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...

[Wreckronomicon]

Yeah, that's the exact guide I followed. Was really easy to do and works as it did prior to A10 update, I had a couple of issues rooting the phone to start with but that was simple enough to sort out.

[ViniMacnicol]

If you are rooting your phone, isn't it worthy adding the two missing lines to the permission file?

[OLLOPOLLO]

thats affirmative.

[proteas78]

Hello , i own a s9 plus , its a same that there is no support for daydream on android 10. Regardless if there is support by google or not , as i understand its very simple for them to add a couple of lines to the xml file. Its a same to push us on rooting our phones or downgrade them for something so simple. As customers we pay a lot o deal of money to buy the flagships and we must have the appropiate support from the company. If not there is no reason on spending money on samsung...we will have to make other choices on future byus.
Hope you fix it...

[hks1]

Samsung should fix this in the spirit of inspiring brand loyalty. We are all stuck home with this virus pandemic. The least they could do is enable daydream to work on our phones. Hello Samsung where are you? The owners of your phones cannot make use of their daydream headsets. Can you please provide a few lines of code to fix the problem?

[Krxx]

Almost 2 months latter, still no official response from Samsung.

I used Samsung Members report app about this issue and all I got was generic "Ask Google" message.
it's not Google who did last update, Google didnt push new daydream app which is not compatible,
Samsung did that. Samsung pushed new update, and Samsung, deliberatelly or not, removed two just important lines in XML code. So it's Samsung who did this, not Google.

In the time of writting this post, Samsung S9+ is still listed as Daydream compatible:
https://arvr.google.com/daydream/smartphonevr/phones/
My phone lost value because of that, I spent (now lost) some time to create VR content, my Daydream is rendered useless, purchased apps are rendered useless.
This means that someone practically stole money from me, and this should be punishable by law.
 They did not even bother to officially address this issue here.

From my point of view, Samsung lost huge chunk of credibility and trust with this move and lack of official explanation so our next phones will not be Samsungs for sure!

[Wreckronomicon]

The fact that they won't even address the issue is what is bothering me the most, that and the fact that they continue to blame Google when it has been proven to be their fault (I rooted my phone and adjusted the missing tags and it works fine). I have owned Samsung devices for many years, including some tablets and net books, but considering how we have been treated over this small issue means that I too will not be purchasing any more Samsung devices. Lack of innovation in the main line phones, the debacle that was the Fold and the flimsyness of the Z Flip means I have no need to upgrade from the Note 9 and when it is time to.do so I will not be picking Samsung anymore. Way to ruin all the hard work they put in building their brand loyalty from the Sam-Suck days.

[Krxx]

Exactly what Wreckronomicon said!
I was tired of waiting for them to address this issue so today I simply reverted back to last revision of Android 9 in 2019, by following procedure found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdTT4cEUWc4

No rooting, no tripping Knox, simple rollback. It took me approx two hours to do that. There is also option to revert while keeping everything but I havent used that. In developer options I disabled auto update to keep it from pushing back to 10.
I dont care about woo security upgrades and other whatnots, I also didnt like new UI 2, and Ill keep Android 9 untill I decide to sell this phone.

[Wreckronomicon]

Amen brother/sister, I ran One ui 2 for a couple if weeks and had nothing but freezes and crashes so I won't miss it at all!

[noble713]

It's funny that Google has already removed the S9/S9+ from the compatability list, but Samsung has yet to acknowledge this thread...

https://arvr.google.com/daydream/smartphonevr/phones/

Next phone will be a Pixel, or at least for sure not a Samsung unless this is fixed shortly!