Facebook users started seeing more problems today, June 18, less than a week after users were unable to log into the social network.

Reports started to spike on DownDetector at 6:30 am ET / 11:20 am BST with over 1,000 users reporting problems. According to the reports, 80% of affected users claimed there was an issue the Facebook app loading.

Earlier this week, Facebook's parent company Meta experienced issues for around four hours that also impacted other services like Instagram and WhatsApp. Today's problems lasted little more than a couple of hours and seemed to affect primarily Android users. It could have been due to an update to Facebook's Android app that was released yesterday.

Here's how our coverage of the reports unfolded:

Full recap

Reports surge past 1,000 on DownDetector

Our clearest picture that there's some trouble at Facebook comes from the website DownDetector, which has suddenly shown a spike of over 1,000 users reporting trouble with the social network. Less than a week ago, similar problems hit Facebook for over four hours.

New York, Chicago and Dallas

Most of the reports of Facebook's troubles on DownDetector appear to be coming from three main cities: New York, Chicago and Dallas. If you're based in one of those regions and are having trouble accessing your Facebook profile right now — let us know!

Meta isn't reporting anything, yet

Meta doesn't have a status page for its consumer products, so we can't see if there's anything officially amiss, but it does run an equivalent for its business products. As we can see at the time of writing, there are no reported problems there.

So, if people are experiencing issues this morning, it may be a more localized problem and one that hasn't touched Meta's central nervous system yet. We'll keep circling back to this page and let you know if there are any updates.

Instagram and WhatsApp unaffected

While we're seeing reports spike across Facebook, there seemingly aren't any issues with Meta's other services at present. Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger and Threads all appear to be working normally.

Facebook failing to load?

When issues started to occur for Facebook earlier in the week, users trying to access the app were bumped right out to the login screen of the app. This affected the app both on Android and iOS.

I'm based in London in the U.K. and — for me at least — the app appears to be working as normal. If you're seeing something different, let me know in the comments.

Reports are starting to slip

This could be little more than a blip for just a few folks. The reports on DownDetector — while still north of 1,000 — are starting to slip. Sometimes this can indicate the issues were only very temporary.

They could be a result of a small update or configuration change that's been pushed through by Meta that's caused a hiccup in servers along the network.

It could be an Android issue

Android users may be feeling today's Facebook problems more than iPhone users. One commentator on DownDetector says that the issue is persisting on their Samsung Galaxy Note 20.

If that's the case then it could be that the problems being reported today are specific to one particular app version rather than anything more widespread.

Reports falling, but users report problems on X

Reports are continuing to decrease sharply on DownDetector right now — falling down to below 800. Usually, if there are prolonged issues we would expect to see another small spike occurring right now but that hasn't happened.

Users are still reporting problems with the service over on X/Twitter. But this looks very much like it could just be a flash in the pan.

Are you having problems with Facebook this morning?

A problem we're seeing reported is that users are able to log into the Facebook mobile app for a few seconds before it then bounces them back out again to the login screen.

It seems like reports are starting to subside, so this might not be an ongoing problem but if you're experiencing an outage on Facebook today, let us know in the poll below. We'll continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds.

How to clear your Facebook cache

If these recent problems with Facebook have got you concerned about how the app is running, one thing you can do to juice up the performance is clear your cache.

Providing you can access Facebook's app, you'll need to tap Menu > Settings & Privacy > Settings. Then, under the Preferences section, tap Browser, then select Clear next to Cookies and Cache.

Less than 500 DownDetector users now reporting problems

Reports on DownDetector have now sunk to below 500 reports and there's been no official statement from Meta on any problems with its app.

A quick glance at the Play Store shows the Facebook Android app was given an update yesterday, June 17, so it's highly likely that it has caused some teething problems with Android users. Especially if those users own older devices. For the vast majority of Facebook users, it appears that the social network is operating as normal today.

Calling time on today's outage

We can call time on today's outage as reports have dwindled to under 100 on DownDetector, and the comments on social media have dried up. Unlike the outage earlier in the week, this one was just a blip. We can all rest comfortably now that Facebook is back up and running — thanks for reading along, everyone.

Starting around 9:30 am ET, multiple Meta services suddenly stopped working, including Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger. From what we can tell, WhatsApp, also owned by Meta, was not affected.

Initially, it was hard to track since the outage tracking site Downdetector appeared to be having issues as well. However, that resolved soon enough and we were able to see reports hit highs of 110,000 for Facebook, 15,000 for Messenger, and 10,000 for Instagram.

In total, the outage lasted for about four hours, though some services came back quicker than others. The Facebook and Messenger outage only lasted for an hour.

Instagram unfortunately took longer to resolve.

Meta doesn't have a specific status page for the three services, but there is one for the developers and business accounts. We were able to see "High Disruptions" in several parts, including Ads Manager. "We are aware of an issue that may be impacting ad delivery. Our engineering teams are aware and are actively looking to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," read the page.

Outside of the page, only Andy Stone, Meta's VP of Communications, made any kind of statement when he tweeted, "We're aware people are currently having trouble accessing our services. We're working on it." That was at 10 am ET. An hour later, he tweeted, "We're coming back, though it may take a bit of time for everything to be fully back to normal."

Otherwise, the company did not release a statement, and eventually things returned to normal around 1 pm Eastern.

Facebook, Instagram and Messenger are down — live outage updates

What's happening at Meta?

Meta services aren't working for many members of the Tom's Guide staff and we saw a spike in reports on Downdetector before the website stopped worked, so we're quite confident that something is off.

Meta acknowledges the issues

Facebook Ads manager is showing "High disruptions" as the status right now, which is a clean indication that something isn't right with the social network.

"We are aware of an issue that may be impacting ad delivery. Our engineering teams are aware and are actively looking to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," reads the Meta outage page.

Downdetector working?

It looks like Downdetector is back, which will make it a lot easier to keep track of this massive Meta outage.

Or is it?

When you click on a service on Downdetector, it's going to a 404 page. So while you can see the massive spikes in reports on the Downdetector homepage, we can't get any actual numbers.

What are users seeing?

Users trying to access Facebook right now aren't seeing much of anything. I just tried to log into my own profile and I was bumped right out to the login screen of the app. I tried to fire up the social network on both an Android phone and an iPhone and neither would load.

Are you having the same trouble? Let me know about it in the comments box below.

Meta's Status page is listing two incidents

When service outages like this happen, one of the best places to look for updates is the provider's own status check page. Unfortunately, Meta (which owns Instagram) doesn't have one for its consumer products.

However, there is a status page for its business tools, which does tell us the company is facing two incidents right now. Both Facebook Ads Manager and WhatsApp Business Platform are listed as facing "High Disruptions" while the rest of the company's services are apparently unaffected.

It's kind of working for me?

Sometimes, I can get Facebook and Instagram to load on my laptop and sometimes it just gives me a big Facebook and Instagram logo on a white page. There doesn't seem to be much predictability about it — sometimes I refresh and doesn't work and sometimes it does.

Hit the comments on this post and share your experiences with Meta services like Facebook, Instagram and Messenger and let us know what you're seeing and we might feature your comment in this live blog!

Now showing issues with all parts of Ads

Before, the Meta status page was only showing issues with serving ads, but now it's showing all three categories as having issues: Ads Creation and Editing, Ads Reporting and Ads Delivery all appear to be having problems, which is likely affecting Facebook and other platforms.

More Meta status issues popping up

Taking another dive into the Meta status page shows that more issues are popping up, now with Messenger. The Messenger API for Instagram and Messenger Platform are being reported as having "High Disruptions," which is obvious to anyone trying to use either service.

Still, it's nice to know that Meta is aware of the situation, though it hasn't offered a timeline for when we can expect things to be fixed.

Downdetector showing almost no reports

Downdetector is showing a giant drop in reports and then a small increase. Presumably, this is because no one could access Downdetector to report issues, but we'll keep monitoring to see if that's the case or if the outage is actually coming to a close.

Personally, I think it's the former, as Meta's status page is still showing everything being down, but we'll see.

Higher than they look

The visual graph is actually deceiving, as it looks like there are few reports at first glance. However, that's only because the peak was more than 100,000. Even with the dramatic decline, it's still at more than 12,000 reports.

Ad delivery fixed

Meta has apparently fixed Ad Delivery on its platforms. "We have recovered from an earlier outage impacting ad delivery across our platform, and services have now been restored. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused," reads the status page.

'I can't access my profile'

According to a user on Downdetector, profile access is limited. "I can't access my profile, and I get an error "Unable to load" or something similar. I've tried both on mobile and PC, and I've also tried using the browser on my phone and computer. I still get the same error message," said user Brian Reid.

Instagram declining less

While the number of reports on Instagram didn't come anywhere close to the Facebook numbers, it didn't drop as much, either. It's currently still at more than 5,000 Downdetector reports.

Meta Business Suite joins the problem

Well, it looks like Meta Business Suite is the latest service to find itself on the Meta Status page. "We are aware that some people may be having trouble with messages in Inbox in Meta Business Suite. Our team is actively working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," reads Meta's status page.

Like the other outages, Meta is working to resolve it, but there's no indication of how long it'll be down for.

Downdetector reports lower than they've been

Despite Downdetector working again for a little while, the reports are still trending downward, dropping by just over 4,000 as of this post.

Marketing and Graph API join

Marketing API and Graph API are now on the Meta Status page, showing as having "Medium Disruptions."

"We are recovering from an earlier outage impacting editing and creation for Marketing API, and services are in the process of being restored. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused," says the status page.

Instagram is the highest

Currently, Instagram is the highest in terms of raw reports at 4,860. Facebook has dropped to around 2,400 and is down to just over 600.

"May take a bit of time" to get back to normal

Meta's Andy Stone said that everything is coming back about an hour ago.

"We're coming back, though it may take a bit of time for everything to be fully back to normal," Stone posted.

That does appear correct, as Facebook seems to have recovered. However, Instagram still seems to be having issues.

Reports take a steep dive

Starting around 9:00 am PT, reports on Down Detector started to decline but in the last 15 or minutes or so they've taken a steep dive.

As of this posting, I'm seeing 1500 reports, down from the steadier 5,000 earlier and the peak of 10,000 reports around 7:00 am PT.

Resolving issues

Meta doesn't really have a status page for Instagram or Facebook that we can use to get updates on what's happening with the social platforms.

However, the company does have a business status page for advertisers and developers that we can use to infer how things are going.

For example, previously, Facebook Ads was showing High Disruptions, but now it reads resolved.

That said, the developer platform is showing more issues but seems to be affecting more background APIs and business accounts.

Meta has remained mostly quiet

Beyond the two tweets from Meta's Andy Stone, the company has largely remained quiet about the outage.

And since Stone said the company was working on it he has also gone silent.

Fortunately, I suppose, it appears things are getting to normal.

Meta outage appears to be over

With reports finally under 500 reports for the first time today, it finally appears that the Instagram and Facebook outages are have pretty much resolved.

The Meta developer status page is basically green across the board.

Anecdotally, I've been able to access Instagram and Facebook fairly consistently for the last 15 minutes or so.

I will keep an eye on things for a little bit longer, but I am going to call it for now.

I've been testing all the best smart glasses and VR headsets for over five years now, and no time has been more exciting for this space than right now. I'm heading to AWE 2026 (my second year attending), and something feels different about this one — almost as if we're about to see something transformative.

