External Apps are not directly managed by ManageXR and cannot be installed, updated, or uninstalled by ManageXR. However, External Apps that are manually installed on a device can be approved in a Configuration and included in your Home Screen or set as a Kiosk App.

For example, let's say you want to include Beat Saber on your Home Screen but don't have access to the APK file to distribute via ManageXR. In this case, you'd manually install Beat Saber on your device from the hardware provider's App Store, add Beat Saber as an External App in ManageXR, and approve it in your device's configuration. If Beat Saber is installed on your device, it will appear on your Home Screen.

There are two parts to the process of deploying external apps via configurations:

The first step to using an external app is to manually install it onto your device using native device menus.

Here's what you'll need to do:

If you enrolled your devices in ManageXR via Meta Horizon, your device is assigned one of the following modes:

Each mode has different rules for accessing external apps. You can read more about Meta Horizon device modes here.

Devices in shared mode won’t have access to the Meta Horizon app store, preventing you from using store apps.

If you would like to continue using the Meta store content in a shared mode setting, you'll have to see if the app or the developer is a part of Discover XR. If not, contact the content developer directly and inquire whether they can share their app using ManageXR. They can also fill out this form to join the Discover XR waitlist.

Reach out to support@managexr.com if you’d like assistance communicating with content developers.

Devices in Individual Mode can access the Meta app store from inside the headset or the Meta Horizon mobile app. Follow these steps to download the app.

ManageXR Legacy devices are those enrolled in ManageXR via the Device Setup Tool and will not be affected by it. Learn how to determine if your device was enrolled via ManageXR or Meta Horizon.

Once you've manually installed the app, you can make it appear in your ManageXR Home Screen by adding it to ManageXR as an external app. To do this, you will need the package name of the app. A package name is an app's unique identifier and can be found in a device's Installed Apps section.

To locate an app's package name:

Now that you have the package name, it's time to create the External App:

The external app has now been added to your VR Content library! Let's add this new store app to a configuration:

It's common to add the First Steps app as an external app. In many cases, this app comes preinstalled on Meta Quest 1 & 2 (you can download it from the Meta Horizon store for Quest 3), and all you need to do is add it as an external app to have it appear on your home screen.

The First Steps app can have two package names depending on which Quest headset you're using:

Since First Steps comes on Quest devices by default, it appears in the System Apps. If you don't initially see the First Steps app in your device's Installed Apps section, be sure it is installed on your device and that you've toggled on Show System Apps. For Quest 3 devices, it's recommended to install First Steps from the Tutorials section of the drop-down device menu in-headset.

ManageXR cannot push updates for any app acquired from a hardware provider's app store. This restriction is enforced by the hardware provider and is not a ManageXR limitation.

Updates for store apps typically happen automatically, but some apps may require you to open the app to finalize the update. If you're finding that Meta store app updates are interrupting the end-user experience, Meta has a feature that will allow these updates to happen as soon as they are available via Meta release channels, even if devices are off. As Meta mentions in the article linked below, "Many apps release updates overnight and across different days of the week." So, hopefully, these app updates will happen when the devices are not in use. More information here.