Facebook Messenger comes to Oculus Quest headsets
Presumably, someone out there has been itching to keep up with the family group chat while playing Beat Saber. If that's you, congratulations. Your day has finally come.
In the latest Oculus Quest developer update, the Facebook-owned VR company announced, among other things, that Facebook Messenger will start rolling out to Quest headsets this week. You'll be able to chat by manually typing in VR, using voice-to-text, or inserting generic auto-filled statements into the conversation.
One nice thing is that Messenger on Quest doesn't segregate users based on device. In other words, non-VR users can chat with VR users to their hearts' content. If multiple VR users happen to chat with each other, they can create an Oculus party from within Messenger to group up in whatever multiplayer game they feel like playing together.
Facebook also made it a point to note that using Messenger won't alter your Quest's privacy settings. That's always a concern with anything Facebook makes, obviously, and Messenger especially has raised questions about its security over the years. It should also go without saying that you need to log into your Facebook account on the Quest headset to use Messenger. That's required on a Quest 2 anyway, but Quest 1 owners need to keep that in mind.
Integrating Messenger with Oculus Quest headsets is yet another excuse to spend as much time in VR as possible, something we certainly understand during these trying times. Just remember to take breaks every now and then. That Messenger conversation with your aunt can wait.
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Topics Facebook
Alex Perry is a tech reporter at Mashable who primarily covers video games and consumer tech. Alex has spent most of the last decade reviewing games, smartphones, headphones, and laptops, and he doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He is also a Pisces, a cat lover, and a Kansas City sports fan. Alex can be found on Bluesky at yelix.bsky.social.
