Systems, methods, and related technologies for application-centric object storage and virtual data objects are described. In certain aspects, a processing device can process a first data object in a first format to generate a virtual data object, the virtual data object including a representation of the first data object in a second format. The processing device can receive a request with respect to the first data object from an application that is configured with respect to the second format. The processing device can complete the request with respect to the first data object and the application via the virtual data object.