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AnExplorer

How a Solo Developer Matched Years of Mobile Revenue in Just 2 Months on Meta Quest

This developer story is part of our Build Faster, Earn More series. Real playbooks on how to deploy the latest tools and engage with your audience on Meta Quest.

How It Started

When Hari graduated with a computer science degree in India in 2009, the world was in the grip of a global recession. His job offer evaporated with the downturn, and he joined a small company where colleagues encouraged him to pursue his own ideas. He focused on what he calls "micro startups": small, solo-built solutions to everyday problems.

"My idea was to build a small, simple, beautiful file manager," Hari recalls. "Android devices back then in 2009 didn't have one."

Fifteen years later, AnExplorer has grown into an all-in-one file manager available on every Android form factor: phones, watches, TVs, cars, gaming consoles, and VR headsets. With 7 million downloads and 1.2 million active devices, it's one of the most established file managers in the Android ecosystem.

Users Led the Way to Quest

Hari didn't set out to build for VR. His users brought him there.

"Users were sideloading AnExplorer on their Quest devices," he explains. "They started downloading and reporting issues. Then I thought, 'OK, I've never released anything there. People are organically downloading it. There might be a good opportunity.'"

If users are sideloading your app on Quest, take note. That's market validation.

In mid 2025, Hari decided to build a Quest version of his app. With improved platform documentation and a clearer path for Android apps, he got it published without hiccups.

From Android to Quest in One Week

With Meta's updated developer documentation and AI tools, porting the app took surprisingly little effort.

"If you already have an Android app, it takes about a week to make the minor changes needed for Quest. You make sure it's completely accessible, no issues, and any VR user can use it," Hari estimates.

He credits Meta's streamlined onboarding for Android apps: "Everything is well organized now. 'You're an Android developer, here's how you launch an app.' There's clear documentation for sample apps, libraries, and monetization. It's all laid out for you."

What Made Porting Fast

The existing Android codebase worked as-is. No need to rebuild from scratch or learn 3D tools.
Clear app documentation. A straightforward path for apps that aren't VR-native.
Familiar tools. Standard Android development workflow, nothing new to learn.
Launch first, optimize later. Hari shipped, then adapted based on VR-specific user feedback.

Revenue Results

AnExplorer became the first dedicated file manager on the Meta Quest Store. With limited competition and a tech-savvy user base hungry for utility apps, organic discovery did all the heavy lifting.

"The monthly revenue run rate that took five years to build on other platforms, I achieved that same monthly run rate in just two months on Quest," says Hari. "I was baffled. This is amazing. I wish I had done this a long time ago."

"Whatever I got was all organic," Hari says. "The need versus what is available on Meta Quest Store. There's a night and day difference."

Earn More: A Smarter Monetization Strategy

Hari's revenue success on Quest isn't just about first-mover advantage. It's also a deliberate monetization strategy refined over years of user feedback.

The Free Trial Approach

Rather than gating features behind ads or hard paywalls, Hari offers a free 7-day trial with full access to both base and advanced features. After the trial, base features remain free indefinitely. Only advanced features move behind a paywall, giving users two options: a yearly subscription or a one-time lifetime unlock.

"Let users try it for free. They get used to it, they have a good impression. Then you say, 'OK, you've used it for this much time. If you want to continue, why don't you subscribe?' And they're happy to do it."

This approach drives a conversion rate on Quest that's more than double what he sees on other platforms.

Why Quest Users Convert Faster

Hari noticed a behavioral difference unique to Quest: users decide to convert to a paid subscription within a day or two of downloading, compared to several days on other platforms. "People usually take their own sweet time," he says. "But on Quest, they immediately convert. Not just more people, but faster."

For developers designing monetization, this suggests Quest's tech-savvy audience recognizes value quickly and is willing to pay when the experience meets their expectations.

New Opportunities on Quest

Beyond revenue, Quest has opened entirely new market segments for AnExplorer:

Professional Use Cases

Video production studios requesting bulk licensing for 100+ devices to manage footage via network shares
Educational institutions seeking enterprise deployments
SMB/WebDAV workflows for professional content creators

VR-Native Features on the Roadmap

360-degree video playback, a top user request unique to Quest coming soon to the app
Immersive file viewers for PDFs, images, and slideshows optimized for VR's expansive visual canvas
USB storage management supporting Quest 3/3S direct USB connectivity

"How people use it on phones and screens is very different from how people use it when it's a massive visual screen in VR," says Hari. "The use cases are different, the need is different, how long people use the app is different."

AnExplorer's VR file explorer user interface

What You Can Learn

Look for content gaps on Quest. They're opportunities waiting to be filled. AnExplorer is the only file manager on the Quest Store, filling a clear content gap for Quest users. When your app serves a need that no one else is addressing, organic discovery does the work for you. Browse the Quest Store and look for categories where users are underserved. That gap is your opportunity.

Solo developers can ship and succeed. Hari built, published, and supported AnExplorer entirely on his own. Meta Developer platform's tools and documentation make it feasible for one person to go from an existing Android app to a published Quest app in about a week.

Consider offering a free trial. It can significantly boost paid upgrades. A free trial period can build trust and give users a reason to subscribe. In Hari's case, offering a 7-day free trial on Quest resulted in more than double the conversion rate he sees on other platforms. Results will vary, but letting users experience the full product before asking them to pay is worth testing.

Ship a quality app, then refine for VR. Your existing Android app can be a strong starting point if it's polished and functional. Ship a quality experience, then iterate based on real user feedback from VR's unique context. Users will tell you what works differently in a headset.

Quest has a premium audience that values polished apps. Quest users are tech-savvy early adopters with real purchasing power. They're willing to pay for apps that solve problems well. Hari's Quest app generates a comparable monthly revenue rate to his 5-year-old presence on other established platforms, with a fraction of the user base. A polished, useful app on Quest can earn more per user than on mobile.

Developer Advice

Hari's advice for developers considering Quest:

"If I had known that the opportunity is this big, I would have built all apps for Quest first, not other platforms. It's like building for a new platform, but you have millions of users who have those devices. It's a level playing field. Many categories are still underserved."

Start Building Today

Bring your Android app to Quest with these steps:

Your Android skills already transfer. The tools are familiar. And right now, entire app categories are still wide open.

AnExplorer is available now on the Meta Quest Store⁠. Hari's story is part of the Build Faster, Earn More series highlighting developers who are finding success on Quest. Follow us on X⁠ and Facebook⁠ for all of the latest updates.