Meta glasses wearers hit with paywall to use built-in feature

Owners of Meta's AI glasses have been told they must pay a monthly fee if they want full access to a feature that was previously free.

Users will have to shell out $19.99 every month to use "Conversation Focus", which uses the microphones on the glasses to make it easier to hear people you're talking to, for more than three hours a month.

Meta says those who hit the "free monthly usage limit" will have to wait for their free hours to refresh each calendar month unless they subscribe.

The social media giant declined to provide a statement, but a spokesperson said the move formed part of its experiments with offering subscriptions for some features while keeping core services free.

Meta's plans to test "premium" subscription experiments across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp were first revealed in January.

The firm later confirmed its tests would include trialling paid access to expanded AI features, including those on its smart glasses.

A Meta spokesperson told the BBC on Thursday users of its glasses would still have access to other built-in AI features, such as live translation and its voice assistant, without needing a subscription.

"All AI glasses owners get free monthly usage for certain features," it says on a help page.

The company says subscribers to its Meta One Premium tier will be able to use Conversation Focus for up to 15 hours each month.

Meta One subscriptions are only available in some countries - not including the UK.

"Putting Conversation Focus behind a paywall feels wrong," said one user who wrote to Meta Ray-Ban product lead David Woodland.

"I would gladly subscribe to Meta One, but only if it genuinely offers unlimited access."

Meta's spokesperson told the BBC the majority of its glasses users would not be impacted by its move to limit lengthier Conversation Focus use to subscribers.

"The subscription is for power users who want expanded access and additional benefits like premium device support," a Meta spokesperson told The Verge.

Conversation Focus is also not yet available to Meta glasses owners in the UK.

It is designed to help users have face-to-face conversations while using glasses features, such as reading notifications aloud, by amplifying the voice of people in front of them.

Revealed by Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg at a product showcase last September, it was among features hailed by some as providing an accessibility boost.

While Meta says Conversation Focus should not be used as a hearing aid or medical device, it has championed the accessibility benefits of the feature, and of its glasses more widely.

The company's Ray-Ban smart glasses are the most popular devices of their kind on the market - with Snapchat and reportedly Apple among firms keen to rival its success.

Meta recently expanded its partnership with the Italian eyewear brand to produce its own line of Meta Glasses, priced from £269 in the UK and $299 in the US.

But its smart glasses have also been subject to criticism and concern about their privacy impact.

Women have complained of being filmed without their knowledge or consent - with some only discovering they have been covertly filmed after seeing videos of themselves online.

Meta has said its glasses should not to be used to harass or abuse others, and that they have a light to let people know if a wearer is filming - with recording prevented if this is detected as covered.

But the company has faced continued pressure over their safety and use.

It was recently pressed to explain why it cancelled a major contract with a company it was using to train its AI, shortly after some of its Kenya-based workers alleged they had to view graphic content captured by its smart glasses.

Meta told the BBC it ended Sama's contract because it failed to meet its standards.

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