• HorizonOS v76 has rolled out to the public test channel
• This beta release is teasing new fetaures Meta is working on
• In future updates we can expect major UI changes, and shareable windows

Meta has just launched the HorizonOS v76 update to its public test channel, and the beta software is already teasing some massive changes for how you can use your Meta Quest 3 headset to virtually socialise.

Firstly, Meta is putting your Horizon Avatera front and center in video calls, finally unlocking the selfie camera – a feature it first teased back at Meta Connect 2022. You could previously take Zoom meetings from your virtual workspace, but with update v76, you’ll be able to use your Meta avatar in more casual video calls through WhatsApp and Messenger.

In Settings, you can see your Selfie cam options to adjust how narrow or wide the virtual camera is, and you can select a static background that will appear behind your character.

Then, when you join video calls while using your headset, other people will see your avatar moving as you move. However, people who have tested the in-development tool say it is still limited.

‘In-development’ is definitely the key description here, as Selfie cam still feels very limited so it might take a little while before it reaches the wider HorizonOS public release.

Further, when it does, Meta might move it to be an ‘experimental feature,’ which is a designation given to features that are available in the full HorizonOS release, but that might be a little buggy still.

Update v76 in the PTC also hides details about the ability to share your screen with other Meta Quest users.

The feature isn’t live yet, but code strings (discovered by Luna) suggest that 2D window panels will gain a ‘share’ and ‘unshare’ button so you can show other people in Horizon Home or Horizon Worlds (and maybe other multiplayer apps) what you’re looking at in your browser.

The Quest 3 already has the ability to screenshare YouTube content, and this release seems like a more general rollout of that bespoke feature so other 2D apps can be shared.

Given its current state in the PTC update, screen sharing might be an update or two away. However, when it does arrive, it might be joined by a massive UI overhaul.

Codenamed ‘Navigator’ Luna shared a short five second long clip of a tutorial for the new layout – which Meta demo’d at Meta Connect 2024.

Luna added that it’s expected to drop in v77 or later, so it’s still a release or two from launch, but these first hints suggest this overhaul’s launch is approaching.

We’ll have to wait and see if this UI overhaul is what Quest 3 has been needing all along or one of those terrible changes that’ll have us begging Meta to put everything back the way it was.

From what we’ve seen, it should be the former, but we won’t know until the Navigator UI is available for everyone to test (hopefully later this year).

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