Meta Horizon OS

Meta Horizon OS
Information
Type	Mixed reality operating system
Subtype	Android-based extended reality platform
Creator	Meta Platforms
Developer	Meta Platforms (Reality Labs)
Operating System	Based on the Android Open Source Project (AOSP)
Devices	Meta Quest headsets (Quest, Quest 2, Quest 3, Quest 3S, Quest Pro)
Release Date	Renamed Meta Horizon OS April 22, 2024
Website	https://www.meta.com/horizon-os/

Meta Horizon OS is the mixed reality operating system that Meta Platforms runs on its Meta Quest headsets. It combines a base derived from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP) with Meta's own tracking, rendering, mixed reality, and social-presence software. Meta gave the platform its current public name on April 22, 2024, when the company announced it would license the operating system to selected third-party hardware makers rather than ship it only on Meta's own devices.

The software that became Meta Horizon OS began under the Oculus brand and was previously referred to informally as Quest OS or Oculus OS. It moved onto an Android base in 2018 with the Oculus Go, and every Meta standalone headset since has paired Android with Meta's proprietary interface and runtime.

In the April 2024 announcement Meta named three initial partners, Asus Republic of Gamers, Lenovo, and Microsoft's Xbox, and renamed the Meta Quest Store to the Meta Horizon Store. In December 2025 Meta said it had paused the third-party licensing program to concentrate on its own first-party hardware and software.

History and naming

Meta's headset software predates the Quest line. Starting in 2014 the company, then Oculus VR, ported its Oculus Home, Oculus Store, and Oculus Cinema apps to Android for the Samsung Gear VR, software it marketed as Oculus Mobile, and released a Mobile Software Development Kit for developers. The first standalone, Android-based Oculus headset was the Oculus Go in 2018, which ran Android with Oculus's own user interface and applications layered on top. Subsequent headsets, including the original Oculus Quest and later the Meta Quest 2, kept that combination of an Android base plus Meta's proprietary system software.

The name Meta Horizon OS was introduced on April 22, 2024. Until then the platform had no fixed consumer brand and was usually called Quest OS or Oculus OS in coverage. The rebrand aligned the operating system with Meta's broader Horizon brand, which also covers the Horizon mobile app and Meta's social VR product. Since version 7, the platform runs on recent releases of the Android Open Source Project. Meta's developer documentation states that "Meta Horizon OS is built on the Android Open Source Project, so your Android app works out of the box," which lets standard Android apps run with minimal modification.

Features

Meta describes Meta Horizon OS as combining "the core technologies that power today's mixed reality experiences with a suite of features that put social presence at the center of the platform." According to Meta, the platform's core technologies include inside-out tracking and self-tracked controllers, hand tracking, eye tracking, face tracking, and body tracking, high-resolution Passthrough, plus Scene Understanding and Spatial Anchors for placing virtual content relative to a real room.

The operating system supports both fully immersive virtual environments and passthrough mixed reality, in which a camera feed of the wearer's surroundings is shown behind virtual content. Eye and face tracking are tied to specific hardware: those features shipped first on the Meta Quest Pro, whose cameras drive avatar eye and facial expression. A Guardian safety system defines room-scale boundaries so a user does not walk into real-world objects. The social-presence layer covers user identities, avatars, and social graphs that carry across apps on the platform.

For developers, Meta Horizon OS exposes a Horizon OS SDK alongside standard Android frameworks. Apps can reach passthrough camera data, spatial audio with Dolby Atmos support, and a mixed reality utility kit for room setup and scene mesh. Alongside the 2024 rebrand Meta said it was building "a new spatial app framework that helps mobile developers create mixed reality experiences," letting them bring existing mobile apps to Meta Horizon OS or build new ones with familiar tools.

Distribution and store

Software for the platform is distributed through Meta's store, which the company renamed from the Meta Quest Store to the Meta Horizon Store as part of the April 2024 announcement. In the same announcement Meta said titles in its App Lab program, a lighter-weight publishing track for apps that do not go through full store review, would "soon be featured in a dedicated section of the store on all our devices," removing the prior need to reach them by direct link.

Meta also sought to add Google's app store to the platform. According to reporting by 9to5Google, Meta asked Google to bring the Google Play Store to Meta Horizon OS on terms that would have let Google keep its usual store economics, but Google instead wanted Meta to adopt Google's own Android XR operating system, which would have meant dropping Meta Horizon OS, and Meta declined.

Third-party hardware program

The central change in the April 22, 2024 announcement was Meta's decision to license Meta Horizon OS to other hardware makers, giving those devices access to the same app ecosystem as Meta's own headsets. Meta named three initial partners.

Partner	Planned device	Stated focus	Outcome
Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG)	Performance gaming headset	Gaming	Did not ship before the program was paused
Lenovo	Mixed reality device, drawing on Lenovo's Oculus Rift S co-design work	Productivity, learning, and entertainment	Did not ship before the program was paused
Microsoft Xbox (with Meta)	A limited-edition Meta Quest "inspired by Xbox"	Gaming, building on Xbox Cloud Gaming on Quest	Shipped as the Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition, June 24, 2025

Of the three, only the Xbox collaboration reached customers, and it did so as a special-edition Meta-built headset rather than a separate manufacturer's design. The Meta Quest 3S Xbox Edition launched on June 24, 2025 at 399.99 US dollars. Meta and Microsoft described it as the first limited edition for Quest: a 128 GB Meta Quest 3S in Xbox Carbon Black with Velocity Green accents, bundled with matching Touch Plus controllers, a limited-edition Xbox Wireless Controller, an Elite Strap, and trials of Meta Horizon+ and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Pause of licensing and current status

In December 2025 Meta confirmed it had paused the third-party licensing program. A Meta spokesperson said: "We have paused the program to focus on building the world-class first-party hardware and software needed to advance the VR market. We're committed to this for the long term and will revisit opportunities for 3rd-party device partnerships as the category evolves." Reporting at the time indicated the planned Asus and Lenovo headsets were no longer expected to reach market.

Coverage placed the decision against two pressures: continuing losses at Meta's Reality Labs division and a shift of Meta's investment toward AI and smart glasses, and competition from Google's Android XR, which had launched on Samsung Galaxy XR and offered access to Google's larger app library. Some observers suggested the hardware makers Meta had courted could move to Android XR instead.

As of mid-2026, Meta Horizon OS remains the operating system for Meta's own Quest line and continues to receive frequent updates, while the third-party hardware program announced in 2024 is on hold.