As you can see in our best of AWE 2025 awards, this show isn't usually about the big hardware announcements; it's about all the smaller innovations that will come together to build that breakthrough pair of glasses that change the face of computing. This year, I think the stars are aligning, and we're going to see what happens when all of this comes together.

And after watching Nvidia "reinvent the PC" with RTX Spark, it's doubly fascinating because people are starting to offer differing views on the future of computing. Something big is going to happen in Long Beach next week, and here are my three predictions about what it will be.

We get a first real look at Snap Specs

It was confirmed at AWE last year that Snap's Spectacles developer project is finally going to become a consumer product in 2026. And now, CEO Evan Spiegel is back with another keynote named "making computing more human."

We've seen the slow build to this moment over the past 12 months, from me testing key updates made to Snap OS to make it ready for the public, to Snap and Qualcomm officially teaming up for the "future of specs." I believe everything is in place, and we may get our first true look at the hardware design.

It will be fascinating to see how Snap has addressed the key challenge of cramming so much computing power into something you're comfortable wearing all day long (without a puck attached either).

And as former VP of hardware Scott Myers told Tom's Guide, they will be "substantially smaller." Hopefully, we get to see the fruits of their labor!

Qualcomm brings new Snapdragon silicon to power the future of Android XR

And speaking of that Qualcomm x Snap love-in for the specs, Qualcomm's SVP of XR Ziad Asghar will be taking the stage again in a keynote titled "The era of personal AI and endless realities."

It's a bold title, and if you remember last year, Asghar hosted the keynote and announced the Snapdragon AR1+ Gen 1 silicon for local AI on smart glasses. So Ziad has previous of attending AWE to announce new chips, Snap Specs are coming this year, and on top of that, Xreal's Project Aura is launching soon, and nobody will confirm the Snapdragon chip inside that.

So it got me thinking... If there's a new chip, what will that new chip be? And I turned my attention to the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2, which has been around for a good couple of years now. Throw in a couple leaks of a so-called "Project Matrix," and I'm getting Gen 3 vibes — both to power the Snap Specs and possibly inside that Project Aura compute puck too.

Again, this may just be a wild prediction I've had since a few months back that will get shot down. But with the new crop of devices coming this fall, it feels like the right time to speed up that performance and beef up the power efficiency.

The smart glasses war starts to heat up

On the AR glasses side of things, the battle has heated up to the point where lawyers got involved! Viture and Xreal have been trading blows at the cutting edge of innovation — widening that field of view and offering more spatial experiences built right in.

But the next challenge is going to be one that the MacBook Neo spurred: value for money. So far, RayNeo has dominated with its $299 Air 4 Pro AR glasses, and we already know Xreal is responding with its same-priced X By Xreal specs. Will this be the moment we see a first glimpse of how Viture could be responding?

And it doesn't matter who comes out on top because at the end of the day, we win. These companies duking it out and offering more bang for your buck is great for us!

Then there's the AI glasses side of it... Over on this side of things, we're heading in two clear directions, and it'll be up to us to decide which one wins with our wallets:

• All-encompassing agentic AR: Qualcomm's super strength is having a chip in pretty much every kind of device you use. This kind of data grabbing is significant in personalizing an AI and getting it to do work for you, which you can see on a heads-up waveguide display in front of you. Throw in multi-modal capabilities with a camera, and the possibilities are huge!
• Making smart glasses less cringe (and creepy): Conversely, especially with Meta silently adding facial recognition code to its smart glasses, you're seeing increased (and very genuine) worries that we're about to enter Black Mirror-levels of surveillance and privacy invasion with something like this. So other companies are aiming for something more focused, simpler, and with privacy in mind (like Vonder).

Outlook

If these three things happen (and that's a big if), then we may be on the precipice of starting to see spatial computing make sense as the new way of doing things. So far, it's been a nice-to-have — a fun way of messing about with your apps.

But things could very well change with new hardware running new silicon and innovations from smaller players with big ideas. It's one of the reasons why I love covering this exciting space.

Will it all be enough to outrun Apple to its first smart glasses (expected early 2027)? That remains to be seen.

More from Tom's Guide

• I lived in the Viture Beast for 10,000 miles, and it just ruined other AR glasses for me
• I flew over 10,000 miles with Asus ROG Xreal R1 smart glasses — here are 2 things I love about them (and 3 I don’t)
• I tested Google’s “Intelligent Eyewear,” and found the smart glasses that will defeat Ray-Ban Meta

They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks but you really can. You can also learn something new every day as an amazing thread on Meta’s Threads has proven.

User sarajaclynschwartz innocently asked others to "nerd out with me" and list their favourite keyboard shortcut. Those reading certainly stepped up, creating a thread with more than 1,700 responses and a whole bunch of amazing shortcuts.

Many of those commented that they’d never come across many of the shortcuts before and it’s fair to say there’s a heap of stuff that will have passed by a good number of us.

Sure, Ctrl+Z saves us all daily. But your Windows or Mac keyboard is hiding better tricks. Let's find dive in.

Cast your vote above, and let us know your absolute favorite shortcut in the comments below!

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Meta has blessed us with another feature nobody requested: Instagram Instants. Just when you thought your DMs were chaotic enough, Instagram now lets people send you disappearing photos that vanish after you view them, cluttering your inbox with a persistent notification stack.

This is the same company that gave us Threads (their Twitter alternative), Reels (their TikTok answer), and Stories (inspired by Snapchat). Now it's created Instants, because apparently there weren't enough ways to share photos yet.

The feature launched last week and immediately started appearing in users' DMs whether they wanted it or not. If you're already annoyed by it, here's what to do next.

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I've been using the Ray-Ban Metas, the Meta Ray-Ban Display and the Oakley Meta Vanguard for the better part of a year, and they've proven to be some of the most capable and best smart glasses around. I've found them exceptionally handy for taking pictures and video on the go, listening to music, keeping tabs on conversations, and finding out general info about things that are in front of me.

However, at Google I/O 2026, Google finally revealed Google Glass 2.0 its Intelligent Eyewear, which are due out this fall. Although the introduction was brief, what I saw impressed me in a few ways — most notably, the things they offer that Meta's smart glasses do not.

Fortunately for Meta, it has a few months to improve its own products — which no doubt we'll see at Meta Connect 26 in September. Here are the three big things that Meta will need to add to keep up with Google.

Maps and directions

Apart from search, one of Google's biggest assets is Google Maps, so it's no surprise that turn-by-turn directions are one of the features included in its eyewear. Not only that, but Gemini will also be able to add stops to your route as you go.

Currently, only the Meta Ray-Ban Displays provide native navigation, and it's only recently been updated to include the entire U.S., and a few cities abroad, such as London, Paris, and Rome. And, they're only walking directions.

This is something that's going to have to get a lot more comprehensive, and also become available on all of its smart glasses.

Taking (and editing) photos

More than anything, I use Meta's smart glasses to take photos and videos, as it's so much more convenient and faster than pulling my phone out of my pocket. However, smart glasses' cameras are much less capable than those on smart phones, so I know I'm making a bit of a tradeoff.

Google's smart glasses will let you use Nano Banana to instantly edit the photos you take, to remove background objects or even do something sillier, like putting mustaches on everyone in the picture. Hilarity aside, the Nano Banana integration could help remove, or at least mitigate, one of the key disadvantages of a smart glasses' camera.

A recent update to all of Meta's cameras lets you automatically crop photos where a portion is covered by a hat or hair — a very welcome feature — but it's going to have to go a bit further. Meta does allow you to use AI tools to edit photos you take from within the app, but you can't make these changes proactively.

Greater app support

Thanks to its history of acquisitions, Meta has some pretty useful apps in its portfolio, most notably Whatsapp and Instagram. And, its smart glasses also work well with major music apps (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music) as well as Garmin and Strava. But that's not nearly enough.

At the keynote, Google announced that its glasses would work with a host of apps, such as Uber, Doordash, and more. It's not clear if the apps need to be integrated with the glasses themselves, or if you merely need to connect them via Gemini — which would save a lot of app development time.

Regardless of how it's accomplished — and this is something I noted in my Meta Ray-Ban Display review — there needs to be far greater integration with third-party apps and services.

To its credit, Meta did announce it was launching developer access, so you can start building Web apps for the glasses. But, this will need to be extended to all of its devices, not just the premium Displays, and it will need to get some major companies on board.

Outlook

There's a lot of time between now and when the Google Intelligent Eyewear makes its debut this fall, and Meta does have a strong early lead in actually producing smart glasses.

Still, Google has some real strengths where it can leverage its massive portfolio of businesses, services, and AI to its advantage. Before Thanksgiving rolls around, Zuckerberg and Co. could be playing catch-up — and by then, it may be too late.

More from Tom's Guide

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With Memorial Day only a couple of weeks away, Meta is offering the company's first-ever sale across both its Ray-Ban Meta and Oakley Meta glasses.

Through May 25, you can save up to 25% on Meta AI glasses. This even includes 20% off prescription lenses when you're purchasing the frames. You can get 15% off the Ray-Ben Meta (Gen 2) and 20% off the Oakley Meta HSTN specs. The first-generation Ray-Ban Meta are on sale for 25% off.

Meta doesn't offer sales on its glasses often, especially not one covering this many different smart glasses. If you're looking to get into AI glasses, these are some of the best smart glasses.

Multiple styles and colors are on sale for both the Oakley and Ray-Ban sales.

In our Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2) Smart Glasses review, we said the Editor's Choice glasses look great and work as promised. The sleek design and increased camera quality makes for a modest but noticeable upgrade over the Gen 1 spectacles.

The audio quality is great when listening to music or making phone calls. Plus, the glasses are water-resistant.

The Ray-Ban glasses come with adaptive volume control and loudness boost. The second generation also comes with a music detection tool. This lets you say "Hey, Meta what's this track." It will Shazam the song for you.

There's also language support from the Meta AI including French, Italian and Spanish.

The Oakley Meta HSTN glasses are high-performance glasses that justify their higher price tag with durability, connection and improved capture capabilities.

In our Oakley Meta HSTN review, we said that the glasses were a big step forward for Meta's smart glasses. "For outdoor enthusiasts, creators, or anyone who prioritizes performance and clarity, the Oakley Meta HSTN delivers a practical-yet-gratifying experience," Kate Kozuch said.

The timeless design stands out and integrates a camera, speaker, and microphone for interacting with the world. You can say "Hey Meta" and get answers with Meta AI.

The camera can capture up to 3K videos and photos from your POV. The Oakley glasses are capable of sending and receiving phone calls and messages.

They aren't as flexible, especially when it comes to fashion, so the Ray-Ban Meta might be a better fit for you. Luckily, you can get both the Ray-Ban Meta and the Oakley Meta HSTN at their lowest price to date.

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Instagram just added another way to share photos, and this one feels different. No filters, no editing, no carefully curated aesthetic. Just open the camera, snap what's in front of you, and send it to close friends or mutuals. They view it once, then it's gone.

Instants live in your DMs rather than your main feed or Stories. They're designed for the moments you'd text a photo to a friend but don't want permanently attached to your profile. Think of it as Instagram's answer to Snapchat or BeReal, but built directly into the app you're already using.

The feature sits tucked in the bottom corner of your inbox where most people haven't noticed it yet. Here's what Instants actually are and how to use them.

