Meta has announced plans to open up the mixed reality operating system powering its Meta Quest devices. The Meta Horizon OS will provide developers technology, social layer, discovery and monetization frameworks to third-party headset manufacturers.
Meta Horizon OS will give mixed reality developers access to the full stack technologies Meta developed over the last decade to power the metaverse. These tools — such as high-resolution passthrough, scene understanding and spatial anchors — will allow creators to craft experiences that blend digital and physical worlds.
This move signals a major shift in strategy for the tech giant. Instead of Apple’s walled garden model, Meta explicitly modeled its new framework after Alphabet’s Android Open Source Project. This includes removing barriers for third party developers to publish apps and experiences on the Meta Horizon Store and App Lab.
Ultimately, this is a long-term investment from Meta to build a comprehensive ecosystem for mixed reality devices. Other manufactures — such as ASUS, Lenovo and Xbox — are already building devices for Meta Horizon OS.