Quest 3 as a Standalone Web Development Machine

TLDR:

• Tried using the Quest 3 as a web dev machine without streaming from a laptop.
• Most VR browser apps fail due to lack of devtools and window limitations.
• Best result: Running a full Linux desktop in UserLand with working Chrome devtools (and VS Code!)
• Not a great experience for now, but promising for future standalone dev in VR.

Intro

I recently got a Quest 3 and wondered: could I use it as a lightweight dev machine without streaming from my laptop? My theory: with something like GitHub Codespaces (VS Code in a browser, running on a cloud server), I could write code, debug, and push changes all from within the headset. Could a full web development workflow work entirely in VR?

1. Fluid (Quest App)

Fluid is the go-to recommendation for opening multiple browser tabs in VR. It’s a native Quest app with a clean interface and decent multitasking support. But for web development, it fell short quickly:

• No developer tools: There’s no way to open browser devtools, which is an instant dealbreaker for web development.
• Keyboard limitations: Keyboard navigation is clunky, with common shortcuts (like focusing the address bar or switching tabs) either missing or unreliable.
• Performance issues: Just a handful of browser tabs and a single YouTube video slowed the system enough to drop frames.

At the end of the day, trying to use an Android-based VR headset like a desktop computer is a bit of a stretch—and it shows.

2. Native Horizon OS + Android Browser Apps

I tried sideloading Android browser apps (Brave, Mises, Lemur) directly onto the Quest and running them natively via Horizon OS. Keyboard shortcuts worked well (Ctrl+L, Ctrl+T, Ctrl+Tab), and I even wrote this blog post from inside one of those browsers.

Blogging on the Quest 3

However, devtools can't be opened side-by-side with the page in these mobile browsers, so debugging is tedious. There's also a hard cap of 6 open windows total (3 docked, 3 floating), which limits multitasking.

3. Other VR Productivity Apps

Most "productivity" apps on the Quest platform are just streaming clients:

• Meta Horizon Workrooms (Beta) – Requires connection to an external computer.
• Virtual Desktop – Just a fancy desktop streaming app.
• Immersed – Well-polished, but also relies on streaming from a real computer.

If your goal is to leave the laptop behind entirely, these don't help.

Instead of relying on Android support for devtools, I ran a full Linux desktop environment in a chroot+vnc using UserLand. The steps:

• Start with a minimal Ubuntu base image (UserLand has an issue where the xfce4/lxde image options don't work, so follow these steps to install)
• Then modify ~/.vnc/xstartup to launch xfce:

#!/bin/sh ... leave other lines the same # comment out this line #/etc/X11/Xsession # at the bottom of the file add startxfce4 &

• Install chromium browser with these (steps):

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xtradeb/apps -y sudo apt update sudo apt install chromium

• Run chromium with chromium --no-sandbox.
• Fix desktop resolution: edit ~/.vncrc to $geometry = "1920x1080", then chmod -w ~/.vncrc so UserLand does not overwrite it.
• Install VS Code via apt, run with code --no-sandbox.

Chromium devtools and VS Code on the Quest 3 inside UserLand! Quest native browser window on the left accessing the http-server from the code space.

Notes:

• Chrome windows/devtools are stuck inside the VM, not as independent VR windows, but you can run many of them inside the VM window.
• Running a full desktop environment uses more RAM (estimate: 500MB+), plus whatever Chrome/VS Code consume.

So while it makes things possible, it does take away from the magic of a "VR desktop" where all windows can be freely placed.

As the table above shows, using the Quest 3 as a standalone device for web development is still challenging. The biggest blockers are:

• Lack of usable devtools except within Linux chroot
• Window and multitasking limitations
• Keyboard navigation quirks
• Performance/memory overhead

Still, the future looks bright. With hardware and software improvements, especially native apps for developers, this could become viable without resorting to a full-blown Linux environment.

Yes, I know GitHub Codespaces technically is a remote computer, but it feels less “tethered” than streaming from your personal machine. You can spin one up from anywhere, pay by the hour, and it even comes with a decent free allowance (120 core-hours/month), which should be more than enough for light dev work in VR.