Android XR Poses a Crucial Challenge That Could Define Meta’s XR Future

Meta boldly declared its ambition to become “the Android of XR,” but guess who shares that same vision? Naturally, it’s Android XR itself.

The real game-changer in the battle between Meta and its competitors Google and Apple, in the expansive landscape of XR, hinges on flat apps. Think about how apps like Spotify, TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord, while perhaps not the most thrilling use on a headset, significantly enhance the XR experience by integrating familiar favorites. Apple’s Vision Pro, backing a vast library of iPadOS apps, has demonstrated this. Now, Android XR is joining the fray by supporting all Android apps available on the Play Store.

Although Meta’s headsets are gaming powerhouses, XR is destined for roles much bigger than just gaming. Consider this: A company solely focused on gaming, like Nintendo, can never reach the heights of a tech titan building a comprehensive computing platform, like Microsoft. Sure, Microsoft isn’t just about computing platforms, but the analogy holds water given its market dominance.

In the XR arena, we see two major platforms:

Meta’s Horizon OS, lauded for its immersive app collection.
Google’s Android XR, praised for an extensive library of flat apps.

For either to lead XR, they need what the other excels in. So, who’s facing the steepest climb?

Meta’s path seems rockier. Immersive app developers are eager to expand. If a hit game sees a 25% user boost by joining Android XR, the choice is clear. Flat apps, however, like Spotify and TikTok, gain little by migrating to Horizon OS, maybe less than a 0.25% uptick in users compared to their presence on Android.

You might argue that Horizon OS, being Android-based, eases the porting process. Technically, that’s correct. Yet, for gigantic apps with vast user bases, the real hurdle is sustaining ongoing updates and maintenance—a significant undertaking.

Given this, Google seems more capable of luring essential immersive apps to Android XR than Meta is of enticing crucial flat apps to Horizon OS. Without a strong lineup of flat apps, Meta’s headsets risk being pigeonholed as merely gaming consoles, not the widely capable devices they aspire to be.

And that’s exactly where Meta doesn’t want to end up. Their dive into XR a decade ago was precisely about securing the “next computing platform” before Apple or Google could seize it.

Flat apps might not seem vital for XR at first glance, but if a platform can boast both essential flat and immersive apps, it will outshine the one offering just one type. Even if Meta outpaces Android XR in hardware—say their headsets become 20% faster, lighter, and cheaper—it won’t outweigh the importance of having those key flat apps in the long haul.

This issue poses a fundamental risk to Meta’s XR strategy, one that lacks an apparent solution.