Meta Connect 2024 Developer Recap

On September 25th and 26th, at our 11th annual Connect conference, Meta unveiled the latest advancements in mixed reality, AI, and wearables, bringing us closer to our vision of a people-centered, open computing platform.

We’ve pulled together all you need to know about the developer innovations that were announced. If you want to watch the full keynotes to get all the details of these announcements, check them out here.

The Latest to Join the Herd: Llama 3.2

Announced at Connect was the release of Llama 3.2, a significant upgrade to its large language model (LLM) collection. This latest iteration includes small and medium-sized vision LLMs (11B and 90B) and lightweight, text-only models (1B and 3B) designed for edge and mobile devices. These models support a range of tasks, including image reasoning, multilingual knowledge retrieval, summarization, instruction following, and rewriting. Notably, the 1B and 3B models are optimized for on-device use, ensuring faster processing, improved privacy, and reduced latency.

The Llama 3.2 models demonstrate competitive performance with leading foundation models, such as Claude 3 Haiku and GPT4o-mini. Additionally, they support a context length of 128K tokens, enabling more complex and nuanced interactions. To facilitate seamless integration, we also introduced Llama Stack, a standardized interface for customizing Llama models and building agentic applications. This stack includes tight integrations with PyTorch libraries and supports various environments, including on-prem, cloud, single-node, and on-device.

The Llama 3.2 models are now available for download on the Llama website and Hugging Face, and developers can access them immediately on various partner platforms. This release marks a significant step forward in our commitment to providing accessible, responsible, and innovative AI solutions. Learn more about the latest models here.

Build, Optimize, and Grow on Meta Horizon OS

The launch of Meta Quest 3S, starting at $299.99 USD, expands the audience for mixed reality experiences. Quest 3S also includes a new action button that lets people quickly toggle between fully immersive and Passthrough MR modes so they can easily switch to their preferred environment. To learn more about Quest 3S, be sure to watch the Connect session, “Meet Meta Quest 3S.”

Expand Your Reach: Bringing 2D Apps to the Meta Horizon Store

The Meta Horizon Store now supports 2D apps built as progressive web apps (PWAs), Android native, or via Meta Spatial SDK, enabling developers to bring existing apps to the Meta Horizon ecosystem. This update offers immersive features like resizable panels, spatial audio, and multitasking, and presents a significant opportunity for developers to reach new audiences, given that over 60% of Meta Quest users now use the browser and 2D panels on Meta Quest 3. Developers can choose from various development paths and access resources like the developer center, porting guides, and open-source showcase apps. Additionally, our Horizon Start pilot program provides dedicated support, education, and potential funding for mobile developers transitioning to Meta Horizon OS. See our full blog here.

Unlocking Mixed Reality’s Potential

Mixed reality (MR) has no shortages of new developments, empowering developers to create dynamic experiences with groundbreaking technologies. Meta's expanded developer suite streamlines development, innovates with MR technologies, and supports developers of all skill levels. New improvements, tools, and capabilities announced at Connect 2024 enable developers to build more realistic, enjoyable, and performant MR experiences.

New features include improved Passthrough and Depth API, Audio-to-Expressions, Acoustic Ray Tracing, Microgestures, and Interaction SDK. Development is streamlined with Unity 6, MRUK, and Building Blocks. Additionally, cross-platform Haptics support and LIV SDK enable effective content capture. These updates aim to make mixed reality development more accessible, efficient, and innovative. Read the full blog here.

Improved Developer Experiences

Earlier this week, we launched several improvements to our Meta developer web journey. Developers now have new ways to seamlessly reach the content, resources, and platforms they need to start building via the Meta for Developers hub and revamped developer centers for Meta Horizon OS, Social technologies, and AI.