Android 10 update kills Daydream compatibility

[GinKage]

Just like that, without any notice or warning, Daydream no longer works on my S9+.

The same applies to S9 and Note 9, which used to be perfectly compatible with Daydream, but now all you get is this:

Note that the scene behind this dialog window is actually perfectly rendered, and the phone itself is using the "low motion-blur" screen mode.

The problem is, in Android 8 and Android 9, these phones have defined a system flag "android.hardware.vr.high_performance", which is no longer defined on Android 10.
This is a Samsung-specific problem, as Pixel phones running Android 10 can still use Daydream perfectly (as reported in this Reddit thread).

Hopefully Samsung will be able to get around to fix this problem in a future system update, as it only requires them to add a single xml file to the system image...

[Bboxer]

I ended up making a petition, sign here!

http://chng.it/28bZyFXdzp

[Robinl]

Signed the petition.

And I will do my best to bump this topic until we get a proper reply (not the BS "it's not us it's Google").

[JoeBagodonuts]

I am not going to sit here and make a bunch of fanciful claims as to the Samsung products I intended to purchase up until this point. I make my decisions at "game time" based on the functionality and quality that I am looking for. If a Sony TV has the feature set I am looking for then it's that Sony that I am buying. With that said, I do take into account negative experiences. I will say this, when "game time" comes in the future and I am looking for a new what-cha-ma-callit I will actively avoid Samsung products over this. What occured here was lazy at best and unethical at worst.

This is not a ploy to have Samsung fix this. The decision has been made. Samsung's silence on this issue has been deafening. I calculated this as an almost $200 loss for me in Daydream hardware and software and that blame rests squarely with Samsung. I liken it to this; Nintendo stopped supporting the Nintendo Entertainment System over 2 decades ago and yet my kid is still sitting in the next room playing Dr Mario.

Fix it, don't fix, I could care less. There are companies run in a much better fashion.

[Bboxer]

I brought daydream back to S9!(It involves flashing ROM's however)

Yesterday, I decided I had enough of waiting around for Samsung to add daydream support. So I began looking for ways to get daydream back on the s9.

The first thing I tried was to downgrade my Android version to Pie. Unfortunately, I had installed the March patch, which prevented downgrading.

Ok then, time to try the next thing- install a custom rom. I looked to Lineage OS as it had decent compatibility. After jumping through more hurdles, I managed to finally install it. And daydream worked right off the bat(no setup needed)!

However, since I was using a screen protector and there was no high-sensitivity setting Lineage was next to unusable.

After gnashing my teeth a hundred more times I somehow ended up installing root. I've never rooted anything before, so this was quite monumental. Unfortunately(there are a lot of unfortunately's aren't there) most Samsung services(Samsung account, health, any form of password) did not work. But after editing the handheld_core_hardware.xml file in the system folder, and adding the flags, Daydream worked!

What I would recommend to get Daydream to work is to root the phone, though as I warned, you cannot set a lock screen password and you cannot sign in to Samsung account.

If you do not use a screen protector, then get Lineage.

Here is the best video to root the phone-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88-xvSQqKRo

(This works with the s9 plus as well, that's what I have)

(The password for the file is 2244)

Here is the guide I followed upon rooting to add the flags-

https://www.xda-developers.com/force-daydream-vr-compatibility/

To install Lineage-

https://download.lineageos.org/ and choose s9 or s9 plus then follow the instructions

[Bboxer]

Edit- In the https://www.xda-developers.com/force-daydream-vr-compatibility/ guide, skip the step where it says to locate the build.prop file.

If it still doesn't show you Daydream Vr in the google play store, don't panic, it happened to me too. Simply install the apk's required.

[Ltc07]

Was out looking at phones, looks like pixel will be my next phone, they did have an s10 on display and had info stating it does allow you to use vr. I played with it and tried to download daydream from play store, it doesnt allow it to download. Downloaded apk and it says incompatible phone. False adverizing if you ask me. I know of someone who has had the s10, they are selling it and taking a loss since the software has problems. An s10 for $50.00 ?. Wonder if a tag could be added so the daydream would run. Its a nice phone, has 512 gb of int storage. Id love to get it, but no vr. I dont want a phone where samsung takes features away. Very shameful for samsung to pull features we use and they just dont listen. Why samsung do you have signs stating it does this and that plus vr ? It does not, very false advertizing, its illegal to state something does something that it cant do. Cant you fix the problem samsung ?

[Bboxer]

I think you have confused Gear VR with daydream, as s10 NEVER had daydream support. But yes, adding the tags would enable it.

[ComplianceDev]

Root my phone is not an option. I use the backups and logins. Mind you I am in the process of off loading all of my data over this. If this phone bites it, I am going somewhere else. Again, log in daily until this post gets noticed by a news agency and sign the petition mentioned above.

[ComplianceDev]

and include the petition at the end of every post cannot hurt, either:

http://chng.it/WQnjVKHvVv

[Caden]

I swear.   If Samsung doesn't fix this problem for S9 phone, I will never buy or recommend anyone to buy Samsung phones in the future.   

We all should never buy Samsung phones again.