What you have to know
- Meta and Google have been reportedly in talks to get the Google Play Store on Meta Quest VR headsets, however talks fell by.
- The transfer would have introduced most Android apps to Meta Quest headsets to be displayed as a 2D floating window.
- Any Android app can presently be sideloaded onto Quest headsets however few are formally out there on the Meta Quest retailer.
Meta has been making an attempt to get extra 2D apps on the Meta Quest platform for years however the course of appears to have been something however easy. One of the largest issues is that, when you can set up any Android app on a Meta Quest by sideloading it, there isn’t any Google Play Store help on the Quest.
Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth mentioned that the firm appeared into fixing this drawback when he answered a query on his newest Instagram AMA on November 7, 2023 (by way of UploadVR). Apparently, Google and Meta have been in talks to get the Play Store on the Quest however, in keeping with Bosworth, Google declined the integration.
We’ve reached out to each firms for remark, however each Google and Meta weren’t prepared so as to add something extra to the story.
As I highlighted in my first AC ThVRsday column again in September, the lack of the Google Play Store’s presence on Meta’s VR platform implies that Meta won’t ever catch as much as Apple with the variety of 2D apps out there in blended actuality.
Ironically, we simply realized that Google supplied Epic Games $147 million to remain on the Play Store again when Epic was working to tug Fortnite from Google’s storefront. That appears to be counter to the technique of not placing the Play Store on Quest headsets but it surely makes extra sense when you think about Google’s subsequent large platform technique.
Google and Samsung are working on their very own XR headset undertaking that is scheduled to launch at the finish of 2024. Since this headset is reportedly targeted on combating Apple Vision Pro, each firms are targeted on delivering a mixed-reality expertise that primarily shows 2D apps that you would be able to see floating in your room whereas carrying the headset.
Having plenty of apps out there on day one is a large precedence for Google and Samsung, particularly since Apple promised that all iOS apps could be out there on Vision Pro on day one. The Google Play Store is the cornerstone of this technique, and a few have already questioned if Google is purposefully retaining the Play Store from Meta in an effort to leverage a bonus over the competitors.
Boz says that Android builders can presently port their apps to Meta’s Quest retailer, however that may require at the least some work from builders as they would wish to enroll in a Meta developer account and take a look at app compatibility earlier than it may be listed on the storefront.
Boz famous that the course of is mostly fast except builders wish to make particular modifications for VR functions. For now, although, Quest customers are both caught sideloading their apps or utilizing the small quantity presently out there on the Quest retailer.
The Meta Quest 3 is an unimaginable headset, providing totally immersive VR apps and blended actuality experiences. It’s the VR console you need with a little bit of productiveness thrown in for good measure.