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Vive Home

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Vive Home
Information
Type VR home space
Developer HTC
Supported Devices HTC Vive (PC VR); HTC Vive Focus and HTC Vive Focus Plus (standalone, as the VIVE Home dashboard)
Release Date Early version available by May 2016; update with objects and a web browser widget on September 30, 2016


Vive Home (styled VIVE Home by HTC) is the name HTC has used for the virtual space a user lands in between applications on its Vive virtual reality headsets. It first appeared in 2016 as a personal, customizable environment in the software for the PC-powered HTC Vive, where users could add widgets and shortcuts to applications.[1] HTC announced an update to it alongside its Viveport content store in August 2016, and its announcement of Viveport's global launch on September 30, 2016 listed new Vive Home features.[2][3]

HTC later reused the name for the in-headset dashboard of its Vive Wave standalone headsets, the HTC Vive Focus and HTC Vive Focus Plus. HTC's documentation describes that version as "your dashboard to the VR world" and as "the starting point of every Wave experience".[4][5] Vive Home is separate from Valve's SteamVR Home, the default home environment of Valve's SteamVR runtime.

Reviewed 21 October 2026. Checked every claim, quote, date and name against the cited GamesBeat, TechCrunch, Ubergizmo, Mogura VR and Road to VR articles, HTC's 2016 newsroom releases, the VIVE Focus/Focus Plus/Cosmos support pages, developer docs and the Focus Plus user guide. About review dates.

History

PC version (2016)

In a May 2016 interview with GamesBeat, J.B. McRee, HTC's senior manager for product marketing, described Vive Home as a work in progress: "We're working on what we call Vive Home. It's out now, but it's in a very early stage." He called it "the place you'd go between VR experiences", said it could be customized "with different widgets and shortcuts to applications", and said HTC would add features through software updates.[1]

On August 5, 2016, at the VRLA expo in Los Angeles, HTC announced Viveport and said the release would bring "an update to Vive Home, a personal and customizable virtual environment".[2] Ubergizmo quoted HTC describing Vive Home as "our personal and customizable virtual space with interactive widgets and more".[6] Writing for TechCrunch, Lucas Matney called it HTC's "holodeck-esque Vive Home section" and wrote that it and Valve's Steam store provided much of the same functionality as separate app launchers and home screens. He reported that Vive Home would be prioritized for most non-gaming content, while the Steam store stayed one button press away on the Vive controller.[7]

Viveport launched in more than 30 countries on September 30, 2016. HTC's launch announcement listed Vive Home among the offerings, with this description: "Customize your personal space with the debut collection of objects, experience streaming media with the new web browser widget, and more."[3] Mogura VR and GamesBeat reported the same feature list.[8][9] The same release tied a promotion to the space. Rikard Steiber, president of Viveport, said HTC would "Relay a secret message that will Reopen a path to unlimited Viveport content", and invited users to install the VIVE software and "explore VIVE Home over the next month as we unveil more clues and keys to unlock the treasures".[3]

Standalone version (VIVE Home on Vive Wave headsets)

On the Vive Focus and Vive Focus Plus, VIVE Home is the system dashboard. The Focus Plus user guide says the headset takes the user to VIVE Home once initial setup is complete, and that holding the VIVE button for about 10 seconds closes an unresponsive app and returns the user there.[10] HTC's support pages for both headsets describe it in identical terms: "Quickly get to your apps and videos, browse VIVEPORT, access the Web browser, and more."[4][11] HTC's developer documentation adds that VIVE Home is a virtual area within Wave-enabled headsets from which users reach VIVEPORT, their VR library and headset settings.[5]

Features

Version Documented features
PC VR (HTC Vive), 2016 Personal, customizable environment; widgets and shortcuts to applications;[1] collection of placeable objects and a web browser widget for streaming media (September 2016 update);[3] priority placement for non-gaming Viveport content[7]
Vive Wave standalone (Vive Focus, Vive Focus Plus) Dashboard reached from the Quick Menu; access to installed apps and videos, the VIVEPORT store, the web browser and settings; a Discover panel with entries for File Manager, Viveport Browser and Vive Video[10][4][5]

