The latest update to Quest headsets brings seamless multitasking support as a new experimental setting.
We tested the new feature on Quest 3 and Quest Pro headsets with the Public Test Channel (PTC) release of v69 installed. Each headset was able to fully immerse us in an interactive VR app while the headset simultaneously displayed an active 2D window of any content we wanted.
What Is the Public Test Channel (PTC)?
The Public Test Channel (PTC) is Meta Quest's beta release channel. If you opt in, your headset receives a pre-release build of each Quest system software, now technically called Horizon OS, version.
Note that there are often features in the eventual stable version not present in the PTC, and occasionally (but very rarely) features or changes in the PTC don't make it to the stable version.
This means that on headsets running Meta's Horizon OS, while you're waiting for a player to take their turn or a multiplayer match to load, you could also pass the time playing a classic flatscreen game or watching a stream. You could, hypothetically at least, drive an RC car or control a drone while playing a VR game using sideloaded Android packages.
Below is a video of Demeo running on Quest Pro with Meta's Remote Display Beta running simultaneously as it streams the Delta emulator from a local Mac. Retroarch or a similar emulator Android package sideloaded directly onto Quest 3 or Quest Pro should function much the same way it does on Apple Vision Pro.
In difficult moments of puzzle games you could also pull up a tutorial or guide video. In the case of UploadVR and our virtual studios, we can pull up our articles, videos or research while meeting together to broadcast the latest information about VR.
The video below shows this concept in action with a browser window mirrored to our TV.
Multitasking on Quest opens up Horizon OS headsets to a variety of fresh use cases that were inaccessible before. PC-based VR headsets have had this same multitasking capability for many years, and Meta headsets have been working toward adding this for some time. We recently demonstrated how Steam Link and Apple Music could each run as flat panels simultaneously inside Apple Vision Pro and Quest 3 home spaces. Meta now has that working – experimentally at least – for a single app while still interacting with your main VR software.
Ian Hamilton
For those looking to activate this setting, we found it in experimental settings after restarting our headsets with the latest Public Test Channel v69 release installed. Meta typically rolls out major updates over days or weeks and this is a very experimental public testing release, which means the feature may still take time to develop, or change considerably, on its path to full release for Meta and other headsets running its Horizon OS system.
