Meta Quest v65 Update: Panorama Stills and Improved Passthrough

April showers typically bring May flowers—but this year, the flowers are sprouting early. Yes, it feels like just yesterday that we launched Meta Quest’s v64 software update, with improvements to Passthrough and support for external microphones, but today we’ll begin rolling out v65.

The v65 update includes updates to the spatial video playback feature we introduced in v62, a simple way to view panoramic stills in-headset, and another Passthrough improvement.

Read on for more details—and remember, we roll software updates out gradually to help ensure there are no unforeseen issues.

Spatial Video Updates

Back in February, we introduced spatial video playback as part of the v62 software update. If you have an iPhone, you can upload spatial (a.k.a. stereoscopic) videos to your Meta Quest headset using the Meta Quest mobile app, enabling you to view your memories and media content like never before.

And yes, we mean any iPhone. While spatial video playback originally launched only for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, with v65 we’re now making it accessible to everyone on iOS 17 and later.

Panorama Stills

We’re also adding support for another media format that’s uniquely suited to VR: Panoramas.

Chances are you’ve taken a panoramic photo before—maybe you visited a landmark like the Colosseum or Shibuya Crossing and wanted to capture the whole scene in one go, or maybe you just were experimenting with your phone’s capabilities. But then what? Viewing panoramas on your phone or PC is a far cry from actually being there.

VR is a different story. Open a panorama on your Meta Quest headset and it’s almost like you’re there again, taking in the sights.

Get started by opening the Meta Quest mobile app on iOS 17 and later and uploading panoramas to your Meta Quest account. Once uploaded, you can access your panoramic stills from the Files menu in your Meta Quest headset.

Passthrough Improvements

Feeling a little déjà vu? We just rolled out a number of improvements to Passthrough on Meta Quest 3 in v64, but we’ve got another one in store for v65.

We’re changing how some of our system menus work. Previously, the lockscreen, power-off menu, and other important panels always appeared in a gray void-like VR environment—even if you were using MR Home. We’ve fixed this, enabling you to remain entirely in MR from the moment you power on Meta Quest 3 until you put it down again.

Check out the v65 Release Notes for a more comprehensive look at these features and more, and we’ll be back soon with another Meta Quest software update.