The world of VR has almost no limits. The power of the Meta Quest makes it easy to see how the future of both work and play will be revolutionized once the technology becomes the standard. Most people are drawn to the best Meta Quest games, but we’ve found so many more uses for this headset in our daily lives. Ignoring all the apps available on your headset is like having a smartphone without the best iPhone apps. We’ve been deeply invested in VR since day one, using every version of the Meta Quest released so far to find the best apps for work, play, and everything in between.
We will give you a quick look at some of the best apps you can get for free, on the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, and for adults before diving into a few standouts.
There’s no better price than free, and there are a ton of free apps you can grab for your Meta Quest. Here are a handful of our favorites.
Currently, the Meta Quest 3 and the 3S are the newest models from Meta, and thus the most powerful. These are some of our must-have apps for the headset but keep in mind that all the Meta Quest 2 apps also work on the new model.
The Meta Quest 2, formerly known as the Oculus Quest 2, is still going strong with app support. These apps all run great on the last-generation model.
Most games come out for both the Meta Quest 2 and 3, but not all. Here are the top games you can play on the Quest 2.
Again, keep in mind that all the best Meta Quest 2 games not only work on Meta Quest 3 but look and run better.
Older audiences will have a blast with these Meta Quest 3 games that might be a bit too much for kids.
One of the best apps for the Quest 3 is the Meta web browser. That might seem counterintuitive, but think about how much time you spend in the browser on your phone and computer. It’s the gateway to the internet and a planet’s worth of information and apps.
When you open the browser, you’ll see a row of popular websites that are a click away — or a pinch with hand-tracking. Below that, Meta highlights several web apps that provide an immersive experience. These are typically quick-loading free games that you can spend some time playing without committing to a download.
Of course, you can enter your own websites to browse. The default search engine is Google, but you can pick Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo, or Ecosia if you prefer. The browser is based on Chromium, and while there are some limitations, most websites work.
Sign into a popular social media or video streaming service to browse your feed or watch a movie. You can use a large virtual tablet with hand tracking and a touch interface or change to controllers to work with up to three resizable screens that you can make larger than your TV or scaled down to create a bank of monitors that you can see side-by-side.
Digital Trends and your other favorite websites load quickly and let you browse the latest news and stories of interest. You can open Stackedit.io or another online text editor to take notes or save links to use on your phone or computer. Cloud storage lets you move files between devices.
It’s a pretty decent browser. Even popular design tools like Figma, Canva, and Pixlr work. However, some web apps, like Microsoft Word and Google Docs, don’t work well on the Quest 3.
Quest 3 apps take advantage of unlimited screen space, wrapping around the viewer to create an experience like going to a movie theater or watching in a home cinema without the need for a large room, a giant screen, and a surround sound speaker system.
The mixed reality is good enough on the Quest 3 that some people wear their headsets to watch a video in the browser while doing housework or multitasking with something that doesn’t demand complete attention.
For a change of pace, try lying back while watching a movie. Sometimes, you can tilt the view so the screen hovers above you. Meta includes the Quest TV app for browsing videos, including content in 360 and 3D. You can watch concerts, comedy shows, documentaries, and more for free with Quest TV.
You’ll need to sign into your streaming accounts for your favorite series and movies. While services like YouTube, Disney+, Apple TV+, and Amazon Prime Video work in the Meta browser, not everything does. Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have Quest apps, but they haven’t been updated recently, and the quality settings are lower than you might expect.
There are several ways around this problem. Bigscreen Beta is a free VR app that lets you choose from a variety of environments where you can watch videos with friends in avatar form. The app supports Twitch, PlutoTV, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video. You might need to connect Bigscreen Beta to your Windows PC for Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services.
And if you’re a sports fanatic, you’ve got to try Xtadium! This awesome app places you right in the middle of some of your favorite sporting events. Get front row seats to UFC fights, NBA games, and several other events, along with the ability to watch in 3D or via multi-screen.
Working out in VR feels more like playing a game, but it’s serious exercise. While fast action games like Beat Saber can work up a sweat, dedicated fitness apps go further, tracking your heart rate, the time you spend in motion, and more.
Supernatural is one of my favorite exercise apps, with real videos of coaches to guide you, a large library of popular songs to keep you moving, and beautiful 360 scenes from around the world. The ability to feel like you’re out in nature, striking and dodging targets while moving to your favorite songs, is a powerful inspiration to work out.
