Typically, when a company gives its products a UI overhaul, the new design focuses on fixing problems people complained about in the old version. Meta has been working on it for two years now, but the end result isn’t exactly getting the reception Meta was hoping for.
Ever since the update started rolling out to everyone a few weeks ago, I’ve received countless messages from friends (and the parents of my son’s friends) asking how to revert to the old UI. The answer is…you can’t. The follow-up questions then usually revolve around how to do all the things they used to do every day, since many of the most common tasks now require several additional clicks or menu selections to find.
Meta designed this new Navigator UI, as it’s called, to make it dead simple to jump into VR experiences in record time. It absolutely achieves that goal, but as is the case any time you prioritize one specific feature, everything else suffers because of it. If you’re confounded by the new Meta Quest UI and can’t figure out what to do, here are a few tips and tricks to get you going.
Get those floating windows out of my face
Meta’s Navigator UI launched with a brand-new two-layer window system, which has become an immediate annoyance for many people. Pressing the Meta/home button on the right controller now always brings up the app launcher, but all other system windows and apps run in floating windows. The problem is that pressing that Meta/home button again doesn’t hide the windows; it only hides the app launcher.
Meta also completely redesigned the universal menu bar at the bottom, which no longer lets you pin apps, quickly close floating windows, or use the virtual camera. Instead, you’ll need to double-click the Meta/home button on the right controller to hide the floating windows. It’s possible that Meta explained this in one of those pop-up…