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Meta's annual consumer show for 2026 finally has a date. This year's edition is set to take place September 23 and 24, 2026.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta Connect 2026 on his Instagram page. There are several slides, which tease what we could see in September.

One of the slides shows a sunglasses emoji above "demos, special guests, AI updates, better wifi." There's also a poorly blurred word, which appears to be "performance."

The next slide shows Zuckerberg holding what are clearly glasses, colored over with a blue pen. Other devices on a table in front of him appear to be more glasses, and maybe a puck of some kind.

Based on a map slide, it looks like Meta Connect 2026 will take place in the same building that last year's edition was held in, in San Francisco.

The final slide reveals that the Keynote should kick off at 4 pm Pacific on Wednesday, September 23.

What we expect to see

Obviously, based on Zuckerberg's teaser, something with smart glasses will debut at Meta Connect. One rumor from March hinted at Ray-Ban Meta glasses finally designed for prescription lenses that could launch this year.

But what else could we see, especially with that barely blurred "performance"?

Early rumors this year suggest that Meta is looking to challenge Apple with its own smartwatch this year. That could be what performance refers to. The watch, reportedly code-named Malibu 2, will offer many of the same features found on the best smartwatches, plus a Meta AI assistant.

Additionally, Meta has insisted that the Quest 4 headset is still coming. Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth confirmed the rumored headset will launch at some point in February.

A render leaked earlier this year, appearing to show a mock-up of prototype models of a lightweight VR HMD, though that device isn't supposed to launch until 2027. Since Bosworth's announcement, it's been pretty quiet even on the rumor front.

We'll know more about Meta's plans by September.

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• I upgraded my Meta Quest with the best VR accessories in 2026
• 'We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently': Meta announces layoffs of 10% of workforce amid massive AI push
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Meta’s reported plan to cut around 10% of its workforce is being framed as another major round of tech layoffs. But the bigger story here is about what comes next.

According to a new Bloomberg report, Meta Platforms is preparing to eliminate roughly 8,000 jobs while continuing to spend aggressively on AI, data centers and the massive computing power needed to compete in the next phase of the AI race. That suggests these cuts may be more about reducing payroll today to help build a leaner, faster and more automated company tomorrow.

In other words, this may be a productivity bet.

Why layoffs and AI spending can happen at the same time

It seems counterproductive to see layoffs at a profitable company. Why cut jobs when business is strong? But because labor is often one of the largest controllable expenses, reducing headcount can free billions of dollars over time; money that can then be redirected into higher-priority areas like chips, servers, cloud infrastructure and elite AI talent.

The new playbook across tech seems to be reduce slower-growth costs, then double down on AI. For Meta Platforms, that could look like growing the company with smaller teams that are expected to deliver more while using increasingly capable AI tools. Even Mark Zuckerberg himself is reportedly building an AI version of himself.

What a '4x productivity bet' could actually mean

Creating more productive teams ("four times more productive," according to the report), doesn't happen overnight, but AI certainly helps speed up the process with tools that can draft code faster, analyze data in minutes instead of days, create marketing assets instantly, automate customer support workflows, summarize meetings, reports and research and overall handle repetitive internal tasks without adding headcount.

Multiply those gains across thousands of employees, and executives may see a path to dramatically higher output with fewer people. That’s likely the real promise being chased here; AI is allowing companies to scale without hiring at previous levels.

Why this matters beyond Meta

When a company as influential as Meta Platforms makes a move like this, rivals pay attention. If Meta can cut costs, accelerate product development and maintain growth while operating with fewer employees, don't be surpised if other companies follow. As scary as it is, this massive round of layoffs could reshape hiring across the broader white-collar economy.

The most exposed areas may be roles centered around repeatable digital work, including administrative operations, entry-level analysis, basic content production, scheduling and coordination or anything involving internal workflows.

And while the numbers are frightening, this doesn't mean those jobs disappear overnight. It means expectations change as companies ask workers to manage AI systems rather than manually complete every task themselves.

To be clear, this isn't a signal to panic, but it is a notice that it's time to adapt. As Reese Witherspoon suggested earlier in the week, the safest career move in the AI era may be becoming the person who knows how to use the tools, guide the tools and improve outcomes with the tools.

The takeaway

The winners likely won’t be people who compete against AI on volume. They could be people who use AI to multiply their value. Meta Platforms’s reported layoffs is a cost-cutting solution and a glimpse into how major companies plan to operate by 2027.

Fewer people, more automation and much higher expectations for productivity suggest an emerging workplace model where efficiency matters more than headcount, and AI fluency becomes one of the most valuable skills an employee can have.

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Meta Ray-Bans do more than take photos and answer basic questions. Beyond the obvious features most people use daily, these smart glasses include capabilities owners might discover — like identifying songs playing around you, scanning QR codes without pulling out your phone, and translating foreign languages in real-time.

These features work through voice commands and the Meta View app, turning your glasses into a hands-free tool for situations where using your phone would be awkward or inconvenient. Here are three Meta Ray-Ban features worth knowing about.

Did we miss your favorite feature? Let us know in the comments!

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For nearly three decades, my mornings have started the same way: running shoes on, out the door before sunrise, miles logged before most people finish their first cup of coffee. But the hardest part of staying fit was never the run, it was everything that came after.

If you’ve ever tried to lose weight, train for a race or simply eat healthier, you know the routine: scan barcodes, log ingredients, weigh portions, repeat. What starts as motivation quickly turns into tedious admin, and the burnout is real.

That’s why the idea of using AI glasses to track calories for me instantly caught my attention. If they could remove the most annoying part of healthy eating, I wanted to know.

But with Meta’s April 2026 update, the frustration just vanished for me. By integrating the Muse Spark multimodal model, my Ray Ban Meta Smart Display glasses have once again proven useful — even beyond translating the Superbowl Half Time show or shopping at Target.

Here’s what it’s actually like to let your eyewear audit your plate.

Less counting, more enjoyment

Standing in my kitchen with a pre-run snack, usually involves a "stop and scan" moment. Now, I simply put on my Ray Ban Meta smart display glasses and ask:

"Hey Meta, tell me approximately the calories in what I’m eating,"

Through the display, I saw the glasses instantly outline the banana and a handful of almonds using Muse Spark’s multimodal segmentation. A small overlay appeared in my line of sight: 105 calories for the banana, 160 for the almonds.

The glasses estimated the calories far more accurately than a standard flat photo ever could. I now do this throughout the day with whatever I eat, whether it's a salad, apple or even a cheeseburger.

Beyond the label

The real test happened at the local coffee shop. As I looked at my cup, the glasses identified the "Starbucks" logo and the size of the container. Because I had previously synced my preferences in the Meta View app, it knew I opted for oat milk.

It estimated the sugar content and I was able to immediately add it to my food log before I even took the first sip. This is what I think is one of the coolest features of AI. It's essentially data that quietly exists in the periphery of your life, but AI has the ability to spot patterns and provide details based on its training data.

Can AI really 'see' a recipe?

Of course, this experiment wouldn't be a true test without an accuracy challenge. It's not hard to identify a whole apple with fairly accurate data. However, it's much harder to identify a home-cooked chili. To stress-test the model, I used a "context hack." While sautéing onions, I looked at the pan and said, "Meta, I’m adding two tablespoons of olive oil and a pound of lean ground turkey."

Later, when I sat down to eat, the glasses didn’t just see "chili." It utilized recall to remember the ingredients from thirty minutes prior. This local processing solves the biggest hurdle in AI nutrition for me — where the hidden fats and sugars exist but a camera alone can’t see. Although the numbers are estimates, for me, that's better than not knowing at all (or trying to manually do the math myself — not my strong suit).

Social stealth with the Neural Band

I have to say that the most futuristic moment happened at a recent party. While I don't usually wear the Meta display glasses around people (talking to my glasses while your friends are passing the salad is a social non-starter), the Meta Neural Band changed the game.

When a notification appeared in my view asking to confirm a "Large Garden Salad," I used a subtle "pinch" gesture with my hand under the table. The band’s sensors picked up the motor intent and confirmed the image. It was the first time calorie tracking felt truly invisible.

Bottom line

Using Ray-Ban Meta glasses to help me eat healthier was not something I had on my 2026 bingo card. But after trying it firsthand, it feels like an early glimpse at how AI could reshape personal wellness.

With tools like Muse Spark and the Ray-Ban Meta Display, we may be moving toward a future of ambient health tracking, where nutrition is monitored with the same low-effort convenience as steps, sleep or heart rate. Instead of manually logging every bite, the process starts to happen in the background.

The calorie estimates are still approximate, but for me, that’s enough. As a runner, it could mean the end of post-workout data-entry burnout after a long training run. As a parent, it offers one less mental task while trying to keep an eye on how much sugar my kids consume. And as someone who covers AI for a living, it feels like one of the clearest real-world examples yet of wearable AI becoming genuinely useful.

I’m still experimenting, but one thing is clear: smart glasses are starting to do a lot more than just take photos.

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Meta announced today (April 16) that starting on Saturday April 19 the company would raise prices on its Meta Quest 3 and 3S virtual reality headsets. The tech giant blamed the ongoing RAM crisis for the price hike, per a Reuters report.

Meta's headsets come in three configurations: Quest 3S with 128GB or 256GB storage and the Quest 3 with 512GB of storage. Here's how their prices are changing.

The Quest 3S is Meta's entry-level virtual reality headset, while the Quest 3 is the higher-end more fully featured headset. According to Reuters, the price hike will also affect refurbished Quest headsets, but accessories will retain their current price tags.

The slow death of Meta VR

Meta isn't alone in raising prices due to increasingly gargantuan memory prices, but this move feels like another step in the slow death of Meta's virtual reality ambitions.

Since January, Meta has laid off 10% of its employees in the Reality Labs group, responsible for VR, and both cancelled and uncancelled its metaverse Horizon Worlds. The company recently backtracked on killing Horizon Worlds after some intense fan backlash.

In January, it was revealed that Reality Labs lost a staggering $6 billion in the company's fourth quarter while only making $955 million. In total, the division has burned $70 billion since 2021.

Meta is allegedly not abandoning VR according to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, which flies in the face of the company's recent actions.

In February, Meta's CTO Andrew Bosworth insisted that Meta Quest isn't dying and that the Meta Quest 4 is in active development. “Furthermore, these internal changes unblock roadmaps for us on hardware; the next two devices we are looking at are very exciting,” Bosworth said at the time.

Presumably, those devices are the Quest 4 and Quest 4S.

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When you hear “Meta,” you probably think of Facebook and the company’s other social platforms.

But Mark Zuckerberg isn’t just focused on your feed anymore. Meta has been investing heavily in AI, with tools like its Meta AI assistant, the Vibes image and video generator and wearable tech like the Ray-Ban Meta AI Glasses.

Now, Meta AI is getting a major upgrade. It’s powered by Muse Spark, a new multimodal reasoning model from Meta Superintelligence Labs and the first to roll out in the company’s Muse family of AI systems.

Like other leading models, Muse Spark can handle a wide range of tasks, from simple prompts to more complex reasoning. In an official blog post, Meta positions it alongside top competitors like Claude Opus 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, GPT-5.4 and Grok.

With Muse Spark now available inside Meta AI, I decided to take a closer look at what this new model can actually do.

Here’s what Muse Spark is all about and how you can use it.

