Owners of Meta's AI glasses have been told they must pay a monthly fee to use a built-in feature beyond a stingy free allowance — but in the UK, the feature isn't even available yet.
From now, anyone using the voice-boosting “Conversation Focus” feature for more than three hours in a calendar month will be locked out unless they subscribe to Meta One Premium at $19.99 (£15) a month. The feature uses the glasses' microphones to amplify the voice of the person you're talking to, making face-to-face conversations easier.
“Meta glasses owners face $19.99 monthly fee for voice-boosting feature after three free hours; UK excluded.”
A Meta spokesperson told the BBC the move was part of “experiments with offering subscriptions for some features while keeping core services free.” The company says users who hit the “free monthly usage limit” will have to wait for their hours to reset the next month, or pay up.
One user wrote directly to Meta Ray-Ban product lead David Woodland, saying: “Putting Conversation Focus behind a paywall feels wrong. I would gladly subscribe to Meta One, but only if it genuinely offers unlimited access.”
Meta says subscribers to its One Premium tier can use Conversation Focus for up to 15 hours each month. But the subscription is only available in some countries — and the UK is not one of them. Nor is Conversation Focus itself available to UK glasses owners yet.
The social media giant first revealed plans to test “premium” subscriptions across Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp in January, and later confirmed trials would include paid access to expanded AI features on its smart glasses.
Revealed by Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg at a product showcase last September, Conversation Focus was hailed by some as providing an accessibility boost. Meta has championed the accessibility benefits of the feature, though it warns it should not be used as a hearing aid or medical device.
A Meta spokesperson told the BBC that most glasses users would not be affected, and that the subscription is “for power users who want expanded access and additional benefits like premium device support.”