Give your Meta Quest a tracking boost with this hidden setting
Meta Quest games that primarily use hand tracking are great fun, there’s no doubt about it. Being able to interact with the virtual world using your real hands sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie, but that sense of realism and interaction also means that input is more limited than when using controllers with joysticks and buttons.
That means when you play a game like Dimensional Double Shift, you can interact with the world and other players like never before. However, it is not easy to perform system functions like taking a screenshot, recording a video, or muting your microphone. Thankfully, there is a solution for that, but it’s a bit hidden in the system menu.
How to enable Extended Quick Actions
On your Meta Quest headset, press the button at home button on the right controller or perform a home action with your hands pinching your index and thumb together while your palm is facing you (as shown above). This will bring up the Global Menu Bar, which includes shortcuts to the app drawer, recent and pinned apps, and settings. Next, click the button Quick Settings Panelwhich is a button on the left side of the menu bar that shows the time, Wi-Fi status, and battery.
After that, you’ll want to click Settings in the upper right corner, and select Motion Tracking from the left side menu. In this section, you will find the option to enable manual tracking and Extended Quick Actions. Make sure that manual tracking is turned on, then tap Modifying Extended Quick Actions to give it power.
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Now, with your palm facing you, pinch your index finger and thumb together and hold for a second, and a menu of more powerful actions will appear. This opens the aforementioned menu that contains the silence, screen record, recent, mixed reality, and home buttons. Extended Quick Actions work on any Meta Quest headset, but are best on the Quest 3 or Quest 3S as those headsets have a full view of mixed reality.
If you want to just go home, you can still quickly tap your index and thumb together to make a home gesture. While in this menu, feel free to adjust a few settings as you see fit. Also particularly useful are the “double-tap manual tracking controls,” which allow you to quickly switch between controller-based and manual tracking modes without having to put the controls down and wait for them to go to sleep.
Manual tracking can’t be used everywhere, but I found myself mistaking it when I put my Quest on before I muted anything, and I often found myself working on my headset without using the controls at all. It’s really amazing how far hand tracking has come and how it’s replacing controls in many situations, especially now that you can pull up quick menus with useful actions with just a pinch.
Meta Quest 3 comes packed with impressive motion-tracked controls and thousands of games designed for the platform, but you can also put the controls down and use your hands to explore more games and experiences. What are you waiting for? VR is calling. Time to answer!