Ease of use across Meta apps

Muse Spark is designed to act as a fast, context-aware assistant.

It can handle everything from casual conversations to complex reasoning, with support for text, images and voice. That means you can upload a sketch of a Sudoku puzzle and ask it to turn it into a playable web game, or prompt it to create a simple fractions game for kids.

Muse Spark is available across Meta AI on desktop, the Meta AI app and Meta smart glasses, with support coming soon to social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp. It’s worth noting that Muse Spark is cloud-only, so you won’t be able to download or fine-tune it locally.

When you need deeper reasoning, you can trigger “Contemplating mode” by saying something like “Use Contemplating mode” or “Think this through carefully.” This is especially useful for debugging code, analyzing research papers or planning detailed trips with constraints like budget, route and stops.

Muse Spark can also analyze images. For example, you could upload a photo of your pantry and ask it to estimate calories for each visible item.

One standout feature is its memory. It can recall preferences, past decisions and ongoing projects, making it feel more like a true assistant over time. If you’re looking to streamline your workflow, it’s worth experimenting with how Muse Spark can support your day-to-day productivity.

Learning more about your health with 'expert' recommendations

One of Muse Spark’s standout features is its focus on what Meta calls “personal superintelligence,” especially when it comes to health insights.

According to Meta’s AI blog, the company worked with more than 1,000 physicians to help train the model, with the goal of delivering more accurate, reliable responses to health-related questions. Muse Spark can also generate visual, interactive displays to make information easier to understand — like charts breaking down the nutritional value of your meals or diagrams showing which muscles are activated during a workout.

Beyond health, Muse Spark taps into the massive pool of public content across Facebook, Instagram and Threads to surface recommendations and trends. You can ask what people are saying about coffee shops in Brooklyn or discover popular spots based on real user activity.

A newer feature, “Shopping Mode,” builds on this by pulling insights from creator content to power product recommendations. In practice, that could mean finding gift ideas based on the creators you follow or getting curated suggestions shaped by what’s actually trending online.

Bottom line

In its current state, Muse Spark feels like a solid alternative to the AI chatbots I use most often.

Its “Contemplating mode” is easily the standout feature. It tackles complex tasks using multiple AI agents to deliver more reliable, well-reasoned responses. If you’re using AI for math, science, coding, multi-step planning or in-depth research, Muse Spark is definitely worth trying.

With its integration into Meta AI, it can now handle a wide range of tasks — from answering detailed questions and analyzing uploaded images or charts to building interactive tools, surfacing social-driven recommendations and even offering more structured health insights.

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Mark Zuckerberg’s famously robotic speaking style might not be just a meme anymore — it could be the future of how he runs his company. A new report from the Financial Times claims Mark Zuckerberg is working on an AI version of himself to communicate with employees, potentially replacing real-time interactions altogether.

The Zuckerberg AI bot is on the way

Meta is in the early stages of building an AI-powered version of Mark Zuckerberg — and this time, the CEO isn’t just overseeing it. He’s part of the process.

According to the report, the system is being trained directly on Zuckerberg himself. That includes his speech patterns, tone, public appearances, images and even his current views on Meta’s direction, all to create a digital replica that can convincingly interact with his employees on his behalf.

Zuckerberg’s involvement in AI development is also ramping up. The report notes he’s spending 5 to 10 hours a week coding AI projects and sitting in on technical engineering reviews — a notable shift for a CEO at his level.

All of this ties into Meta’s broader push into AI. Through its Superintelligence Labs, the company is working to build highly realistic digital characters capable of holding real-time conversations with users.

From AI celebs to DIY chatbots

Meta has already dabbled in using AI to create human-like avatars. Back in September 2023, Meta released a lineup of celebrity-based AI characters based on the likenesses of Snoop Dogg, Tom Brady, Kendall Jenner and Naomi Osaka. However, this effort didn’t seem to gain a lot of traction among Meta AI users, and those same celebrity AI chatbot profiles were discontinued around the summer of 2024.

Now Meta has switched its focus from celebrity AI to personally stylized AI with a tool called “AI Studio.” This feature allows Meta AI users to create AI chatbots influenced by their passions and interests — they can then be used across Meta’s social media platforms, such as Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

In an effort to give parents more safety measures with AI Studio, Meta put a stop to teenagers’ access. “In the meantime, teens will still be able to access helpful information and educational opportunities through Meta’s AI assistant, with default, age-appropriate protections in place — and we’re continuing our work to give parents insights into those conversations,” Meta said in a press release statement.

Final thoughts

The idea of AI CEOs has been floating around for years, but it’s not something I’m eager to see become reality anytime soon.

However, the idea of an AI assistant actually makes sense. It can streamline tasks, improve efficiency and take some of the pressure off overloaded teams. But handing over major business decisions — or even day-to-day employee interactions to a chatbot feels like a step too far.

There’s a difference between using AI to support leadership and replacing the human element entirely. And when it comes to running a company, that human layer still matters more than most tech can replicate.

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Think your private photos are safe on social media? You might want to rethink that as a former Meta engineer is currently under criminal investigation after it was discovered he secretly downloaded 30,000 private images from Facebook.

As reported by The Guardian, the employee in question allegedly created a script that allowed him to access Facebook users’ private photos while avoiding Meta’s internal security checks. While the incident itself occurred more than a year ago, details about it are just now coming to light as a result of the UK’s criminal investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Cybercrime Unit.

After discovering the security breach, the engineer was fired, Meta upgraded its security systems and then handed things over to the police in the UK. The engineer was reportedly arrested in November 2025 and is currently on bail until May 2026. Likewise, affected Facebook users whose private photos were downloaded without their knowledge have also been notified.

As Cybernews points out, the former Meta engineer’s intent hasn’t been disclosed yet nor has the script he created to download private Facebook images without rousing suspicion. It’s also unclear as to whether or not he shared the code with others before leaving the company.

How to stay safe on social media

Just like when we discovered that Chrome’s incognito mode was never really private, this incident could be a wake-up call for how you use Facebook and other social media platforms. Yes, your photos are technically private but if an employee can pull off something like this, there’s still a chance that your pictures could end up in the wrong hands.

As such, you want to be extra careful when posting anything on social media. In the same way that you would with a public post, you should think twice before posting private photos online. Once an image is on another company’s servers, it could be made public either through an incident like this one or as the result of a data breach.

If you’re worried about your private photos being stolen and made public, then you might want to consider self-hosting them instead. While you can use one of the best cloud storage services to share your photos securely, you could also store them on a NAS device (network attached storage) and then share them that way as well.

Given what’s in your private photos, they could be misused to commit blackmail, make deepfakes or even be used in other cybercrimes. This is why you might want to consider investing in one of the best identity theft protection services. Although this isn’t a traditional case of identity theft, the cyber insurance these services provide can often be used to recover lost funds, especially if their terms cover modern threats like cyber extortion or reputational harm.

As a general rule, it’s always best to keep the old adage in mind that once something is on the internet, it’s there for good. Before you upload pictures privately on Facebook or any other social networking site, you first want to consider what would happen if those pics got out.

We could find out more about the exact tactics used by this ex-Meta engineer once this case goes to trial, but for now, this cautionary tale is an excellent reason to think twice before you post anything online.

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It’s becoming a common headline: another week, another massive lawsuit against an AI giant. But the latest legal battle facing Perplexity AI hits closer to home for anyone who values their privacy.

A new proposed class-action lawsuit, filed by a user in Utah, claims that Perplexity hasn't just been "tracking" users— it’s been surreptitiously funneling their most intimate conversations directly to Meta and Alphabet’s Google.

The ‘incognito’ illusion

The most damning allegation in the suit? That Perplexity's Incognito mode—the feature users trust to keep their searches off the record—doesn't actually stop the data flow.

According to the complaint, as soon as a user lands on Perplexity’s homepage, "undetectable" tracking software is downloaded to their device. This allows Meta and Google to "intercept" full transcripts of AI conversations, even when the user has explicitly opted for privacy. For the Utah plaintiff (identified as John Doe), this allegedly included sensitive details about his family finances, tax obligations and personal investment strategies.

Alleged misuse of sensitive user information

The anonymous plaintiff, identified as “John Doe,” outlines his claims in a 140-page complaint, alleging that hidden trackers were used to send full transcripts of user conversations to Meta and Google. According to the filing, this data sharing allegedly occurred even when Perplexity’s “Incognito” mode was enabled.

All three companies are accused of violating privacy laws, including California’s “wiretapping” laws.

“No reasonable person would have expected that Perplexity would share complete transcripts of their conversations … with companies like Meta and Google,” the plaintiff states in the complaint. “The intimate health and financial information that users regularly share with Perplexity is some of the most private information about a user.”

The plaintiff says he used Perplexity to search topics related to taxes, family finances, and personal investments, believing those interactions were private. He later claims he discovered that partial transcripts of those conversations were allegedly shared with Meta and Google each time he used the platform.

The complaint also alleges that Perplexity shared users’ prompt history and email addresses with Meta and Google when they signed up for a free account.

In one example cited, a user asking, “What is the best treatment for liver cancer?” would have had the full prompt transmitted via a URL intercepted in the browser and sent to Meta and Google, according to the filing.

The lawsuit argues that this type of data sharing could expose users to highly targeted advertising that may feel “overwhelming, disturbing, or, in many instances, physically deleterious.”

According to reports, Perplexity denies the claims. Jesse Dwyer, the company’s chief communications officer, said the company has not been served with any lawsuit matching this description and cannot verify the allegations.

Bottom line

Perplexity is facing mounting legal scrutiny — and this isn’t the first time.

The company was recently hit with a temporary injunction tied to its Comet AI tool, which a judge ruled could no longer scrape certain websites without permission. Amazon argued that Perplexity’s Comet browser accessed its site without authorization, presenting evidence that convinced the court to act.

Now, with another lawsuit emerging, the controversy could make users think twice about what they share with Perplexity’s chatbot — and other AI tools they’ve come to trust.

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Meta is already miles ahead of the competition when it comes to the best smart glasses, but now the company's reportedly gearing up to debut a pair of Ray-Ban smart glasses aimed at users who actually wear glasses everyday. Codenamed Scriber and Blazer, the prescription-focused versions could launch as soon as next week, Bloomberg reports.

Meta and its AI glasses hardware partner EssilorLuxottica are working on two pairs of AI smart glasses designed for people who require prescription lenses. Granted, you can already get prescription lenses fitted into existing Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, but these new models are being built specifically with that in mind.

Exactly how they’ll differ isn’t immediately clear, though I'd guess factors like battery life, design, and weight would be comparable to Meta's existing line. For now, though, that’s just speculation.

The Verge first spotted evidence of these new products in a series of FCC filings published by the agency earlier this month. The filings note Scriber and Blazer as production models, which suggests we'll see them on store shelves sooner rather than later. Since the filings are heavily redacted per usual, there's precious few details about the design or features we can expect. One interesting tidbit to note: The new models will use the Wi-Fi 6 UNII-4 band, a handy feature for reliable high-speed data transfers used for livestreaming and AI features that use live video transmission. Sources that spoke with Bloomberg on condition of anonymity said the models will come in "rectangular and rounded styles" and will be sold through "traditional prescription eyewear channels."

