React Native on Meta VR with Expo

Build React Native apps for Meta VR / Horizon OS using Expo — the tooling Meta recommends for React Native on Meta VR. This skill focuses on the development loop: get your JS running on the headset and iterating with live reload, then graduate to a full Meta VR development build when you need native Horizon features.

A Meta VR RN app renders as a 2D panel in Horizon OS. This is Android app development, so the headset-setup, ADB, and device basics live in other skills — this skill references them instead of repeating them (see hz-new-project-creation for developer-mode and dashboard setup, metavr-cli for device/ADB commands, and portal for the Android build toolchain).

Two ways to run on the headset

There are two runtimes, and picking the right one is the most important decision. Both load a JS bundle URL from a Metro dev server and Fast-Refresh on save; they differ in what native code is available.