Closing Out Strong: End-of-year updates and launches for Meta Horizon OS

In 2024, we introduced a wide-ranging lineup of updates and new features to improve the development experience and help you innovate for Meta Horizon OS. From 2D app support in the Meta Horizon Store and Meta Spatial SDK, to multi-room support and Acoustic Ray Tracing, there are more opportunities, capabilities, and tools at your disposal than ever before to create engaging and unique app experiences; however, before we look too far ahead into 2025, we want to share a few more improvements that allow you to build more smoothly, market your app effectively, share your feedback, and engage users.

Dive in below to learn about the latest updates that can help you achieve more success in 2025 and beyond.

If typing plays an important or recurring role in your app, integrating Tracked Keyboard can provide a smoother and intuitive experience for users by enabling them to use a physical keyboard in an immersive environment.

Our updated Tracked Keyboard API uses a generic keyboard detection model to identify nearly any keyboard near the user and detect when the user’s hands are near the keyboard. You can use this capability to:

In v72, we are launching the updated keyboard toMeta Quest 3 and Quest 3S users. It will be available in Home to use with Remote Desktop and other 2D apps. At that time, we will also deprecate the previous Tracked Keyboard API, and it will no longer work in your app. We understand that this will mean loss of keyboard coverage for Meta Quest 1, 2 and Pro users, but we are confident that moving forward this solution will provide users with a far more friendly and effective keyboard experience.

Virtual Reality Checks (VRCs) are categorized guidelines that all apps must follow to be published on the Meta Horizon Store. These guidelines include requirements for performance, security, audio and more to deliver high-quality, safe user experiences throughout our content ecosystem.

This month, we made changes to our Asset.2 VRC. This update provides clarification for extraneous text in cover art by specifying generic superlatives, vague updates, unattributed quotes and pricing information as examples of disallowed text. While understanding the subtleties of approved asset messaging is important, we expect this clarifying update to have minimal impact on your business. If your published app currently includes pricing information on its cover art, you can leave it as is until April 1, 2025, at which point this text will need to be removed.

Published apps that currently include other categories of disallowed cover art text will need to remove or edit this text upon their next metadata update. You can request an extension until April 1, 2025 via your submission’s ‘Notes for the Reviewer’ field if you need to update your app’s metadata before addressing existing extraneous text.

Instant Placement (also known as Raycasting) is a mechanism used for basic scene understanding that doesn’t rely on the Scene Model and is now available as part of the Mixed Reality Utility Kit (MRUK). Instead of placing objects based on a scene model, Instant Placement involves defining a ray origin and direction and receiving information on the first intersection point between the ray and the environment.

While this data is less structured than the Scene Model’s representation that uses planes, volumes and meshes, certain use cases are ideal for Instant Placement and allow you to save time and energy by skipping the system’s Space Setup process entirely. For example, this interface is well-suited for placing objects like panels in simple mixed reality scenarios.

This new MRUK capability provides a mechanism to create a mesh that you can use to hide or destroy objects or content within an app. This simple mechanism can be repeatedly used to create fun gameplay like uncovering treasure or hidden portals in mixed reality games.

Scene Decorator is an advanced MRUK tool that enables you to decorate your scene with assets. Using Scene Decorator, you can easily place random or uniform assets (prefabs, 3D models, etc.) in your physical space that adapt and correspond to the scene layout. This tool can help deliver a more engaging and action-packed mixed reality experience for users by enabling you to spawn objects selectively on the floor, walls, or even on objects like tables or chairs.

Android System WebView is a pre-installed system component that allows Android apps to display web content without opening a separate, full-browser instance. Leveraged by 86% of all Android apps and several of the most popular apps on the Meta Horizon Store, WebView can be a game changer for retention and time spent by opening up opportunities to incorporate engaging web content in your app experience.

We’ve heard your feedback regarding WebView’s less-than-ideal performance, and today we’re excited to share that we’ve updated WebView for the first time in three years with compiler and engine optimizations that result in significantly improved load times, stability, browser efficiency, and compatibility.

This update fixes many known compatibility issues and missing browser features that make it easier to leverage WebView for scenarios like watching YouTube videos, providing up-to-date sports scores, using modern browser features, and countless others. We know that many developers currently leverage Gecko Engine to support in-app web content—by switching to the updated WebView experience in v71 or later, you can save 50MB in CPU headspace per app and also ensure your WebView solution is up-to-date and secure. For these reasons, we encourage all developers using Gecko Engine or custom WebView solutions to make the switch, and we remain committed to ensuring that developers can take advantage of the open web when developing their apps for Meta Horizon OS.

When users click on your app’s Product Detail Page (PDP) in the Meta Horizon Store, creative assets such as cover art and video trailers can encourage purchases by providing a snapshot of what your app experience will look and feel like in-headset.

Now with 360° Previews, you can deliver a more immersive and accurate representation of your app experience so users can explore your app’s features and functionality from all angles. By gaining a deeper understanding of your app experience, users can make a more informed purchase decision and feel more confident. Follow our guide to 360° Previews to start showing off more of your app directly from your PDP.

In MQDH, you’ll notice a new tab labeled “Feedback.” Developer feedback is essential for product optimization and innovation, as well as ensuring you have the necessary tools to create high-quality app experiences. The need for a streamlined feedback loop between us and the Meta Horizon developer community is something we’ve heard from several developers, and now we’re happy to share that we’ve added a Feedback tab in MQDH that allows you to submit feedback, bugs, and get updates on your reports.

Our goal with Feedback is to provide a consistent and well-utilized communication touchpoint that allows us to hear and address your input. Additionally, Feedback will enable us to support you in providing quick instructions and support that may be overlooked when browsing our documentation. As we continue to release new products and features, we look forward to bolstering our communication channels with you to ensure you have the knowledge and product expertise to build high-quality apps.

We hope you find these updates useful as you gear up to accomplish new goals and find even greater success in the coming year. For more developer news and product updates, follow us on X and Facebook and subscribe to our monthly newsletter in your Developer Dashboard settings.