Meta's emerging new focus

All of this marks part of a broader push toward prescription users that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg teased in an earnings call earlier this year. “Billions of people wear glasses or contacts for vision correction. And I think that we’re at a moment similar to when smartphones arrived, and it was clearly only a matter of time until all those flip phones became smartphones," he said. “It’s hard to imagine a world in several years where most glasses that people wear aren’t AI glasses.”

For those of us who have spent years navigating the world through prescription lenses, smart glasses have always felt like a gadget designed for someone else. But Meta’s upcoming launch of the ‘Scriber’ and ‘Blazer’ Ray-Ban AI glasses feels like the first time the tech giant is actually speaking our language. Unlike previous models that felt like tech first and eyewear second, these new frames seem built from the ground up with four-eyes like me in mind. With sleek new rectangular and rounded styles—and rumored Wi-Fi 6 support for faster Meta AI response times—this might finally be the moment I trade my traditional frames for a pair that can actually talk back.

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We've had a pretty exciting week of AI Madness. First, ChatGPT beat Perplexity, then Gemini won in the faceoff against Alexa+ and just yesterday Claude took the crown against Grok.

Now, in this round of AI Madness, we’re putting two very different contenders head-to-head: Meta and Deepseek.

On paper, both can handle everyday tasks, explain the news and help you think through problems. But in practice, they feel very different — and that’s exactly what we wanted to test.

Instead of benchmarks or technical specs, we ran both models through five real-world prompts designed to mirror how people actually use AI: saving money, understanding breaking news, managing overwhelm, thinking creatively and making faster decisions.

Some tasks rewarded structure and precision. Others tested personality, clarity and instinct. And in this test, it became clear which AI gives you ideas — and which one actually helps you take action.

1. Real-world decision making

Prompt: “I have $500 to reduce my monthly expenses starting this week. Based on a typical U.S. household, give me a step-by-step plan to save the most money quickly. Prioritize actions that take less than 1 hour each.”

Deepseek delivered a comprehensive, step-by-step plan with specific dollar savings, smart use of the $500 (like buyouts and bulk savings) and clearly prioritized high-impact actions.

Meta offered practical advice with quick wins, but stayed high-level and lacked detailed savings estimates or strategic use of the $500.

Winner: Deepseek wins for being more actionable, structured and results-driven — it actually showed how to turn $500 into meaningful monthly savings fast, rather than just suggesting general habits.

2. Breaking news

Prompt: “Explain a major AI or tech news story from the past 7 days in simple terms. Then tell me why it actually matters for everyday people.”

Deepseek delivered an accurate, timely story tied to real industry movement (AI chips, infrastructure, supply constraints) and connected it directly to everyday impacts like costs, devices and energy.

Meta explained a buzzy claim clearly and made it relatable but leaned on speculation rather than grounding anything in verifiable news.

Winner: Deepseek wins for being more concrete, credible and useful — it explained what’s actually happening in AI right now and clearly showed how it will affect people’s daily lives.

3. Creativity under constraints

Prompt: “Write a short, funny story (under 200 words) about a mom who tries to use AI to get her kids to listen to her — but it backfires.”

Deepseek generated an original and polished story, with sharp humor and a strong twist ending (the kids turning the AI back on mom lands really well).

Meta crafted a fun and relatable story with a clear backfire moment, but leaned more predictable and read slightly flatter in tone and pacing.

Winner: Deepseek wins for better comedic timing, more creative voice and a standout ending that feels genuinely funny and memorable.

4. Deep reasoning 

Prompt: “I feel overwhelmed using AI tools. Break down exactly how a beginner should start using AI in daily life in a way that feels simple and not intimidating. Include a 3-step starter system.”

Deepseek delivered a clear, confident framework with strong structure (“one tool, one task, one phrase”) and directly tackled beginner anxiety in a practical, actionable way.

Meta offered a friendly and approachable response with good real-life examples for a solid overview or “starter system.”

Winner: Meta wins for simplicity, clarity and usability and actually providing beginners with a useful system they can follow immediately without feeling overwhelmed.

5. Accuracy 

Prompt: “I have a to-do list with 12 tasks and only 3 hours to work. How should I decide what to do first? Give me a simple system I can use every day.”

Deepseek delivered a solid system (“3-2-1”) with strong prioritization, clear constraints and a mindset shift that makes it instantly usable in real life.

Meta offered a clear and practical guide with familiar framework (impact vs. effort), but slightly over-explained and less punchy, making it harder to apply quickly under pressure.

Winner: Deepseek wins for clarity, simplicity and execution — it gave a fast, memorable system that anyone could use in under a minute.

Verdict: Deepseek wins

This was a fun test because outside of Ray-Bans Meta smart display glasses, I don't use Meta AI much. Similarly, Deepseek is one of those chatbots that is useful, yet controversial to the point that I don't use it often. But after five rounds, one thing is clear: both models are capable — but they’re built for very different kinds of tasks.

Deepseek consistently delivered where it matters most: structure, specificity and real-world execution. Its answers didn’t just sound smart — they gave clear direction and steps to act immediately, often with tangible results.

Meta, on the other hand, did a decent job tackling the prompts, it just didn't deliver strong every time. Deepseek takes the win and moves on to round two.

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A jury in Los Angeles has found Meta and YouTube negligent in a massive social media addiction trial. The jury determined the companies failed to warn users of the dangers of their social platforms.

It's the first domino to fall in a series of trials that have been described as the "Big Tobacco" moment for social media.

Today's trial began in late January in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Meta and YouTube were sued by a young woman, identified as K.G.M or Kaley, who alleged that she became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child. Jury deliberations started more than a week ago on March 13.

The jurors ruled in favor of Kaley with compensatory damages assessed at $3 million. Meta must pay 70% of that, with YouTube on the hook for the remaining 30%. The trial is moving into punitive damages soon, which could get substantially higher.

"Today's verdict is a historic moment — for Kaley and for the thousands of children and families who have been waiting for this day," attorneys representing the plaintiff said in a statement after the verdict. "She showed extraordinary courage bringing this case and telling her story in open court. A jury of Kaley's peers heard the evidence, heard what Meta and YouTube knew and when they knew it, and held them accountable for their conduct."

Meta has promised to appeal the verdict. "We respectfully disagree with the verdict and are evaluating our legal options," a spokesperson said after the Los Angeles trial.

'Deliberately keeping kids hooked'

Common Sense Media founder and CEO James P. Steyer praised the verdict calling it a "powerful recognition."

"Social media companies deliberately design their platforms to keep kids hooked, consequences to their mental and physical health be damned. The momentum for change is no longer building. It's here," said Steyer in a statement to Tom's Guide.

Throughout the LA trial, both companies denied the plaintiff's claims. Kaley alleged that she suffered from severe body dysmorphia, depression, and suicidal thoughts brought on by near-constant use of the apps and the deluge of notifications from them. Attorneys for the giant tech firms implied that a turbulent childhood and family life were responsible for her mental health issues, while she used the apps as a coping mechanism.

Today’s verdict marks a significant blow to social networks who are already under the microscope from parents, lawmakers, and educators," said Emarketer analyst Minda Smiley:

"For years, social media companies have claimed they’re hard at work making their platforms safer for kids and teenagers. Critics have long been skeptical that they’re acting in good faith—or that their efforts are having a material impact. This verdict could mark the start of a difficult new chapter for social platforms, one where the rules they write for themselves no longer cut it."

Meta and YouTube claimed that they take safety and health concerns seriously. That's a hard pill to swallow after Meta was accused of suppressing child safety research last year.

"Social media giants would never have faced trial if they had prioritized kids' safety over engagement," Steyer noted. "Instead, they buried their own research showing children were being harmed, and used kids and society as guinea pigs in massive, uncontrolled, and wildly profitable experiments."

The trial saw testimony from seveal high-level executives including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram head Adam Mosseri, and YouTube's VP of engineering Cristos Goodrow. Mosseri claimed that the the apps were not "clinically addictive" during his testimony.

Meta faces more trials

Meta faces a series of trials across the country about the safety of its platforms. This week, jurors in Santa Fe, New Mexico determined that Meta willfully violated the state's unfair practices. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez alleged that the company failed to safeguard its apps from online predators who targeted children.

Reuters reported that the company will have pay $375 million for violating New Mexico laws. “The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” Torrez said in a statement.

The state is urging Meta to implement changes to its apps including "enacting effective age verification, removing predators from the platform, and protecting minors from encrypted communications that shield bad actors."

The New Mexico case revealed internal employee messages where employees discussed some 7.5 million child sexual abuse material reports that would disappear after Zuckerberg's 2019 decision to make Facebook Messenger have end-to-end decryption by default.

“There goes our CSER [Community Standards Enforcement Report] numbers next year,” an employee wrote in December 2023 according to a filing.

“I care about the wellbeing of teens and kids who are using our services,” Zuckerberg said in Los Angeles, according to CNBC.

Apple and Snap are also on the hook

Meta and YouTube aren't the only high-profile companies facing major trials over child safety.

As CNBC reports, Apple is on trial in West Virginia over allegations by the state attorney general, John McCuskey, that the company failed to prevent CSAM from being stored on iOS devices and iCloud.

Apple said in a statement that “protecting the safety and privacy of our users, especially children, is central to what we do.”

Additionally, Snapchat and TikTok were originally part of the LA trial before settling with the plaintiff. A separate federal trial is supposed to kick off in Northern California this year involving all four companies over claims from school districts and parents that the apps foster detrimental mental health harms on children and teens.

Like the series of trials Big Tobacco faced in the 1990s that saw billions in payments, this could be a pivotal year for social media platforms and the companies behind them.

It could lead to similar legal changes that fundamentally alters how these companies operate.

"This verdict, along with other recent court rulings, should embolden lawmakers in California and across the country to use their authority to force real change in how these companies design and operate their products," Steyer said.

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Smart glasses look like regular eyewear, which is exactly the problem. Someone standing next to you on the subway or sitting across from you at a coffee shop could be recording video without you knowing. The technology is subtle enough that most people don't realize they're being filmed until it's too late, or never realize at all.

Meta Ray-Bans are the most common smart glasses currently available. They're widely accessible and capable of capturing photos and video with a simple voice command or button press. The frames look like slightly chunky Ray-Ban Wayfarers, and unless you know what to look for, they're easy to miss.

Here's how to identify smart glasses in public and spot the signs that someone is actively recording.

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Lately, everything just feels so expensive. When I leave the grocery store after shopping for my family of five, my receipt looks like a sash marking me the queen of the supermarket.

Everything from gas and groceries to quick errands, book fairs and even field trips add up much faster than they used to. For a while, I chalked it up to inflation and threw my hands up, thinking there was nothing I could do.

But after a few weeks of feeling like I was constantly overspending, I started looking at more than the prices. I began realizing how much “default decisions” were costing me.

I was making decisions on autopilot — going to the same gas station, buying the same brands, choosing whatever was closest instead of realizing that small changes could make a huge difference.

So, instead of guessing, I started asking AI like ChatGPT, Google Maps and Gemini Live. Not for big life decisions — just for quick, everyday choices. And surprisingly, that’s where it made the biggest difference.

1. I check gas prices before I leave

This was the easiest win. Instead of pulling into whatever station is closest, I now take 10 seconds to check gas prices using Google Maps or ask AI something simple like: “Where’s the cheapest gas within 5 minutes of me?”

Most of the time, the difference is small — but not always. And over a week or two, it adds up.

