Meta Horizon OS, previously known informally as Meta Quest Platform or Meta Quest OS, is an extended reality operating system for the Meta Quest line of devices released by

Meta Platforms Meta Platforms, Inc., (file no. 3835815) trade name, doing business as Meta and formerly named Facebook, Inc., and TheFacebook, Inc., is an American multinational technology conglomerate based in Menlo Park, California. The company owns Facebo ...

. Initially developed for the embedded operating system on the Oculus Rift and Oculus Rift S, the platform has been based on the

Android operating system Android is a mobile operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. Android is developed by a consortium of deve ...

since the release of the

Oculus Go The Oculus Go is a standalone virtual reality headset developed by Facebook Technologies in partnership with Qualcomm and Xiaomi. It is in the first generation of Facebook Technologies' virtual reality headsets, and the company's first device in ...

in 2018. It first supported

augmented reality Augmented reality (AR) is an interactive experience that combines the real world and computer-generated content. The content can span multiple sensory modalities, including visual, auditory, haptic, somatosensory and olfactory. AR can be de ...

via grayscale camera passthrough upon the release of the Oculus Quest in 2019, and has supported color passthrough since the release of the

Meta Quest Pro The Meta Quest Pro is a mixed reality (MR) headset developed by Reality Labs, a division of Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.). Unveiled on October 11, 2022, it is a high-end headset designed for mixed reality and virtual reality applica ...

in 2022. On April 22, 2024, the company announced that the platform would be rebranded as Meta Horizon OS and opened to third-party headset manufacturers, starting with

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

, Asus and

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History

The platform was first developed by Oculus VR for the embedded operating system on the Oculus Rift DK1 (Development Kit 1), which was released to developers in 2013. Development of the software platform increased following the March 2014 acquisition of Oculus VR (now the Reality Labs division of Meta). Under Facebook, Oculus VR collaborated with

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

to develop the Android-based Samsung Gear VR headset, with the Oculus VR division porting Oculus Home, Oculus Store, Oculus Cinema (later Video) apps and other necessary

application software Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

, and developing the Oculus Mobile SDK, tracking sensor

firmware In computing, firmware is a specific class of computer software that provides the low-level control for a device's specific hardware. Firmware, such as the BIOS of a personal computer, may contain basic functions of a device, and may provide h ...

, optimized Android and the required GPU drivers for virtual reality. The development of the software parlayed into Facebook's own plans for VR headset development. Oculus Go, the first Oculus device to use Android and the company's first standalone VR device, was released on May 1, 2018. Apps and games made for the Rift headsets were backwards-compatible with the Oculus Quest. On April 22, 2024, the company announced that the platform would be rebranded as Meta Horizon OS and opened to third-party headset manufacturers, starting with

, Asus and

. In the same announcement, the Meta Quest Store was renamed as the Meta Horizon Store, the Meta Quest mobile companion app renamed as the Horizon mobile app, and a new spatial app framework was announced to assist mobile developers in porting their software to, or programming original apps for, Horizon OS. Despite licensing the operating system to third-party manufacturers for niche markets such as gaming, fitness and productivity, Meta is set to continue manufacturing their Quest hardware for its current generalized market.

Community use

In addition, the entire source for the Rift DK1 was released to the public in September 2014, including the firmware, schematics, and mechanicals for the device. The firmware is released under a simplified BSD license, while the schematics and mechanicals are released under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. In October 2021, Facebook released an update to the

which can be sideloaded to unlock "full root access" to the device hardware. This update, which is irreversible and blocks further OTA updates, is supposed to keep devices operational for users even after official Facebook cloud infrastructure for the device goes offline.

Features

Supported software

The primary means of installing software on Quest devices is through the Meta Quest Store. Notable non-game apps available on the platform include

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

Facebook Watch Facebook Watch is a video on demand service operated by American company Meta Platforms (previously named Facebook, Inc.). The company announced the service in August 2017 and was available to all U.S. users that month. Facebook Watch's original ...

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

VR, Fandango, Firefox Reality,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

VR, Pluto TV,

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TV,

Sling TV Sling TV is an American streaming television service operated by Sling TV LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dish Network. Unveiled on January 5, 2015, at the Consumer Electronics Show, the virtual multichannel video programming distributor aims ...

and '' Within.'' Popular VR-capable social apps include

Horizon Worlds ''Horizon Worlds'' (formerly ''Facebook Horizon'') is a free virtual reality, online video game with an integrated game creation system developed and published by Meta Platforms. On this multi-player virtual platform, players move and interact w ...

, VRChat and Roblox. The Oculus Quest and subsequent devices support "Meta Quest Link" (formerly known as "Oculus Link"), an OpenVR and

OpenXR OpenXR is an open, royalty-free standard for access to virtual reality and augmented reality platforms and devices. It is developed by a working group managed by the Khronos Group consortium. OpenXR was announced by the Khronos Group on February 2 ...

runtime that allows for PC VR games to be displayed on supported headsets connected via

USB Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard that establishes specifications for cables, connectors and protocols for connection, communication and power supply (interfacing) between computers, peripherals and other computers. A broad v ...

. In April 2021, Oculus released "Air Link," an alternative mode that uses WiFi for connectivity instead of USB. SteamVR, another OpenVR and OpenXR runtime, also supports several Quest headsets. The Oculus Go was released with Oculus Gallery, Oculus Video, Oculus TV, Oculus Venues and Oculus Rooms preinstalled. Rooms was discontinued on October 25, 2019. Gradually, support for Oculus Go-compatible apps was discontinued.

Release history

References

External links

Release notes
(since February 1, 2021)
Archived Oculus release notes
(from July 2019 to February 1, 2021)
Meta Quest Platform Developer Portal
{{Android (operating system) Virtual reality Mixed reality Augmented reality Meta Quest-only software made by Meta Platforms Oculus VR