Meta Quest Browser

Meta Quest Browser
Developer(s)Meta Platforms
Stable release
33.0 / May 2, 2024
EngineBlink, V8
Operating systemMeta Horizon OS
TypeWeb browser
LicenseFreeware
Website[1]

Meta Quest Browser, known until 2024 as Oculus Browser, is a web browser developed by Meta Platforms for use on the Oculus Quest and its successor devices (Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3), all of which use the Android operating system. It is based on Chromium, which uses Blink, a derivative of WebKit.

The browser was first developed by the Oculus division of Facebook, Inc., in a series of developer previews under the codename "Carmel", which was first released on December 9, 2016.[1][2][3]

Version history

All versions are sourced from the Meta website.[4][5]

Version Date New features Sources
5.0 May 7, 2019
  • Updates from Chromium 62, 63, 64, 65, and 66
5.2
  • Fixed issues with scrolling, layout of media controls, persistent dimming, notification bar input issues.
  • improved Desktop mode button tooltip text
  • Localized switching to Desktop Mode tooltip for more languages
5.4
  • Permissions Dialog management feature
  • WebXR support (experimental)
5.7
  • bug fixes
5.8
  • New Tab Page redesign
  • ability to save 360 Videos, 360 Photos, 3D Photos, 360 Experiences in Facebook mobile app and open them in Oculus Browser
  • improved playback experience with better battery life
5.9
  • drop down menus for selecting 180, 360, and 3D video formats when watching fullscreen video
6.0
  • Update to Chromium version 74
  • bug fixes
6.1
  • About Oculus Browser dialog in Settings for version numbers, privacy policy, and terms of service information
6.2
  • 60 FPS display support for full-screen video
  • pointer type changed from a stylus to a finger
  • page zoom level control
  • option to opt-out of browser telemetry
7.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 77
  • Support for WebXR on by default
  • improvements to reliability, site compatibility, performance, security and WebXR/VR support
7.1
  • WebXR Gamepad module support for Quest, Go, GearVR
8.0
  • Update to Chromium version 79
  • initial hand-tracking support for WebXR projects
8.1
8.2
8.3
  • new browser interface and experience
  • Browser loads desktop sites by default; ability to switch to mobile
9.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 81
  • Removed WebVR support
10.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 83
10.2
  • hand-tracking API (experimental)
  • timewarp layer support (experimental)
 [6]
11.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 84
12.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 86
13.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 87
14.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 88
15.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 89
  • Copy/Paste now supported throughout
  • Context menu with support for Cut/Copy/Paste, Open In New Tab, etc.
15.1
  • WebXR Hand Tracking API enabled by default
16.0
  • Updated to Chromium version 91
16.1
  • WebXR Layers and Media Layers enabled by default
16.2
  • bug fixes
31.2
  • renamed as Meta Quest Browser
  • experimental changes to New Tab and Fullscreen view
  • bug fixes
31.3 February 17, 2024
  • opening New Window through options menu or right-clicking a link (experimental)
  • persistent audio while in another tab (experimental)
  • improvements to New Tab and Fullscreen view (experimental)
31.4 February 21, 2024
  • available on OS v62+ only
  • simultaneous hands and controllers enabled in WebXR
  • browser tabs now available in immersive applications
 [7]
32.0 March 3, 2024
  • WebXR gamepad updates
  • Experimental WebXR support for body tracking
  • Support for WebGPU
  • support for selected Browser Extensions (experimental)
  • Updated to Chromium Milestone 122
32.1 March 19, 2024
  • opening New Window through options menu or right-clicking a link (standard)
 [8]
32.2 April 14, 2024
  • Browser Extensions (standard)
32.3 April 17, 2024
  • Profile Guided Optimization (PGO) implemented
  • PDF reader (experimental)
 [9]
33.0 May 2, 2024
  • draggable tabs
  • fix to WebXR timing issue when using hands-as-controllers and re-enabled the feature
  • update to Chromium Milestone 124
  • updates to Full Screen mode, Extensions, and the New Tab Page
  • WebXR fix: wrong controller type was showing up for Quest Pro
 [10]
33.1 May 11, 2024
  • PDF reader extension no longer experimental
  • Full screen controls allow for multiple screen size options and controlling brightness of environment while watching full screen video
  • increased speed on omnibar auto-complete suggestions
  • Bug fixes for audio playback while browser is background
  • WebXR joint names adjusted to match W3C specification
 [11]
33.2 May 25, 2024
  • support for dragging tabs with direct touch using a pinching gesture
  • select from multiple screen size options and control the brightness of the immersive environment while watching full screen videos
33.3 June 5, 2024
  • Browser now supports sending push notifications. To enable them, sites must request permissions to send notifications (experimental)
  • Depth sensing implementation updated to support latest WebXR specification.
34.0 June 26, 2024
  • browser UI performance updated
  • performance updated via compiler optimizations
34.1 July 9, 2024
  • WebXR Multimodal Input for hands and controllers
  • Background Fetch API enabled for use by websites to download content to be used while offline
34.2 July 17, 2024
  • experimental support for unbounded spaces for creating large scale AR experiences that are no longer limited to the guardian boundary

References

  1. ^ Antonov, Justin Rogers and Michael. "Carmel Developer Preview Launches Today". Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  2. ^ "Oculus Launches Developer Preview Of Its WebVR Browser, 'Carmel', On Gear VR". UploadVR. 2016-12-12. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  3. ^ Hayden, Scott (2016-10-07). "Oculus to Support WebVR Through New VR Browser Codenamed 'Carmel'". Road to VR. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  4. ^ "Meta Quest Browser Developer Release Notes | Oculus Developers". developer.oculus.com. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  5. ^ "Oculus Browser Release Notes". www.meta.com. Retrieved 2024-02-21.
  6. ^ Hayden, Scott (2020-07-22). "Oculus Browser Gets Experimental Hand-tracking Support on Quest". Road to VR. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  7. ^ Bezmalinovic, Tomislav (2024-02-21). "Meta Quest Browser gets new features and improvements". MIXED Reality News. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  8. ^ Bezmalinovic, Tomislav (2024-03-19). "Meta Quest Browser gets beta support for browser extensions". MIXED Reality News. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  9. ^ Bezmalinovic, Tomislav (2024-04-17). "Meta Quest Browser gets performance boost and experimental PDF reader". MIXED Reality News. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  10. ^ "Release notes for 33.0". www.oculus.com. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
  11. ^ "Release Notes fore 33.1". www.oculus.com. Retrieved 2024-05-12.