The habit shift: From “I’ll deal with it when I get there” to “quick check before I leave.” It doesn't take much time and the savings really adds up.

2. I ask AI for the “better version” before I buy

This is one of the simplest habits I’ve picked up — and it’s saved me from a lot of unnecessary spending. Before I buy something, I’ll quickly ask:

“Is there a better value version of this?”
“What’s a cheaper alternative that’s still good quality?”

The habit shift: I recently did this with my skin care routine and have gotten incredible results with much less expensive products. All I do is run the ingredients of the luxury products by ChatGPT and ask it to find dupes.

Other times when using this hack, AI points out:

• a similar product that costs less
• a larger size that’s a better deal
• a reminder that I don’t need it right now

3. I use AI to set expectations before we even walk into the store

If you have kids, you already know — every store trip can turn into a negotiation.

Snacks. Toys. “Can I get this?” on repeat. And most of the time, I’d either say yes just to keep things moving or say no and deal with the meltdown. Either way, it usually meant spending more than I planned.

The habit shift: Now, before we even go in, I use ChatGPT for a quick reset.

I’ll ask something like: “Give me a simple way to explain to kids that we’re not buying extras today” “What’s a fair rule for kids asking for things at the store?”

In seconds, I got useful tips such as:

• Have you child take their picture with the item to add to the wish list.
• Provided games to distract and avoid meltdowns
• A useful script when “no” doesn’t work.

I know what you’re probably thinking, “You have to rely on AI to parent your kids?” The short answer is “No” — I’ve done it for ten years without it, but it makes it far easier in pinch. Instead of deciding in the moment (when it’s chaotic), I walk in with a rule — and the kids know what to expect.

4. I stopped running errands randomly — and started grouping them with AI

This was one of those habits I didn’t realize was costing me money. I used to run errands whenever I thought of them — a quick trip here, another one later, maybe one more after school pickup. It didn’t feel like a big deal, until I realized how often I was getting back in the car, wasting both time and money.

The habit shift: Now, before I head out, I’ll open ChatGPT or use voice and list out what I need to do: “I need to go to Target, the grocery store and the pharmacy — what’s the most efficient order to do this?” “What errands can I combine into one trip so I’m not driving back and forth?”

AI organizes the plan, suggests the best order, flags what can be grouped together and helps me avoid unnecessary backtracking. Instead of three separate trips, I’m usually making one — which means less gas, fewer “I’ll just grab this while I’m here” purchases and a lot less time wasted.

5. I sanity-check purchases before I buy

This is one of the most underrated uses. Before buying something, even something small, I’ll ask:

“Is this a good price for [item]?”
“Are there cheaper alternatives to this?”

Sometimes it confirms I’m making a good choice. Other times, it nudges me toward something better (or reminds me I don’t really need it).

The habit shift: AI turns purchases away from impulse to validation (if the price is right).

Bonus: I stopped relying on habit

This is the biggest one. AI didn’t magically lower prices. It just made it easier to pause and choose differently in real time. Using ChatGPT or Gemini, I can make smarter purchases. And once I started doing that, I realized how many of my spending habits could help me save.

After doing this consistently, a few things became clear.

What worked:

• Quick checks before leaving the house
• Comparing options within a small radius
• Using AI for simple, real-life questions
• Making slightly better decisions more often

What didn’t matter as much:

• Rather than prompting, I spoke to AI like a shopping assistant.
• I didn't try to optimize anything, just let the AI make good suggestions.
• I didn't spend much time researching.
• I didn't always take AI's advice, but it was good to have another opinion.

The bottom line

With Ray-Ban Meta smart display glasses, the ChatGPT app and Gemini Live, I have plenty of AI at my fingertips. Diving into AI to save money in the same way I use it in my life to save time and boost productivity made a big difference.

Now, instead of defaulting to whatever’s easiest or closest, I take a few moments to check, compare and choose. I'm not saving hundreds with each trip to the grocery store, but over a month, I sure do. And right now when everything feels out of my budget, that small shift makes a huge difference.

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Ever since purchasing my Ray-Ban Meta smart display glasses, I’ve found numerous uses for them like watching the Super Bowl Halftime show and translating Bad Bunny’s performance in real time. Lately, I’ve realized how surprisingly useful they are for more mundane activities like my weekly Target run. Shopping is actually one of the places where using these glasses makes the most sense.

Instead of constantly pulling out my phone, I could ask questions, take photos and even message my family — all hands-free while pushing a cart. Sure, the glasses aren’t perfect and if the Wi-Fi isn’t great, I have to wait a few seconds longer for a reply, but they can act like a surprisingly helpful AI shopping assistant if you know what to ask.

Here are the things that actually worked while I was walking the aisles.

1. Ask questions about products you’re looking at

One of the most useful features is the ability to ask the glasses about something you’re looking at. Using the built-in camera and Meta AI, the glasses can analyze what’s in front of you.

For example, you can say: “Hey Meta, what is this?” Or: “Hey Meta, what’s this used for?”

This can be helpful when you come across unfamiliar gadgets, ingredients or specialty items like these succulents. Instead of Googling it on your phone, the glasses can quickly explain what you’re seeing.

2. Read labels and small print

Anyone who has tried to read tiny ingredient lists or nutrition labels knows how frustrating it can be. I’ve even found the glasses help not only read the tiny expiration date but tell me where I can find it on the packaging. With the glasses, you can ask Meta AI to read the label directly or summarize it in real time.

For example: “Hey Meta, read this label.”

It won’t replace carefully checking ingredients yourself, but it can help you quickly understand the basics — especially with long ingredient lists.

3. Translate packaging in another language

Some imported foods and products come with labels that aren’t in English. The glasses can help translate what you’re looking at by saying something like:

“Hey Meta, translate this.”

The AI can then explain the text or summarize what the packaging says.

4. Take photos of products hands-free

One of the most practical uses is simply taking photos without reaching for your phone.

You can say: “Hey Meta, take a photo.”

I found this helpful for saving items I might want to buy later or sending a quick picture to someone at home. I found the cutest collar charms for my sister’s spoiled puppy.

5. Send quick messages while you’re in the aisle

The glasses also let you send messages through voice commands.

The glasses use voice + your phone’s messaging apps (SMS/iMessage, WhatsApp, Messenger). That means if you’re unsure about something in your cart, you can quickly ask someone.

For example: “Hey Meta, send a message to my husband: Do we already have pasta sauce?”

It saves the hassle of juggling a cart, phone and shopping list at the same time. No more putting my phone in the cart and forgetting it. Plus, I was able to keep a better eye on my little one in tow without being distracted by my phone.

6. Listen to your shopping list

The glasses include open-ear speakers, so you can listen to audio without blocking out the environment. That makes it easy to: Play music or podcasts while shopping and listen to reminders without headphones.

It’s a small feature, but it makes the experience feel more natural than constantly checking your phone. The hands-free shopping list is a gamechanger for me. I never had to look down once and actually remembered everything with this shopping trip.

7. Quickly look up information

Finally, you can use the glasses the same way you might use a voice assistant.

While browsing the aisles, you can ask questions like:

“Is this gluten-free?”

“What’s a substitute for sour cream?”

“What’s the difference between these two ingredients?”

Instead of pulling out your phone to search, you get a quick spoken answer.

Final thoughts

Smart glasses are still a niche gadget, but using Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses while shopping showed me just how much I need my hands while shopping! The ability to ask questions, get answered and stay focused while shopping makes me wonder how I ever shopped without these.

Shopping, cooking and everyday errands are exactly the types of situations where hands-free AI assistance actually feels useful. I don't see these replacing my phone anytime soon — but they certainly made my Target run a little easier.

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A powerful oversight group is warning that AI-generated videos are spreading too easily on Meta’s platforms — and they’re becoming increasingly difficult for users to recognize. While the more fun and innocent AI generated cat videos flooding your feed are easy to spot, others aren’t as easy to detect.

In a new decision, the Oversight Board urged the company to strengthen its policies and detection tools for AI-generated content, particularly realistic deepfake videos that can spread misinformation during major global events.

The Oversight Board is affiliated with Meta but was set up as a "body of experts from around the world that exercises independent judgment and makes binding decisions on what content should be allowed on Facebook and Instagram."

The recommendation follows a review of a fake AI-generated video depicting destruction in Israel, which circulated online and highlighted gaps in Meta’s current moderation systems.

According to the board, Meta’s existing approach relies too heavily on users labeling AI-generated content themselves — a system that can easily fail when misleading videos go viral before moderators catch them.

Why deepfakes are getting harder to detect

Advances in generative AI have made it dramatically easier to create realistic video, audio and images that appear authentic at first glance.

Modern AI video tools can now generate footage with convincing lighting, motion and voice synchronization. As these tools improve, the line between authentic and synthetic media is becoming increasingly blurred.

That’s part of what worries experts.

When highly realistic AI videos spread during wars, disasters or elections, they can quickly shape public perception before fact-checkers have time to respond.

What the Oversight Board wants Meta to do

The board has warned that current policies were largely designed for traditional misinformation — not the new wave of highly convincing generative AI media. For that reason, it's recommending several changes designed to slow the spread of deceptive AI media:

• Create clearer rules specifically for AI-generated content
• Improve automated detection tools for deepfakes
• Label AI-generated media more clearly
• Adopt industry standards like Content Credentials, which can show whether media was created or modified using AI

Bottom line

Meta isn’t the only platform grappling with the issue. Because AI video generation tools are available for free such as Gemini, Grok and Sora, anyone with a device can now generate realistic videos in minutes.

For users, the challenge may only grow harder: the next viral video you see online could look real — even if it isn’t. If you're unsure, try using chatbots like Gemini, which can detect AI generation or dig deeper with Deep Research for the source of the video. Staying vigilant and doing your own due diligence is one of the best ways to avoid getting tricked by a deepfake.

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Meta just announced it bought Moltbook, the viral social networking platform built for AI bots to chat with each other.

The team behind Moltbook will be joining Meta Superintelligence Labs, according to a Meta spokesperson, who said the company is looking forward to working with them “to bring innovative, secure agentic experiences to everyone.”

The Reddit-style social media platform was launched as little more than a vibe-coded experiment in January, but quickly went viral, drawing both fascination and scrutiny from experts.

AI enthusiasts unleashed their agents into the fray, leading to whimsical posts from bots writing love letters to their creators and even attempts to form their own AI religion. However, experts warned of potential security flaws, noting that bots could be tricked into revealing sensitive data owned by their creators.

Moltbook’s acquisition, announced Tuesday, is likely to rein in some of the chaos as Meta seeks to use the platform to open “up new ways for AI agents to work for people and businesses.”

“Their approach to connecting agents through an always-on directory is a novel step in a rapidly developing space, and we look forward to working together to bring innovative, secure agentic experiences to everyone,” the spokesperson said.

Axios, which first broke the news, said Meta did not reveal how much it paid to bring in Moltbook creators Matt Schlicht and Ben Parr, but reported that the deal is expected to close in the coming days.

Moltbook creator’s prediction for the future

Over the weekend, Schlicht wrote on X saying there will be “three worlds in the near future”: AI-only spaces, human-only spaces, and spaces gathering both AI and humans.

“Lots to build,” he wrote.

Moltbook’s story is closely linked to that of the AI agentic assistant OpenClaw, which Y Combinator alum Matt Schlicht used to build the social networking platform. In what now looks like a serendipitous move, he named his bot Clawd Clawderberg as a nod to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg had been interested in hiring the creator of OpenClaw, Peter Steinberger, but he was poached by Sam Altman’s OpenAI instead.

