DirecTV Just Released an App for Meta Quest Headsets
Meta's augmented reality just got a solid TV-watching app.
Stephen Johnson Senior Staff Writer
Experience
Stephen Johnson is a senior staff writer at Lifehacker covering pop culture and technology, including the columns “The Out-of-Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture” and “What People Are Getting Wrong This Week.”
April 27, 2026
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Key Takeaways
DirecTV has launched for Meta Quest headsets. Existing DirecTV subscribers can access their full channel lineup and DVR recordings in a resizable AR window. The app includes a library of free, ad-supported movies and channels like ABC News Live for non-subscribers.Table of Contents
DirecTV has launched for Meta Quest headsets. While there are already single-channel streaming apps like Peacock available on the headset, this is the first full TV distributor to be available for Quest users. It gives DirecTV subscribers access to over 150 live channels—CNN, HGTV, and NFL Network, etc.— and a huge library of on-demand movies and shows.
If you have a DirecTV subscription already, you can download the DirecTV app from the Quest store, enter your login info, and start streaming every channel you can watch on your regular TV.
DirecTV offers four tiers of programming that range from $89.99 a month to $169.99 a month as well as smaller "genre packs." Priced between $19.99 and $59.99, these no-contract options offer fewer channels, but they're focused on specific interests like sports or entertainment. There's a five-day free trial, too. The app will work on the Meta Quest 2, 3, 3S, and Meta Quest Pro headsets.
DirecTV isn't offering any content tailored to virtual reality—there's no library of 3D movies or immersive content, you don't watch it in a virtual reality room, and there's no way to watch with other people online—you're basically getting a new place to watch and record DirecTV's channels in augmented reality.
What do you think so far?
The app itself works well. It's a programming guide and a screen you can re-size and anchor anywhere you want in augmented reality, giving you a portable, big screen TV in your Quest headset. It's nothing groundbreaking, but there's really no reason to re-invent the wheel here.
Don't sleep on DirecTV's free channels and movies
If you don't have a subscription to DirecTV, the app is still worth a download. There are hundreds of quirky, obscure channels (like The Bob Ross Channel) available for free, as well as dedicated movie channels and more mainstream choices like ABC News Live and FOX Weather. You can check out a bunch of on-demand movies too; they're not the fresh-from-theaters films you'd get with a subscription, but if you want to re-watch Mars Attacks, might as well do it with a virtual reality headset.
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