Ray-Ban Meta glasses get ‘major’ update with minor feature

By Phil Nickinson Published September 6, 2024

The Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses next to a pool. — Phil Nickinson / Digital Trends

Someone maybe should tell Meta that point releases — software updates that move things along, but maybe don’t justify entire whole-number increases in the version scheme — are a thing. But here we are, and the Ray-Ban Meta glasses have received an update to Version 8.0, a little less than seven months since things really kicked off with Version 2.0.

What changes from Version 7.0 to Version 8.0? You can now share photos to your Facebook story without having to touch anything. It’s gone hands-free. You’ll need to go into the Meta View app and connect your Facebook account, but otherwise, you’re free to tell your glasses to share whatever it is you’re looking at that simply must be shared right that second. So not quite as big a deal as when the Ray-Ban Meta tripled their recording time.

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The phrase that’ll get things going, according to the changelog, is “Hey, Meta, share a photo to my Facebook Story” if you’re doing things live. Or if you want to share a picture you just took, it’s “Hey, Meta, share my last photo to Facebook.”

For what it’s worth, there’s also the requisite “bug fixes and performance enhancements” listed in the changelog.

From there, it’s just a few taps to get things going. Do note that connecting your Facebook account to Meta View will give the Facebook app access to Bluetooth, which you’ll need to manually approve.

Ray-Ban Meta software update screenshots. — Screenshots

There’s also a security feature I noticed for the first time while setting this up, although it might not be new. You can auto-lock your contacts, which would keep someone from grabbing your glasses yo use them to make calls, send messages, listen to incoming messages, or share photos and videos. Turn this feature on and you’ll have to unlock your phone to do any of the above. The glasses will stay unlocked until you remove them. It’s a bit like how Apple handles things with the Apple Watch, and it’s a good feature to have.

The Meta app does warn that using auto-lock may reduce battery life, though.

Former Section Editor, Audio/Video

Phil spent the 2000s making newspapers with the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal, the 2010s with Android Central and then the…

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