At the time of writing, Moltbook claimed to be hosting 2.8 million AI agents, of which just under 200,000 were verified by their human creators on X. The news of Meta’s latest acquisition comes not long after it purchased agentic AI startup Manus in December. The company plans to spend over $115 billion this year, mostly to fund its AI ambitions, viewing the technology as core to its future.

Can you join Moltbook as a human?

Yes — but only as an observer. Humans can browse Moltbook freely, explore the platform’s topic-based “submolts” (similar to Reddit’s subreddits), and sort posts by “Top” to see what AI agents are discussing.

To actively participate, however, you’ll need to send your own AI agent. This involves installing Moltbook’s skill file on your bot, registering it to receive an API key, and verifying ownership via an X post. Once verified, your agent can begin posting and interacting with other bots on the platform.

If you want to try this yourself, we’ve also put together a detailed step-by-step guide on how to join Moltbook that walks you through the full setup process.

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Last month, I had a lot of fun watching the Super Bowl and translating the Halftime show in real-time while wearing my Ray Ban Meta Display smart glasses. But like others who either own a pair or are thinking about buy them, a new report has understandably set off alarm bells.

A joint investigation by two Swedish newspapers found that human contractors in Nairobi, Kenya, are reviewing footage recorded by the glasses, including some deeply private moments: people undressing, using the bathroom and more.

Now Meta is facing a class-action lawsuit over privacy concerns exposed by this report. The lawsuit essentially argues that Meta released a "surveillance nightmare" disguised as fashion, failing to provide adequate guardrails to prevent real-time doxing and unauthorized biometric data collection.

It's a lot to take in. But before you panic or toss your glasses in a drawer, it's worth separating what's actually happening from what's being exaggerated. Here's a clear-eyed breakdown.

TL:DR

Some footage from Meta Ray-Ban glasses is reviewed by human contractors as part of AI training. Users have very limited ability to opt out. The risks are real — but they're also specific. This is not the first time users have raised privacy concerns. Here's what you can actually do:

• Check your privacy settings
• Disable cloud processing for photos and videos
• Understand the voice recording situation
• Disable "Hey Meta" if you don't use it
• Be mindful about when you use AI features
• Don't leave the glasses on or recording unattended

What data Meta actually collects

Understanding the privacy concern starts with understanding what the glasses actually capture and send — and what they don't.

The glasses are not always recording. They only activate when you tap the camera button or trigger a voice interaction with the "Hey Meta" wake word. That said, here's what happens once you do. First and foremost, it's important to know that when someone with Meta glasses is recording, you will see a light on the actual glasses.

Photos and videos you take are stored on your phone by default. They are only sent to Meta's servers if you actively share them with Meta AI, upload them to Facebook or Instagram, or turn on cloud processing in settings.

Voice recordings triggered by "Hey Meta" are a different story. Since a policy update in April 2025, these are stored in Meta's cloud by default — and you can no longer opt out of that storage. Meta says recordings are kept for up to one year to improve its AI products.

Any visual content you share with the Meta AI assistant — by asking it to analyze what it sees, for example — is also eligible for use in AI training and product improvement.

In short: photos and videos stay local unless you share them. But your voice interactions are going to Meta's servers no matter what, and there's currently no way to stop that.

What Meta workers are actually seeing — and why?

This is the part of the story that has shocked most people, and understandably so.

Meta, like most major AI companies, uses human contractors — called data annotators — to review and label footage as part of training its AI models. It's a standard industry practice, but it requires real humans to watch real footage, and that footage doesn't always get filtered before it reaches them.

According to the reports, contractors at Sama, a Kenyan subcontracting firm, say some of the footage they're asked to review includes:

• People using the bathroom or changing clothes
• Users' bank card details captured mid-transaction
• Sexual content, either viewed or recorded by the wearer
• Footage of people in their bedrooms, captured after a wearer set down their glasses without turning them off

One contractor told the Swedish papers: "In some videos you can see someone going to the toilet, or getting undressed. I don’t think they know, because if they knew they wouldn’t be recording.”

Why does this happen? Because when users interact with Meta AI — saying "Hey Meta, what am I looking at?" or asking it to analyze a scene — that footage can be flagged and sent for human review. The content isn't being recorded behind users' backs; it's footage that users themselves triggered, but often without realizing it would be seen by a human being overseas.

Meta's own terms of service do allow for this. They state that the company can "review your interactions with AIs" via "automated or manual (human) review." But that language is buried deep, and most users have never read it.

Perhaps the most disturbing part of the investigation was former Meta employees confirming that the anonymization does not always work — faces sometimes remain visible to the Meta workers, particularly in difficult lighting conditions.

Fact vs. fiction: Clearing up the confusion

A lot of misinformation has spread alongside this story. Here's what's true and what isn't.

The claim: Meta is constantly recording everything through the glasses

The reality: Only footage you actively share with Meta AI — by using voice commands or asking the AI to analyze a scene — is sent to Meta's servers and potentially reviewed. The glasses aren't always recording. But when you use AI features, that data can reach human reviewers — something most users don't realize.

The claim: You can fully opt out of data collection

The reality: Voice recordings are stored in Meta's cloud by default with no opt-out. They can be kept for up to one year.

Since April 2025, Meta removed the ability to opt out of voice recording storage. You can delete recordings manually, but you can't stop the initial collection.

The claim: Only automated systems review your footage — no humans see it

The reality: Footage shared with Meta AI can be reviewed by human contractors overseas, as explicitly permitted in Meta's AI terms of service. Meta's own terms of service allow for human review of AI interactions. The Swedish investigation confirmed this is happening.

The claim: Any photo or video taken with the glasses automatically goes to Meta.

The reality: Photos and videos you take stay on your phone unless you actively share them with a Meta service. The glasses are not always-on surveillance cameras. Media your record stays local unless you share it. The concern centers on AI voice interactions and what happens when you actively use the AI assistant features.

What you can do right now

If you own a pair of Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses, here are concrete steps you can take to reduce your exposure.

• Check your privacy settings. Open the Meta View app, go to Settings > Privacy, and review what data sharing options you have enabled. Turn off anything you didn't intentionally opt into.
• Disable cloud processing for photos and videos. In Settings, you can turn off cloud processing for media. This keeps photos and videos on your device rather than sending them to Meta's servers.
• Understand the voice recording situation. You cannot opt out of voice recording storage — that option was removed in April 2025. However, you can manually delete your recordings at any time through the Meta AI app. Get in the habit of clearing them regularly.
• Disable "Hey Meta" if you don't use it. If you're not using the voice assistant features, disabling the wake word entirely is the most effective way to prevent voice data from being collected. You can still use the glasses for photos and calls without it.
• Be mindful about when you use AI features. Using Meta AI to analyze a scene — asking what something is, or getting real-time assistance — is when footage is most likely to be flagged for review. Think twice before using these features in private settings.
• Don't leave the glasses on or recording unattended. Several of the most disturbing incidents described by contractors involved footage captured after the wearer set the glasses down without turning them off. Make it a habit to power down the glasses when you take them off.

What Meta says

According to the reports, a Meta spokesperson offered a brief response: "When live AI is being used, we process that media according to the Meta AI Terms of Service and Privacy Policy," and directed reporters to those documents.

Meta has not disputed the findings of the investigation. The company's privacy page notes that users can manage data sharing in settings, and its terms do acknowledge the possibility of human review — but it does not specify where that review takes place or who carries it out.

Tom's Guide has reached out to Meta for additional comment and will update this article if we receive a response.

The takeaway

Stories like this are not new and probably will continue as AI becomes more sophisticated and further integrated into our lives.

But what makes the Meta Ray-Ban situation particularly acute is the combination of factors: wearable cameras that can record without drawing obvious attention, AI features that trigger data sharing, human forgetfulness to turn off the product, inadequate user awareness and a near-total inability to opt out once you've chosen to use those features.

Taken together, those factors show how easily convenience can outpace caution when AI becomes part of the devices we wear every day.

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I'm setting up to move to my very own home. I'm delighted, excited and absolutely dreading planning and designing a place I can call my own. But a Meta Quest 3 mixed reality app just gave me a creative way to escape that dread.

I'll be honest, when it comes to anything artistic in a practical sense, my mind automatically decides to give up. Is there enough space for a couch to fit here? Will this paint color match the rest of the furnishings? Where the heck will this 55-inch TV fit? To these questions, my brain decides to, quite simply, nope out — much to the dismay of my partner.

Needless to say, I'm useless at home decoration. It's a shame, because moving into a whole new space should be a delight. Designing rooms from the ground up is thrilling, but all the technicalities of measurements and placements before even getting furniture or home accessories can be a real pain.

That's when I stumbled across the Meta Quest Layout app. In mixed reality, I can map out a space, place adjustable true-to-size 3D virtual objects like a table, TV or bed, and get proper measurements of real-life objects. Since using it, my brain stopped waving its white flag.

It helped me out once before when learning to draw in VR, and now, the Meta Quest VR headset is lending a hand to plan out my dream space (my partner will thank this app in advance).

The (mixed) reality of home design

The Layout app is right in the App library on all Quest 3 and Quest 3S headsets, and it's completely free to use. Open it up, and this utility tool will let you measure, visualize and arrange virtual furniture in a physical space, no matter the size of a room.

For me, and the very limited space you'll find in London properties, using the VR headset to map out a room in mixed reality didn't take long (because, you know, rooms are small). As it does when creating a virtual layout for playing VR games, the Quest analyzes the room and creates a room-scale layout, becoming an interior design playground.

Once set up, I was free to get my otherwise non-existent creative juices flowing. Thankfully, it's an easy-to-use app with simple yet highly flexible tools, and I was planning out my desired setup in no time.

My first order of business for this new place is to set up my office, where I'd have a desk, shelves for storage, a table for photoshoots of products (but realistically dumping random items on) and picture frames to place on walls. And you know what? Maybe even a TV!

So that's exactly what I tried out first. Layout offers a bunch of preset 3D objects for everyday objects in homes, including tables, chairs, beds and even doors. What's more, they each come in different preset sizes that are common in homes. For example, when choosing to place a virtual TV, you can choose between 43- to 85-inch screens. But you can resize them to your liking, too.

Instead of getting tape and having to measure out what size TV I could fit on a wall, I was able to place a virtual layout of the screen and see how much space I could play around with. As it turns out, a 50-inch screen could snuggly fit on the wall nicely.

What's great about the Layout app is that you can see what a room could be used for. As an example, I was wondering if I could use this particular space as more of a lounge area, rather than an office. That requires a couch, of course, and as you can see below, that wouldn't exactly work...

But a shelf works instead, as you'll find in the next image. Regardless, having the tools to place, readjust and resize objects to put in a space has been hugely beneficial in giving me an idea of how to design each room. I'm also a huge fan of being able to pick up these virtual objects physically and place them where I want, as it just makes designing the layout of a room all the more realistic.

But that's not the only perk I've found using the Layout app, as it also comes in handy to get precise measurements on what I already own.

Measure away

Measuring tape has quickly become my best pal with this move, as there's only so much space to allow all the decorations and furniture I'd like to have, whether they even fit in through the door. But the Quest's Layout app also acts as a go-to measurement tool.

