Reality Labs

Ray-Ban Stories Adds New Features and Support for Meta Accounts

May 23, 2023
Recommended reading

Ray-Ban Stories are our flagship smart glasses product, designed and built in partnership with EssilorLuxottica to combine form and function so you can create unique content on the go while staying present in the moment. And we continue improving them with regular software updates and new features. Today, we’re excited to share the latest on how we’re making the smart glasses experience better, more powerful, and more intuitive over time.

Smoother Phone Integration

You can now use voice commands to call and text people using your phone number. This opens up hands-free communication between you and more of your contacts—and you’ll be able to listen to readouts of new incoming text messages, too. Text messages, phone numbers and your contact history will stay on the device and won’t be shared with Meta servers.

We’re also adding support for hands-free calling and messaging features across WhatsApp, Messenger, and your phone number to people who have their voice commands set to French or Italian. On WhatsApp, just as with English, your personal messages and calls are automatically secured with end-to-end encryption, which means WhatsApp, Meta, and third parties can’t read or listen to them. When the voice assistant identifies a voice command related to WhatsApp calling or messaging, the voice transcript and audio won’t be stored on any server. And WhatsApp display names from your contact list are only saved locally on your Ray-Ban Stories or on the relevant Facebook View or WhatsApp apps and they’re not stored on Meta servers.

Users on iOS have been enjoying Spotify Tap for Ray-Ban Stories, and now, we’re introducing it for Android. That means you can start playing music from your Spotify account with a single tap and hold of your glasses’ touchpad. Another tap and hold on the touchpad tees up a new recommendation from Spotify.

With these updates, you’ll be able to better stay in the moment and capture it without missing a second of the action.

Faster Voice Interactions

We’ve also added some highly requested features so you can do more with your voice—with less effort.

Now you can reply directly to incoming WhatsApp, Messenger, and text messages just by using your voice. Once your message is read out, say "Hey Facebook, reply,” and you’re off to the races.

You can also now tee up a new WhatsApp, Messenger, or text messages with a single voice command. For example, you could say, “Hey Facebook, send Jasmine a message on WhatsApp: can’t wait for spring break,” and your glasses will confirm the message before sending.

You can even answer or reject incoming calls completely hands-free. If you’re in the mood for some conversation, you can say, “Hey Facebook, answer.” And if you’re tied up in the middle of something, just say, “Hey Facebook, reject,” to send ’em to voicemail.

Smarter Voice Interactions

We’re also making it easier to interact with your Ray-Ban Stories in a more conversational way. Instead of saying, “Send a message,” soon you’ll be able to also say things like, “Ask Martha if she wants to come to the party,” or “Tell David I love him,” and the glasses will be able to infer that you’re trying to send a message. They’ll even know whether they should punctuate your outgoing message with a period or question mark based on context cues.

These new features are rolling out in phases to all Ray-Ban Stories users and will work across WhatsApp, Messenger, and calling and texting with your phone number in English, French, and Italian. Combined, they make it easier to stay in the moment, keep your phone in your pocket, and securely connect with friends and family.

Meta Accounts

Next month, we’ll begin rolling out Meta accounts to Ray-Ban Stories. Meta accounts give people a new way to log into their smart glasses that doesn’t require a Facebook account. They also give people more control over the information they share and how they interact with our apps and devices. Starting in late June, a Meta account will be required to use the Facebook View companion app and Ray-Ban Stories devices.

If you already have a Meta account, you can use that for Ray-Ban Stories and the Facebook View app. Or you can create a new Meta account using your email or with your Facebook or Instagram login.

You choose whether to add your Facebook or Instagram social media accounts to your Meta account in Accounts Center. Whether or not you add your Facebook or Instagram accounts, you’ll still be able to access all the features you know and love on Ray-Ban Stories, like hands-free calling and messaging and easy sharing of your photos and videos.

We’re updating our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to reflect these account changes and provide more detail on how your information is collected, used and shared.


We're hiring AR/VR engineers & researchers!

Help us build the metaverse

Reality Labs

Reality Labs brings together a world-class team of researchers, developers, and engineers to build the future of connection within virtual and augmented reality.