The Developer Dashboard is essential for managing the lifecycle of your Meta Quest or Link PC-VR app. This dashboard enables you to distribute builds to testers and acts as the gateway for the review processes before your app receives approval for general distribution on the Meta Horizon platform. Understanding what to expect when you submit an app for distribution through the Meta Horizon Store or the Link PC-VR Store (formerly Rift Store) is crucial. The time and effort you invest in your app are valuable, and we want to provide a fair and transparent path to success.

Successful apps undergo phases of design, development, and testing. When you submit your app, reviewers evaluate its content and performance before it can be released to the public. Adhering to standards ensures a great user experience.

Once your app meets all the necessary requirements, it can be published on the platform. The image below illustrates the typical app lifecycle.

To be ready for consumers, VR apps must incorporate and achieve certain baseline elements. To aid in the success of your apps, you are provided with:

You must create an app page on the Developer Dashboard before you begin the distribution process. For information on how to create the page, see Create an App Page. Then, develop your VR app using our game engine integrations, platform solutions, and SDKs.

Once you develop your app, submit your build to your app page on the Developer Dashboard using one of our four default channels. For more on submitting an app build, see Submitting Your App.

The Alpha, Beta, and Release Candidate channels enable you to give external users access to your app for testing purposes. Use the Production channel when you are ready for Meta to review your app. For more information about submitting builds, see Release Channels.

However, before you submit your app to Meta for review using the Production channel, you should complete some readiness testing to ensure that your app meets all of the requirements for the Meta Horizon Store or the Link PC-VR Store:

When your app meets the Meta Horizon Store or Link PC-VR requirements, upload a build to the Production channel and submit it for review. For more information, see Upload an App Build.

For apps that use platform features, ensure that you submit a Data Use Checkup prior to app submission.

The store review process checks whether your app meets all the minimum technical and content standards required for consideration.

The technical requirements are documented in the Meta Quest Virtual Reality Check (VRC) Guidelines and Link PC-VR Virtual Reality Check (VRC) Guidelines.

If your app fails its initial technical review, we want to ensure you know why, and what to do next. You will receive a detailed report about your app, showing you exactly which technical requirements you’re missing, and pointing you toward links in our Developer Center where you can learn how to approach fixing the issue. You are then welcome to resubmit the app.

After an app successfully passes the technical review, it enters the content review stage, where the app is evaluated for its overall completeness, polish, and value. We expect games, videos, virtual tours, and other kinds of apps to be engaging, interesting, or useful. For more information, see Content and Design Guidelines.

If your app passes both the technical review and content review stages, it becomes eligible for inclusion on the platform. Meta provides several options for selling and distributing apps on our platform. After the publishing review is complete, you will be able to distribute your app through our Distribution Options.

Releasing your app is just the first step. Use app analytics and feedback to improve your existing store apps. For more information, see App analytics introduction.