A Hands-On Path to Bringing React Native Apps to Meta Quest
If you already build with React Native, Meta Quest is a new platform you can reach without switching stacks. Because Meta Horizon OS is built on Android, React Native works where you’d expect: same workflow, same core abstractions, new form factor. VR changes the interface, not the fundamentals.
This hands-on guide shows you how to bring a real React Native app to Meta Quest, from setup and library choices to productive workflows and a store-ready release. Read it to find out how to:
- Build and run a React Native app on Meta Quest using Expo Go and development builds
- Understand what changes on Meta Horizon OS (permissions, input, performance)
- Choose compatible libraries and swap in Quest-ready alternatives
- Explore high-signal app categories that make sense in VR
- Debug, profile, and integrate native modules with standard RN workflows
- Create a store-ready build and publish it through Meta’s submission pipeline
What's waiting for you inside?
Why React Native on Horizon OS
React Native’s “learn once, write anywhere” now includes Meta Quest. This chapter explains why Meta Horizon OS is a natural extension of the React Native ecosystem, what changes in VR, and how a two‑day showcase app proved the approach is production‑viable.
- What makes Meta Horizon OS feel familiar to React Native developers
- How VR changes input, ergonomics, and UI expectations
- What the showcase app taught us about real‑world feasibility
Starting an Expo React Native Meta Horizon OS Project
Go from zero to running inside a headset. This chapter walks through the fastest path using Expo Go, then shows how to transition to a development build for native modules, real debugging, and production workflows.
- The Quest setup checklist
- Running Expo Go in VR
- Moving from prototyping to a full development build
Compatibility of Libraries & Ecosystem Considerations
Not everything that works on Android works on Quest. This chapter explains what changes in the ecosystem (no GMS, new permissions, VR hardware assumptions) and how to pick libraries that won’t block you later.
- What works out of the box and why
- What requires Quest-specific packages and configuration
What You Can Build on Meta Quest
VR is not just a new screen, it’s a new medium. This chapter explores app categories that make sense on Quest and how to lean into spatial affordances like passthrough, depth, audio, and presence.
- How to think beyond “mobile UI in a floating window”
- Concrete examples: focus, games, Mixed Reality concepts, social tools
Developer Productivity, Workflows, and Tooling
Build like you already do, just with some VR constraints. This chapter covers device workflows, debugging, profiling, and native integration using familiar React Native and Android tools.
- Hot reload, fast refresh, and working inside VR
- Debugging React Native apps in VR
- Performance considerations for VR
- Bridging Native Modules where needed
- Testing workflows and tools
Releasing & Publishing Your App on Meta Horizon OS
Turn your working app into a store-ready release. This chapter explains how to build the correct APK variant, handle permissions and signing, prepare store assets, and submit through Meta’s review pipeline.
- Preparing a production build with Expo EAS
- Store submission tooling
- Screenshot workflows and monetization options
Why React Native works for Quest development
Meta Horizon OS is built on AOSP, which means React Native lands on surprisingly familiar ground: Android activities, lifecycle, Metro tooling, DevTools, and native module patterns all behave the way RN teams expect.
Where VR changes the rules is in interaction and environment: your UI lives inside a floating window that can be resized, moved, and viewed at different distances. Input comes from controllers and hands, not touch. Performance expectations are higher because frame drops are more noticeable in immersive contexts. And some common Android assumptions break because Quest ships without Google Mobile Services.
This guide focuses on the overlap, what you already know, and the handful of VR-specific realities you need to learn to build confidently.
Who this guide is for
This guide is for React Native developers who already ship on mobile or web and want a practical path to building and publishing 2D React Native apps on Meta Quest. It’s especially useful if you:
- Want to prototype quickly and learn the workflow without deep VR engine knowledge
- Need to understand which Expo/RN libraries work on Quest (and which don’t)
- Plan to bring an existing RN product to Meta Horizon OS
- Want to ship a production-ready Quest app through Meta’s store pipeline
You can read it cover-to-cover or jump directly to the setup and publishing chapters as a working reference.
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