FitXR and Les Mills BodyCombat are also very good, offering a greater variety of options and mixed reality modes that take advantage of the Quest 3’s color passthrough cameras.
You can play football, basketball, tennis, and racing as an esport, but it feels more like the real thing to play in VR since you get stereoscopic vision, a 360 view of the action, and can physically move to interact. I’ve only scratched the surface of virtual sports, but I enjoy putting a full ping pong table in my small bedroom with Eleven Table Tennis, learning full-court racket work with Pickleball One, and refining my rowing skills with MarineVerse Kayaking.
There’s also an NFL-licensed VR multiplayer app, NFL Pro Era, that lets you call plays as the Quarterback of your favorite team in different stadiums and weather conditions. Gym Class is a basketball simulator where you can play pickup street games or organize a team and play on NBA-licensed courts.
Picking up a new instrument is never an easy task, but you can jumpstart your learning experience with a Meta Quest app! If you’re learning how to play piano, we highly recommend PianoVision, an all-encompassing piano virtualization app. When practicing, you’ll be able to use the app’s built-in VR piano, or you can interface your own MIDI components.
Choose from over 1,400 songs and exercises, which is around 13 hours of content. You’ll even be able to select different instrument sounds, read sheet music, and upload your own tracks to play along to.
We’re also fans of GuitarKingVR, which ditches the piano in favor of the coolest six-string beast in town. Do keep in mind that the app is still in early access, so some features may not work correctly.
That’s just the beginning. There are plenty of other apps available that might suit your needs better. The Meta Quest store has hundreds of titles. You can even sideload Android apps with SideQuest or wirelessly connect to your Windows PC or Mac via Immersed. With so many options, there’s always a solution.
Check out more great Quest 3 mixed reality apps and games we love using with the Meta Quest 3.
Alan Truly is a Writer at Digital Trends, covering computers, laptops, hardware, software, and accessories that stand out as the most unique and effective solutions. Alan also researches and reviews VR headsets, AR glasses, AI, and robotics, the advances that can redefine how we live and work.
As a kid, Alan marveled at Star Trek, Popular Science, and other science news and sci-fi concepts on the horizon. Now, that future is fast approaching as we work from home, converse with computers thanks to AI, and visit the equivalent of a holodeck with VR and AR. The robot revolution began in factories but could soon reach our homes. What a time to be alive!
Alan's degree in Computer Science from Cal State Fullerton set him up for a diverse career centered around advanced technology. His first job in journalism was as a roving reporter and video editor at a cable TV station in Laughlin, NV before returning to California and starting a video production company specializing in computer animation. After the internet boom, Alan shifted to website design and marketing. He also spent several years as COO of a tablet accessory manufacturer, before returning to communications.
With bylines at Android Police, Peta Pixel, Mixed, and Screen Rant, Alan has written about every type of technology from mobile devices, watches, and tablets to drones, electric vehicles, and space habitats. It's all fascinating and all powered by computing.
Alan lives in Nova Scotia, Canada. A tech-enthusiast since his youth, he stays current on what is new and what is next. With over 30 years of experience in computer, video, and photo equipment, you can expect useful tips and insights in his writing. To stay flexible in mind and body, he practices daily yoga, light cardio, and eats a whole food diet, based on minimally processed plants.
When the weather is nice, and sometimes when it's not, Alan enjoys bringing tech on adventures with beach visits and woods walks. There's no better way to review an FPV drone, AR glasses, and 3D cameras.
Whenever the opportunity arises, Alan advocates for animal rights, green energy, and universal basic income to ease the burden of those without a voice and those who are less fortunate. In his free time, he catches up on the fascinating and unfolding UAP revelations that suggest humans aren't the only intelligent species in the cosmos.
Michael Bizzaco has been selling, installing, and talking about TVs, soundbars, streaming devices, and all things smart home for the better part of 15 years. He even knows a thing or two about how to fix this stuff when it starts misbehaving (because no tech is perfect!).
Mike has been writing for Digital Trends and several other publications since 2020. Fortunately, he’s still able to write after he got his index finger stuck in a vending machine at the Ramada Inn the summer before fourth grade! From hands-on reviews to best-of roundups, Mike does his best to share his expertise in a friendly and informative way with all readers, and loves staying on top of the latest AV and smart home trends.
When he’s not thanking his father for dislodging his finger from that vile vending machine in New Jersey, Mike enjoys playing guitar, reading, and indulging in horror films with his girlfriend.
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