React Native Comes to Meta Quest
Article Summary
React Native just made the leap from mobile screens to VR headsets. Meta announced official support for Quest devices at React Conf 2025, letting developers build immersive experiences with the same codebase they use for iOS and Android.
This is a major expansion of React Native's 'Many Platform Vision' first outlined in 2021. Because Meta Quest runs on Meta Horizon OS (an Android-based system), existing React Native Android tooling works with minimal changes. Developers can now target VR without learning a new framework or fragmenting their codebase.
Key Takeaways
- Expo Go is available on Meta Horizon Store for rapid Quest development
- Same Android tooling works: build systems, debugging, and dev workflows carry over
- Meta Horizon OS runs AOSP without Google Play Services or mobile-only permissions
- VR requires pointer-based input (controllers, hand tracking) instead of touch assumptions
- Expo provides drop-in replacements for location and notifications on Quest
React Native developers can now ship VR apps to Meta Quest using their existing Android knowledge and Expo workflow, with platform-specific configuration handled through plugins.
About This Article
Developers building for Meta Quest ran into problems because React Native libraries often assume touch-only input, mobile hardware, or Google Mobile Services. Meta Horizon OS is based on AOSP, so these services aren't available.
React Native and Expo added runtime detection tools like ExpoHorizon.isHorizonDevice and isHorizonBuild. They also created drop-in replacements for common features such as expo-horizon-location and expo-horizon-notifications.
Developers can now turn off unsupported features or use different implementations for each platform. Most self-contained React Native libraries work on Quest without needing complete rewrites or separate codebases.