Recently, I jumped on the VR bandwagon and bought a Quest 3 headset. Naturally, as a web developer, I got curious: could this thing double as a lightweight dev machine—without relying on streaming from a laptop or desktop?
My theory was that using something like GitHub Codespaces (aka Visual Studio Code in a browser, running on a cloud server), I could write code, debug directly in the browser, and push changes from within the headset—effectively handling a full web development workflow entirely in VR.
So I dove in. Here’s a breakdown of the different approaches I tried and the limitations I ran into.
Fluid
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 as a dev tool, 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.
Native Horizon OS + Android Browser Apps
Next, I tried sideloading Android browser apps (Brave, Mises, Lemur) directly onto the Quest and running them natively via Horizon OS.
Surprisingly, this setup was a much better keyboard experience:
- Shortcuts worked great:
Ctrl+Lto focus the address bar,Ctrl+Tto open new tabs,Ctrl+Tabto cycle through them. I even wrote this blog post from inside one of those browsers.
But again, the main roadblock was devtools. While these browsers technically support developer tools, there’s no way to open them in a separate window side-by-side with the page you’re debugging. That means constant tab switching, which quickly becomes tedious.
Another limitation: you're capped at 6 open windows total (3 docked, 3 floating). That really breaks the “unlimited monitors” dream that VR workspace fans tend to froth over.
Other VR Productivity Apps
There are a few other "productivity" apps on the Quest platform, but most of them are just streaming clients with extra bells and whistles:
- Meta Horizon Workrooms (Beta) – Requires connection to an external computer.
- Virtual Desktop – Great at what it does, but again, it’s just a fancy remote desktop 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.
Conclusion
Right now, using the Quest 3 as a standalone device for web development just isn’t practical. The biggest blockers are:
- Lack of usable devtools
- Limitations in keyboard navigation (depending on the app)
- Performance issues with multitasking
- A hard cap on open windows
That said, I still think the future is bright for this kind of setup. With improvements to both hardware and software—especially native apps designed with developers in mind—it might become viable in a year or two. I’ll definitely revisit this experiment again down the road.
Footnote
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.
