The 5 Best Upgrades in the New Meta Quest 3 Update Coming to Meta AI and More
The latest Meta Quest update is rolling out to the Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 2, and Meta Quest Pro headsets. There’s no major upgrade, but it does add a few improvements you’ll definitely appreciate, such as multitasking and keeping your library organized.
A smaller update ahead of Meta Connect – the 2024 conference is scheduled for September 25-26 – isn’t unusual. It puts the headset in a stable position ahead of the big hardware and software announcements we’re sure to be treated to.
This year we’re hoping it’ll be the more accessible Meta Quest 3S, and maybe a taste of augmented reality goggles, but we’ll have to wait and see what’s revealed during the opening keynote. For now, here are the updates you can expect to see coming to Quest headsets.
If you’ve unlocked Meta AI on your Meta Quest – a feature that’s now exclusive to users in the US and Canada – it’s now a little easier to get the assistant’s help. Within the Meta AI settings menu on your headset, you can now enable the wake word “Hey Meta,” say it out loud, and you’re ready to start engaging Meta AI.
For those of you who haven’t tried it yet, Meta AI has some useful features, like the LLM Chatbot which allows you to have real-time conversations with the AI, or the Meta AI with Vision Mode, which allows the bot to understand and help with things in the real world, like identifying a plant.
You can enable and disable Meta AI in the Experimental Settings menu of your Meta Quest headset.
2. Improvements in multitasking
Update v69 also brings updates to the multitasking windows that we got in update v67. For starters, they’re no longer an experimental setting, so everyone will have the new layout enabled by default – allowing you to have three windows open side by side, and another three freeform windows for a total of six windows.
Spatial audio has also been added, so it sounds like audio is coming from the window itself to make the experience more realistic. This setting does not affect audio in fully immersive apps, however.
Finally, while you’re exploring immersive experiences, you can now keep the universal menu and up to three windows open at all times. This lets you play a video, look up a guide, chat with friends, or do a host of other activities while you play a game. To try this feature out, you’ll need to enable Seamless Multitasking in your Experimental Settings.
3. Clean up your library
If your Meta Quest library is full of demos or apps you deleted and no longer use, or Horizon Worlds you never visit again, there’s a new option: ‘Remove from Library’.
This hides the icon, making it easier to find and use the content you want to use.
4. Stylus support is available
Compatible styluses with tracking, such as the soon-to-be-launched Logitech MX Ink, can now be used to interact with the universal menu while using your Quest. They can also be used in some apps, such as Painting VR, which should make drawing in VR or MR a lot more intuitive.
The Stylus Settings menu has been added, allowing you to learn more about using the stylus and adjust settings such as configuring button mapping and adjusting pressure sensitivity.
5. Other updates
There are also a handful of small updates that don’t really deserve their own heading, but are still worth noting and posting here. Update v69 adds faster Bluetooth pairing, which should make pairing headphones, gamepads, and other accessories to your headset a little smoother.
New content-adaptive backlight controls should improve your Quest device’s contrast and battery life by better adjusting the backlight based on what you’re viewing. Although border improvements mean you’ll automatically be placed in a stationary border when you enter Horizon Home if you haven’t already set a border – and you’ll only need to set a room-scale border when you launch an experience that requires one.