"It may seem like Oculus are adding extra steps, but with new distribution options around the corner the outlook looks good for users, developers, and all of SideQuest," SideQuest CEO Shane Harris wrote to me. "At SideQuest we have a 5 step process for users to sign up and get access to content. These steps make it harder for users to setup SideQuest which hurts the overall discoverability of content on the platform and sets a technical hurdle for users to overcome. Oculus have introduced 2 Factor Auth as a layer of security around Developer Accounts on the Oculus Developer Dashboard. This move makes sense as they are working towards opening up new distribution options on Oculus Quest, as
stated by Chris Pruett earlier in the year. Oculus are making it possible to install apps without the use of sideloading which will remove the need for these setup steps completely likely along with other first party benefits for developers. We are excited to see how these changes improve the user experience and boost overall visibility and user engagement in content on SideQuest. Sideloading isn't going anywhere, its an essential part of the developer ecosystem as any developer or enterprise user knows. Facebook stated recently that
sideloading will still be possible in 2023."