On the standalone headsets, the Focus Plus user guide routes several basic tasks through VIVE Home. Browsing files, opening the web browser and playing videos all start by opening the Quick Menu, selecting VIVE Home and choosing Discover in its left panel.[10] The Quick Menu, opened with the Home button, has a dedicated entry that opens VIVE Home, alongside entries for the VIVEPORT store, the user's library, the VIVEPORT account and settings.[10][12]

Later HTC home spaces

HTC's later PC VR software used other names for its in-headset spaces. In January 2018 HTC overhauled Viveport; Road to VR reported that the update added a new "home" area based on a spaceship platform that acted as a launchpad for the store's games and experiences.[13] The HTC Vive Cosmos software uses Lens as its starting interface and Origin, which HTC describes as "your own corner of VR", as a home base between titles.[14][15] As of October 2026, HTC still publishes its "Using VIVE Home" support pages for the Vive Focus and Vive Focus Plus.[4][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dean Takahashi (2016-05-23). "With its Vive launch under way, HTC builds the case for VR in your living room". GamesBeat. https://gamesbeat.com/with-its-vive-launch-under-way-htc-builds-the-case-for-vr-in-your-living-room/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "VIVEPORT, the app store for virtual reality, rolling out globally". VIVE Newsroom. HTC. 2016-08-05. https://www.vive.com/us/newsroom/2016-08-05-2/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Viveport, the app store for your life in virtual reality, launches today". VIVE Newsroom. HTC. 2016-09-30. https://www.vive.com/us/newsroom/2016-09-30/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Using VIVE Home". VIVE Focus Support. HTC. https://www.vive.com/us/support/vive-focus/category_howto/using-vive-home.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "What is VIVE Home?". VIVE Developers Support. HTC. https://developer.vive.com/us/support/sdk/category_howto/what-is-vive-home.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  6. ↑ Tyler Lee (2016-08-05). "HTC Viveport Launched, An App Store For VR Content". Ubergizmo. https://www.ubergizmo.com/2016/08/htc-viveport-vr-app-store. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lucas Matney (2016-08-05). "HTC launches Viveport app store as the company continues to move all-in on VR". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/05/htc-launches-viveport-vr-app-store-focused-on-non-gaming-verticals. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  8. ↑ Fukafuka (2016-10-03). "HTC、VRコンテンツを配信する『Viveport』をリリース". Mogura VR. https://www.moguravr.com/?p=26196. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  9. ↑ Dean Takahashi (2016-09-30). "HTC launches Viveport, its VR app store". GamesBeat. https://gamesbeat.com/htc-launches-viveport-its-vr-app-store/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 "VIVE Focus Plus User guide". Adorama (hosted manual). HTC. https://www.adorama.com/col/productManuals/HTCVIVEFEDU.pdf. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Using VIVE Home". VIVE Focus Plus Support. HTC. https://www.vive.com/us/support/vive-focus-plus/category_howto/using-vive-home.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  12. ↑ "Using the Quick Menu". VIVE Focus Support. HTC. https://www.vive.com/us/support/vive-focus/category_howto/using-quick-menu.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  13. ↑ Scott Hayden (2018-01-11). "CES 2018: Viveport Goes "VR First" in Largest Update Yet Including New 'Home' & Content Previews". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/ces-2018-viveport-goes-vr-first/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  14. ↑ "What is Lens?". VIVE Cosmos Support. HTC. https://www.vive.com/us/support/cosmos/category_howto/what-is-lens.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  15. ↑ "What is Origin?". VIVE Cosmos Support. HTC. https://www.vive.com/us/support/cosmos/category_howto/what-is-origin.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
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