coming soon
• Add Quest 3S, Pico 4 Ultra, Vive Focus Vision support (by @zmerp #2466 #2470 #2479)
• Add Quest Pro and SteamVR hands emulation mode (by @shinyquagsire23 #2489)
• Add Nvidia AV1 support on Windows (by @shinyquagsire23 #2438)
• Fix grayish blacks (by @shinyquagsire23 #2597)
• Add Virtual Audio Cable support (by @DevanWolf #2483)
• Fix tilt mode origin (by @zmerp)
• Add VMC support (by @grillo-delmal #2461)
• Fix gestures being triggered when using multimodal or joycons with Apple Vision Pro (by @zmerp #2606)
• Some fixes for head and controllers tracking (by @zmerp #2577 #2608)
• Clarify distinction between bitrate and throughput in the dashboard graphs (by @zmerp #2423)
• Launch client when installing with launcher (by @E1int #2531)
• Fix launcher PPI on Steam Deck (by @Vixea #2585)
• Fix dashboard and launcher positioning on Wayland (by @Kirottu #2595)
• Add reprojection support on SteamVR/Windows (by @shinyquagsire23 #2472)
• Fix IDR resend (by @Vixea #2403)
• Fix high system resources usage before streaming (by @shinyquagsire23 #2495)
• Fix firmware rules on Linux (by @storfors #2457)
• Ignore "Overlapped IO" error (by @zmerp #2522)
• Negotiate some image calibration settings (by @shinyquagsire23 #2442)
• Fix crash on Focus 3 (by @zmerp #2440)
• Lots of refactoring, CI and wiki changes

Special thanks to @issacdowling that worked on a Steam trailer and new vectorized artwork!

ALVR v20.11.1

Changes

• Fix hand tracking throwing momentum (by @shinyquagsire23 #2416)
• Fix hand tracking not working on "Disabled" Hand tracking interaction (by @zarik5 #2413)
• Fix face tracking on Quest Pro (by @zarik5 #2391)
• Fix blank right eye view with FFE off (by @zarik5 #2397)
• Fix IDRs on Linux/software encoding (by @The-personified-devil #2405)
• Make Flatpack package build latest launcher (by @failboat78 #2383)

ALVR v20.11.0

Changes

• Add Multimodal input for Quest (by @zarik5 #2367)
  • You can use one free hand plus one controller in-hand at the same time.
  • Hand skeleton will be tracked when holding the controllers. If selecting Index controllers emulation you can get an experience very close to the real Valve controllers.
  • This can be enabled under the Controllers section. It can't be enabled together with body tracking.
• Add flatpak launcher (by @failboat78 #2207)
• Fix launcher installation popup (by @zarik5 #2356)
• Fix high CPU usage on Linux (by @The-personified-devil #2372 #2375)
• Fix Linux/Nvenc error popups (by @failboat78 #2338)
• Add debug groups (by @zarik5 #2332)
• Rework logging (by @zarik5 #2351)
• Show body skeleton in lobby (by @zarik5 #2366)
• Fix stream being half width resolution (by @zarik5 #2378)
• Fix black screen on Focus 3 (by @zarik5 #2346)
• Fix crash on invalid haptics (by @zarik5 #2355)
• Disable "Adapt to framerate" by default (by @zarik5)

ALVR v20.10.0

Changes

• Support VRChat hand tracking (by @ReinaS-64892 @AdalynBlack @zarik5 #2295, @zarik5 #2313 #2323)
  • This is enabled by default (Separate trackers) in the Presets tab, but you can select Disabled or ALVR bindings if you have compatibility problems with other games.
• Fix Quest 3 not supporting 120Hz (by @The-personified-devil)
• Tracking timing jitter (by @zarik5 #2285)
• Fix crash with some games (by @szneqz #2309)
• Fix crash when shutting down launcher (by @zarik5 #2320)
• Fix crash with vibration on Focus 3 (by @zarik5 #2324)
• Internal refactors of the client graphics (wgpu) and server code architecture (by @zarik5)

ALVR v20.9.1

In this release we reached two big milestones: seamless audio support on Linux and Meta AppLab release!

PipeWire support was in the making for a long time. Finally now audio works out of the box on Linux without the need of any external software except the PipeWire system package. This puts Linux on par if not on better support status than Windows!

Also long awaited was the release on Meta AppLab. You can download the app now at https://www.meta.com/experiences/7674846229245715/. ALVR will also land PICO Lab very soon.

We are also releasing in beta an all new launcher. You can download and keep multiple ALVR installations in parallel, stable or nightly. You can also download and install the client APK without the need of other tools like SideQuest.

Changes for v20.9.1

• Fix performance issues on lobby room.

Changes for v20.9.0

• Add PipeWire support on Linux (by @Meister1593 #1973)
  • Now ALVR creates its own input and output devices
  • Old ALSA and Jack backends are removed
• Add launcher (by @Kirottu #1686, @zarik5 #2058)
• Add GPU checks for Linux (by @Meister1593 #2110)
• Many dashboard tweaks (by @zarik5 #2117 #2119 #2120 #2176)
• Show hands and controllers in the lobby (by @zarik5 #2218)
• Allow recentering in the lobby (by @zarik5 #2155)
• Fix controller detection on Pico Neo 3 Link (by @HoLo85 #2192)
• Fix HEVC black screen on Linux/VAAPI (by @Nibor62 #2203)
• Loosen restrictions on device selection with VoiceMeeter (by @xuan25 #2209)
• Many documentation changes and internal refactorings, mainly thanks to @The-personified-devil and @zarik5

ALVR v20.8.1

Changes

• Fix crash on Linux (by @SniperJoe #2108)