Meta’s VR App Store Expands to Include 2D and Spatial Apps for Quest Headsets
Meta’s Revolutionary Update for VR Apps
Meta’s Quest headsets and app store have been around for a while, but with a software experience largely limited to 3D and AR apps and games. However, the company is now opening things up. Horizon OS and Quest VP Mark Rabkin announced during Meta Connect that from today, the Meta app store “fully welcomes 2D and spatial apps.”
Paving the Way for 2D and Web Apps
Meta also supports web apps, exemplified by the New York Times’ Wordle app, which is a Progressive Web App usable on Quest headsets. Until now, the company’s app store has been heavily curated, with a single experimental section called App Lab. Today’s announcement aligns the app store more with Google or Apple’s marketplace dynamics, encouraging developers to introduce smartphone or tablet-style applications to the VR platform.
New Features Enhance User Experience
Significantly, Quest users can now place apps wherever they want, resize them, and utilize up to six simultaneously. Furthermore, users can open a 2D app while immersed in a 3D experience—a feature resembling aspects of Apple’s visionOS. Perhaps Meta recognizes the potential identified by Apple, especially following the Vision Pro's launch with a wealth of supported iPad and iPhone apps.
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