During its developer keynote at the Meta Connect conference on Wednesday, the company pitched its Quest mixed reality platform to developers as the next big app store. As tech giants like Apple and Google are under tightened regulations over their app store monopolies, Meta says it’s working to make it easier for mobile developers to make the shift to Meta’s Horizon OS.
“Today, I’m pleased to announce that if you can build for Android, you can build for Meta Horizon OS in your favorite language, your favorite IDE. And to get all of you in there, we have completed the open store transition we started in April,” said Mark Rabkin, the VP at Meta leading Horizon OS and Quest XR devices.
In addition, the company says that its open store now supports 3D and spatial apps and has introduced the Meta Spatial SDK to help developers get started. The SDK lets developers take their traditional mobile apps and add native spatial features, like floating 3D objects, atmospherics, and immersive media. A new Meta Spatial Editor will also make it easier to add panoramas and 3D spatial videos in its media viewer in the system. Examples of these can be found under the “Showcase” apps section on Meta’s app store now, which features open source apps.
For 2D apps, several features — including resizing, theater, spatial audio, background running, multitasking, and handling all the hand and controller input — will also be available with Meta Horizon OS.
Meta itself tested its new technology by building new Facebook and Instagram apps for Horizon OS using familiar tools, like React Native. Other developers that have since tested this system include Amazon (for Prime Video and Amazon Music) Twitch, and more.
Porting existing mobile apps into Horizon OS is also possible with new SDKs and other tools that Meta says will help developers “go faster.”
In part, these advances were made in response to developer feedback, as the community complained that building for Meta’s platform has been difficult.
“I’d like to start with an apology,” said Meta’s CTO, Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, in kicking off the developer keynote. “We have not made it easy to develop for our platforms, and I want you to know that we know that, and we’re very sorry. You see, over the last decade, the ecosystems we’re all building have been in a constant state of change.”
“The thing that you all have the most in common is that the ground has been constantly shifting under your feet for years now,” Boz said to the developers in the room. “It’s an inevitable part of building new technologies, and it creates a lot of new opportunities, which you’ve all been wise enough to jump on. But of course, it can also be incredibly messy, and we know it’s been a tough ride for developers over the last couple of years.”
Meta says its new features and tools aim to address those developer complaints by making it easier to build for Horizon OS and use its open source AI tools. Plus, for developers who are burned out on the app ecosystem, Meta says it’s bringing its spatial improvements to the browser and web XR to the open web. Spotify was listed as one example of an app that offers background audio and the ability to multitask on top of any other app, even though it’s web-based.
The NYT’s Wordle was also shown off as another example of a Progressive Web App that gets the full treatment in Meta’s app store, including discovery, in-app payments, and more.
Of course, the benefit of catering to developers through their preferred means is not just about seeding the Meta app library with more apps and games — it also establishes a new revenue stream for the company where it takes a cut of in-app purchases and sales, similar to the major app stores run by Apple and Google.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been pushing the narrative that Meta is more open than Apple for some time.
As the Facebook founder recently told the Acquired podcast, “I think over the next 10, 15 years, that kind of battle over — ideological battle over — what should the architecture be of the next set of platforms? Are they going to be the closed, integrated Apple model that Apple has always done?” he said. “I mean …there are multiple good ways to build things.”