Reach New Audiences by bringing your 2D Apps to the Meta Horizon Store

As we announced during our Developer Keynote, we’re excited to share that the Meta Horizon Store now supports 2D apps built as progressive web apps (PWAs), Android native, or via Meta Spatial SDK. Consumers will be able to experience your apps in new ways like the ability to resize panels, move apps freely around their environment, expand any panel onto a large movie theater-sized screen, and support spatial audio. You can quickly port existing apps for a new audience—or enhance them with 3D elements to deliver experiences that feel fresh but familiar.

With over 60% of Meta Quest users now using the browser and 2D panels on Meta Quest 3, there’s never been a better time to develop 2D experiences for Meta Quest devices. Users want to stay connected with their favorite apps while they’re in MR, and we’re committed to providing the right set of tools to help you easily bring your web and mobile apps to Meta Horizon OS.

Below, we take a closer look at new updates designed to help you grow your business with 2D apps and explore development paths to help you succeed.

We’ve opened the Store to all 2D apps so more developers can start their journey with MR. You can easily bring your existing apps into our ecosystem as long as they meet basic technical and content requirements. To get started, we’ve designed a porting 2D apps guide in our Developer Center.

Whether you’re updating an existing app or starting from scratch, you can choose from several build paths based on your preferred technologies and expertise. Like on mobile, there are subtle pros and cons to each approach, and we are committed to supporting all equally.

Bringing your Android apps to our platform requires minimal effort, and can instantly enable your app’s users to engage with your 2D experience in entirely new ways. Users can resize panels as large as they’d like and position them freely within their space for powerful multi-tasking. Alternatively, they can expand their panel onto a massive theater screen with spatial audio to feel more present with your app experience.

Meta Horizon OS supports most Android Native app frameworks, which makes it really easy to get started. In fact, Horizon system apps are built on the same React Native used in Facebook and Instagram- and the updated Facebook and Instagram MR apps were rebuilt in just a few months entirely with React Native. You can use your same toolchain as the phone and test your app in-headset for final checks- the Horizon OS shell takes care of translating MR inputs into tap and scroll events.

Bringing web apps to the Meta Horizon Store gives you the option to port your experience as a Progressive Web App (PWA). You’ll be able to deploy 3D PWAs with support for packaging 2D PWAs coming soon. Packaging your website into a PWA offers users easy one-click access directly from their library, and helps with your website’s visibility. Our browser is based on Chromium, which makes it compatible with most websites today, and PWAs are easy to maintain since you just need to maintain your website. Once on the Store, you have more options for discovery, tools for distribution, access to various monetization options, and insights via our developer analytics tools.

To see an example of a web-based experience packaged as a PWA, check out Wordle from the New York Times, and to get started, learn more here.

As we announced at Meta Connect, you can now also leverage Meta Spatial SDK, a new way to build immersive apps for Meta Horizon OS. Meta Spatial SDK lets you combine the rich ecosystem of Android development and the unique capabilities of Meta Quest via familiar APIs and code patterns. It is Kotlin based, allowing you to use the mobile development languages, tools, and libraries you’re already familiar with. You can build completely new immersive apps, or take your existing mobile app and extend it by adding spatial features like immersive media, 3D environments, and rich interactive panels.

Meta Spatial SDK is available in open beta. You can download it today, and get started with our various samples and open source showcase apps.

Finally, you can spatialize your web experiences using WebXR, an open standard that enables cross-device and cross-platform immersive experiences. WebXR apps are also available via the Quest browser or on the Meta Horizon Store as a packaged PWA. You can get a first-hand experience with web-based experiences spatialized with WebXR by checking out Elysian and Escape Artist. Also, here’s a sneak peek into the future of ecommerce in collaboration with PUMA on a WebXR based shopping experience that will be available on Meta Quest. Get started with our WebXR guide today.

We are dedicated to creating a thriving 2D ecosystem on the Meta Horizon Store. We recognize that it takes both platform capabilities and developer support to foster a healthy community. Stay tuned as we continue to ship new features to help you succeed, like our Platform Services SDK coming later this year. We would love to hear your feedback—all of our developer support channels now support mobile and web developers, including community forums, bug reporting, and documentation feedback.

For more hands-on support, we are expanding the Meta Horizon Start program to mobile developers interested in shipping 2D and Meta Spatial SDK apps. Participants can enjoy dedicated support, educational resources, access to a managed developer community, and potential funding opportunities. Learn more and apply here.

Be sure to check out more opportunities to build for Meta Horizon OS by watching all of the developer sessions from Meta Connect. To stay updated on the latest developer news, announcements, and updates, follow us on Facebook and X, and subscribe to our monthly newsletter in your Developer Dashboard settings.