XR Developer News - October 2026
We're in an interesting quieter moment between all the post-summer hardware announcements and developer events on the one hand, and when all the exciting announcements actually ship on the other, resulting in a relatively slow month in XR developer news.
Luckily, at XR Creators Connect NL we're organising a really interesting 10th edition on November 19th, focused fully on building for smart glasses. We've got a really strong lineup, with representatives from Snap, Google, Even Realities and Meta joining us in the Netherlands, so if you're at all able to come, definitely do so! It should be an interesting mix of new hardware to try, fellow XR people to chat with, and developer relations people from the platforms to connect with. Hope to see you all there!
Meta
- As Meta Connect and the VR Glasses announcement are behind us, we're starting to see more details emerge. For instance, Meta released the video recordings of the in-person sessions at Connect, which often go into a bit more depth than the highly produced videos released during Connect itself.
- Unity also held a live webinar going in-depth on building for Meta VR Glasses.
- Meta Horizon OS 2.9 is starting to roll out.
Luna
- Meta's Immersive Web SDK reached 1.0.
Other XR hardware, software and news
- Snap seems to be in a holding pattern while it waits for its SPECS to start shipping 'this fall'. Let's hope that's soon! Meanwhile there's a small Lens Studio hackathon running to keep you busy.
- On Google's side, XREAL Aura is getting more and more real, with shipping apparently very close, although unexpectedly not in the EU, which is a real bummer. This week Google has an Android Dev Summit, which might cover Android XR.
- Standards body Khronos Group has released an interesting new set of OpenXR extensions for multitasking and window management in XR.
Khronos OpenXR Working Group
- The always awesome David Heaney is back with the VR Download podcast! Don't mind the Meta avatars, just listen to it as a podcast. Hands down one of the best sources of high-quality analysis in the XR space.
Upcoming XR events
- October 28, 2026 - Android Dev Summit with an online keynote, might cover Android XR as well.
- November 18, 2026 - Meta VR Start Developer Competition submission deadline.
- November 19, 2026 - XR Creators Connect NL Day 2026 about building for smart glasses in Hilversum, The Netherlands.
- In this 10th edition of the XR meetup I co-organise, we've got a crazy line-up of companies in the smart glasses space joining us: Google, Snap, Meta and Even Realities. Looking forward to seeing everyone there!
- December 7-9, 2026 - UnitedXR Europe in Brussels, Belgium.
- I'll be there as part of the Booster Program for Startups, with Reality Import, and we'll be part of the Dutch Pavilion with Reality Import as well, so come and say hi if you're there! Drop me a line on LinkedIn if you'd like to plan something.
- March 1-4, 2027 - GDC in San Francisco, California.
- April 7-9, 2027 - Laval Virtual in Laval, France.
- June 14-17, 2027 - AWE USA in Long Beach, California.
A bit about this newsletter
Each month I try to round up all the interesting developments in the XR developer landscape. New hardware and software releases, events, tooling, etc. Feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn, for instance if I missed anything which definitely should be in this monthly round up next time. Want to know more? Check out the about page.
And if you need expertise in the XR space, know that we offer exactly that at DNA.inc where I'm Head of XR, so don't hesitate to get in touch!
