Meta’s XR Ambitions at a Crossroads Due to Android XR Challenges

Meta has thrown its hat in the ring, aspiring to become the “Android of XR.” But wouldn’t you know it, Android XR is also vying for that very status.

Forget the specs and features debates for a moment. The real game changer in whether Meta can hold its ground against the encroaching giants, Google and Apple, in the XR domain boils down to something simple: flat apps.

Now, flat apps, like Spotify, TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord, may not scream excitement for headset users. But Vision Pro, which boasts a sweeping collection of flat iPadOS apps, illustrates the wild synergy created when XR blends with apps we’re already hooked on rather than separating us from them. Android XR is circling back to this approach by offering access to the entire Play Store’s suite of Android apps.

While Meta certainly leads in gaming with its headsets, XR’s potential reaches further than just gaming.

Companies like Nintendo, which focus solely on gaming, can’t match the scale of a comprehensive computing platform provider like Microsoft. Case in point, Microsoft’s value towers over Nintendo’s by a whopping 43 times. Sure, it’s not the cleanest comparison, as Microsoft diversifies beyond just computing platforms, but you get the picture.

So, pitting Meta against Google, we’re looking at two XR titans:

Meta’s Horizon OS delivers the top-notch library of immersive apps.
Google’s Android XR stands tall with the most extensive flat apps library.

To truly dominate the XR scene, each needs what the other possesses. But who’s got the uphill battle here?

Meta, clearly, faces the steeper climb.

Immersive app developers are eager to scale. If switching to Android XR brings a 25% boost in users for a hit game, the choice is a no-brainer.

On the flip side, big-name flat apps such as Spotify, TikTok, Snapchat, and Discord would see minimal growth if they jumped onto Horizon OS, maybe a minuscule 0.25% user increase compared to their reach on Android alone.

You might argue, “But Horizon OS is based on Android; shouldn’t porting apps be a breeze?” Technically, yes. But the real hitch lies in the ongoing support and the continuous updates massive apps demand, which is no minor task.

This gives Google a crucial upper hand in wooing big immersive app players to Android XR, leaving Meta struggling to entice the flat app heavyweights to Horizon OS. Without these essential flat apps, Meta’s headsets risk being pigeonholed as mere immersive gaming gadgets, not full-fledged computing platforms.

And that’s exactly the scenario Meta wants to dodge. Remember, Meta dove into XR years ago precisely to seize control of it as “the next computing platform” before Apple or Google could dominate.

Flat apps might not strike you as vital to XR, but there’s no denying that a platform housing both critical flat and immersive apps will outshine one that has just one of them.

Even if Meta churns out superior hardware—indeed, if they consistently produce headsets 20% quicker, lighter, and more affordable than their Android XR rivals—it likely won’t tip the balance in their favor unless they secure those core flat apps.

This dilemma poses a fundamental risk to Meta’s XR aspirations, one that lacks straightforward remedies.