Meta’s VR app store is about to fill up with phone-style 2D apps

Meta’s Quest headsets and app store person been astir for a while, but with a bundle acquisition mostly constricted to 3D and AR apps and games. But now, the institution says it’s opening things up — Horizon OS and Quest VP Mark Rabkin said during Meta Connect that from today, the Meta app store “fully welcomes 2D and spatial apps.”

Meta besides says it supports web apps, and what bash you know? The New York Times’ Wordle app for Quest headsets, which we wrote astir past week, is simply a Progressive Web App.

The company’s app store, until now, has been heavy curated, with a azygous experimental conception called App Lab. But today’s announcement sounds similar the institution bringing its app store attack much successful enactment with thing similar a Google oregon Apple online marketplace, encouraging developers to bring much smartphone- oregon tablet-style apps to its VR platform. (Meta says App Lab is nary more.)

Meta besides says Quest users tin present spot apps wherever they want, alteration their size, and usage up to six of them astatine the aforesaid time. Users volition besides beryllium capable to unfastened a 2D app portion they’re successful an immersive VR app, arsenic well. Both are large features of Apple’s visionOS.

Maybe Meta thinks that Apple was onto thing erstwhile it rolled retired the Vision Pro with years of iPad and iPhone apps supported retired of the gate.