Meta's Horizon Store now supports 2D PWAs apps, native Android apps, and apps built via the new Meta Spatial SDK, which lets developers use Android dev tools
people crave for content and immersive content can't be 100% of it. So happy to see prime video launch on quest. Kent Bye / @kentbye : Meta has “cured curation” meaning that they've finally moved over to a much more open store model. Accepting 2D and 3D apps now. Lots of use of browser-based apps in Mixed Reality.
TechCrunchSarah Perez
Context & Ripple Effects
Meta had already begun moving Horizon beyond a headset-only destination, expanding Horizon Worlds to web and Android in an early cross-platform rollout. The store change extends that direction from audience access to the developer tools and app formats accepted on Quest.
It also builds on Meta's earlier plan to enable mixed-reality development through its Presence Platform, now reflected in a Spatial SDK that works with Android development tools. The significance is less a single app launch than a lower-friction route for filling a mixed-reality device with both immersive and conventional software.
First-order effects
Developers can distribute 2D PWAs, native Android apps, and Spatial SDK-built apps through Horizon Store, reducing the need for every Quest offering to start as a bespoke 3D experience.
Quest users gain access to a broader mix of utility, web, and media software; Prime Video's arrival is an immediate example of the platform pursuing non-immersive content alongside VR apps.
Second-order effects
Android and web developers have a more direct reason to evaluate Quest distribution, while Meta can test whether existing app inventories improve headset usefulness between immersive sessions.
A wider catalog raises the value of discovery and compatibility in Horizon Store: developers must decide which experiences merit spatial features and which can reach users effectively as 2D or browser-based apps.
Third-order effects
If adoption follows, headset software marketplaces could be organized around a blended 2D, mobile, web, and spatial catalog rather than a VR-only app category.
The strategic differentiator may shift toward how easily a platform carries forward existing developer skills and software, with Meta using Android tooling as a bridge into spatial computing.
The trend: Spatial-computing platforms are broadening from curated VR app stores into general-purpose software ecosystems that reuse mobile and web development pathways.
Spatial SDK basically makes it really easy for apps like Tinder or Spotify to add 3d elements to their flat design. This will bring a hell lot more content to Horizon ecosystem and “spatial 2.5d” design will be very relevant.
Meta Horizon OS will be what iOS was to Apple. Zuck wants to own the platform of the future and not rely on Apple and Google for iOS and Android to play well. We saw what happened with the ad-tracking changes. The platform is the moat.
Building it so that Android developers can directly develop on it is great. Helps with onboarding of developers. Foster the ecosystem, people will come. Apple Vision Pro didn't even have Netflix and YouTube on launch. No wonder it flopped.
I just realized that @MetaforDevs's new HorizonOS, released in April, is built on top of Android. This means any Android developer can also target this platform. Phones/Tablets, TVs, Watches, Cars and now VR Glasses. https://developers.meta.com/ ... This is just #android 👇 [image…
Meta is expanding developer tools for its platforms ("if you can build an Android app you can write for Quest") and enabling camera passthrough access for developers early next year. This should allow scene understanding and AI for Quest. #MetaConnect
Emphasizing web-based apps and progressive web apps like Spotify and NYT Wordle. Note that it looks like you still have to go through their store, which the magic of PWAs should be that you don't need an App Store at all.
meta allowing 2D apps is going to help immersive creators massively—people crave for content and immersive content can't be 100% of it. So happy to see prime video launch on quest.
Meta has “cured curation” meaning that they've finally moved over to a much more open store model. Accepting 2D and 3D apps now. Lots of use of browser-based apps in Mixed Reality.