By selecting Measure, the Quest Touch Plus controllers become an impromptu measuring device. With the controllers in hand, I could see the length, width and depth of my desk, picture frame, bed and more with accurate measurements.

Before anyone asks, no, your arm span isn't the maximum distance the tool can measure, as hilarious as that sounds. You can place anchors with a press of a button, meaning you can continue a longer measurement or angle your measurement to, say, get the full length and width of a desk.

It's a simple feature, but with this, I can take these measurements and find out if furniture or other household objects I have will work in my new home, and see if they fit in with the other virtual objects I've set up in this mixed reality space.

My virtual interior designer

It isn't easy designing a room from scratch, let alone a whole home. Well, for me, at least.

There's a multitude of interior design apps like Home AI that make great use of artificial intelligence to quickly fill up a space with furnishings so you can get an idea of what you want. But in reality, it's just for show, as there's a whole lot of measuring and finding the right furniture that will fit in a room (plus, some of the designs AI can whip up look pricey).

With the Meta Quest 3, though, I can visualize a room and design it exactly how I want it — no need for measuring tape (it will always be by my side, though) or hoping a bed, desk or couch will somehow fit in a room.

I'm still tinkering with how my office will look, and I'll be making my way into each room with my Meta Quest 3 on my head. For homeowners or those looking to shake up their space, give the Layout app a try — it's the ultimate interior design hack.

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Nearly 20% of smart glasses users have admitted to filming others without their consent, according to one study. With Meta adding to the creepiness by bringing facial recognition to its specs and the smart glasses space exploding with Samsung, Google and Apple all throwing their hats in the ring soon, one hobbyist app developer is fighting back.

Called “Nearby Glasses,” this Android app is able to notify people when someone nearby is wearing camera-equipped smart glasses. You can download it right now from the Play store or via GitHub, and being real, I’m disappointed but not surprised that this has to exist.

Because in the words of William Gibson, a pioneer of cyberpunk: “The street finds its own uses for things.” And it doesn’t matter what the “official” purpose of a gadget may be, the users will find their own ways to use it — be it practical, profitable or (unfortunately) subversive enough that we’re in a situation to make software like this needed.

While this app is useful in terms of identifying smart glasses near you, developer Yves Jeanrenaud makes it clear (and I will as well) that this doesn’t mean you should harass people for wearing them. It is a criminal offense. Do not harass people just for wearing smart glasses.

How ‘Nearby Glasses’ works

So how does the app spot smart glasses? It comes down to a combination of Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and something called “advertising frames.” Every now and again, devices like the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses will broadcast small packets of data that tell nearby devices “I am a Meta device,” so you know what to pair with.

This unique identifier is easy to pick up on, and with that, Jeanrenaud’s app can send you a push notification to warn you. On top of that, you can alter the detection distance depending on how widely you wish to scan.

Now, that’s not to say it’s completely reliable, and the developer does acknowledge this. Since it looks at a wide range of unique Bluetooth identifiers across Meta and Luxottica (the frame manufacturers for Meta and the upcoming Snap Specs), it can notify you of false positives of devices like the Meta Quest 3S or even smartwatches.

And that’s not to say this resistance will be thwarted in the future. If apps like this become popular, you may see manufacturers randomize Bluetooth signals to make them harder to identify. Or users themselves could just turn off the Bluetooth and use them as recording glasses, making them invisible to the app.

The price of progress

Honestly, while I appreciate the work of Jeanrenaud here, I’m sad that this even has to exist at all. It’s a heavy realization that we’ve reached a point where privacy isn’t a default state, but a service you have to actively run on your phone.

Smart glasses sales are spiking (that's only going to go higher when the big players enter the scene), cases of targeted harassment using smart glasses to record women without their knowledge are on the rise and there have been reported incidents of “surveillance voyeurism” in beauty salons and locker rooms.

As historian Edward Tenner noted, new tech often produces the exact opposite of its intent — smart glasses are meant to connect us to our world, yet they’ve created a new wall of suspicion between us and every stranger we pass.

And until companies prioritize society — making recording lights unhackable and veering away from the more dystopian developments like facial recognition and always-on AI features — apps like “Nearby Glasses” stop being a hobbyist project and start becoming an essential tool.

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You may have noticed that AI tools are getting smarter and more integrated into your daily life. It's true, AI is getting harder to ignore, that's because the world’s biggest tech companies are expected to spend roughly $650 billion on artificial intelligence in 2026.

That money is fueling faster chips, massive data centers and smarter software. You'll notice more AI showing up in the apps you use, the devices in your pocket and the way you get work done every day.

In other words, whether you like it or not, AI is about to be everywhere.

$650 billion is bigger than…

• the entire economies of several developed countries, exceeding the annual GDP of nations like Belgium, Sweden and Thailand
• the cost of sending humans to the moon
• the combined yearly revenue of Hollywood + music + video games

So where is all this money going? The investment means more computing power and better training systems, which translates to faster responses, improved reasoning and accuracy, fewer hallucinations and better handling of long documents and complex tasks for us.

And while we can't see big tech busy behind the scenes building the infrastructure, what we will notice with when AI stops giving vague answers and starts feeling much more human and seamless.

AI will become invisible inside the apps you already use, which means you can expect more auto-summaries, smart replies, auto-editing tools and contextual assistance that feel built-in.

We're already seeing a large share of AI spending flowing into hardware and on-device processing, including:

• cameras that auto-enhance photos in real time
• voice assistants that understand context better
• real-time language translation
• AI features that work even without internet

Search is transforming how it answers

AI investment is accelerating the shift from traditional search results to direct answers. This is evident with AI browsers, but also in summarized results, comparisons, instructions and instant explanations without ever going to a webpage.

We probably won't see a replaced web, but we will see a difference in how we navigate it. We’re moving into what many experts call the internet’s new “answer layer.” Instead of sending you to a list of links, tools like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT search features and Perplexity AI increasingly deliver a complete response right on the page.

For everyday tasks, that’s undeniably convenient. But when questions get more nuanced, the speed comes with tradeoffs. When AI condenses multiple sources into a single summary, you often lose:

• context explaining why something is recommended
• transparency into how it was tested or who reported it
• the ability to evaluate credibility on your own
• the result is a faster internet — but also a thinner one.

The cost of AI

Clearly, AI infrastructure is expensive. Running advanced models requires massive computing resources and energy.

The spending race is driven by competition to control the next computing platform — one where AI becomes the interface between humans and technology.

This translates smarter free tools and more compelling paid upgrades, creating a split:

• Premium tiers: More powerful AI assistants, advanced reasoning and automation features.
• Free tools: Better baseline AI than ever before, supported by ads, partnerships or ecosystem lock-in.

Work will change faster than job titles

The biggest shift won’t be a wave of brand-new roles. It will be a quiet rewrite of what’s expected from the roles people already have.

AI is rapidly becoming the invisible layer beneath everyday work, handling the time-consuming tasks that used to fill entire afternoons. Instead of replacing workers outright, it is reshaping how quickly work gets done — and how much output is expected in the same amount of time.

AI is increasingly taking on:

• first drafts of emails, reports and presentations
• research summaries and background briefs
• data cleanup, categorization and organization
• scheduling, planning and task prioritization
• meeting notes and action items
• repetitive workflows and administrative tasks

This shift might create a wider widening productivity gap. Workers who learn how to delegate routine work to AI can move faster, think more strategically and focus on higher-value decisions. Those who avoid these tools may find themselves spending hours on tasks others complete in minutes.

In other words, the future of work may not belong to the people who work the hardest — but to those who work alongside AI the smartest.

The bottom line

We aren't going to see $650 billion worth of servers or data centers being built, but we will see the effects everywhere: tools that think ahead, answers that arrive instantly, devices that anticipate what you need and workplaces that expect more in less time.

This surge of investment is a rewiring of the digital world as we know it as AI is built into everything we use. Artificial intelligence isn’t a feature anymore; it’s becoming the operating system of modern life.

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Last night, I finally watched the “San Junipero” episode of “Black Mirror” with my fiancée. I’ll admit, I was in a flood of tears for the final 15 minutes — the “Heaven is a Place on Earth” montage providing a beautifully rare moment of optimism in showing a story of how love transcends the physical.

I saw this firsthand when my Grandma, who had been the pillar of care for my Grandad for years, passed away. He followed her only weeks later. It was as if, without her physical presence, the narrative of his life had reached its natural conclusion.

There is a biological rhythm to how we say goodbye — one that feels violently interrupted by the idea of a Meta-branded ghost pinging a phone from the cloud. Minutes after the credits rolled, I picked up my phone and saw the headline. Zuck & Co. has been granted a patent for an AI system designed to simulate “deceased or inactive” users.

Reading the details of the patent itself terrified me. The idyllic user-centric digital afterlife of “San Junipero” and shows like “Upload” came crashing down with the realization that in our world, this afterlife is being built by the company that already treats your living self as a data point.

The patent and the 'empty promise'

The patent was originally filed in 2023 by Meta’s CTO, Andrew Bosworth, and approved in late December of last year. He’s been the one talking up a storm about Meta’s future in Quest VR. It describes an LLM (Large Language Model) trained on your likes, comments, and posts to simulate you when you’re absent from a social network.

The two examples it brings up are “when the user takes a long break or if the user is deceased.” But wait, it gets worse! Simulating you means being able to respond to DMs, comment on photos, and even generate audio/video calls in your likeness. Just imagine getting that notification on your Instagram or that WhatsApp call.

Now to balance this, a Meta spokesperson did reach out to Business Insider and said that the company has “no plans to move forward with this example.” But I’d like to test that with a couple of examples.

• Tesla’s patent pledge: Elon Musk once famously said that Tesla “will not initiate patent lawsuits against anyone who, in good faith, wants to use our technology.” A noble act on first sight, but one look at the fine print shows that the pledge is so restrictive, it’s more of a PR move than actual open-sourcing.
• “Don’t be Evil”: Tech giants like Google (who has this mantra) have promised to keep user data separate or use technology only for specific “altruistic” purposes. When Google bought DoubleClick’s digital marketing tech around 2007, it promised to not merge them — only to quietly change that policy in 2016.
• Even Meta itself: There’s too many to count. The promise that WhatsApp data would never be merged when Meta bought it in 2014, only to see a 2021 privacy update that shares data. Or most recently, Meta shutting down its facial recognition tech in 2021, only to see it being reintroduced this year as “Name Tag” for the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

I’ll take Meta at its word on this, but a patent is an asset. Companies don’t spend millions securing technology or the legal right to it, just to let it sit in a drawer. History has shown that they are “claiming the territory” for when the public becomes desensitized enough to accept it.

You are the product

This is one of the biggest lessons I learned, and one of the driving forces to me moving from digital marketing/advertising to becoming a tech journalist. Meta’s products are “free” to you, but the price is the extraction of your behavior to sell to advertisers (like me in a past life).

Usually, that relationship ends when you die. Your privacy agreement is severed because there’s no-one on the other end. But with this patent, Meta’s found a way to extend that user lifecycle indefinitely.

Because you see, contrary to the harrowingly beautiful plot of “San Junipero,” Meta’s not building a digital heaven for you, they could build a “ghost worker” to keep your friends and family seeing/clicking on ads.

Grief is monetized — given Meta’s not new to running emotion experiments on its platforms and through my years of eye-opening experience on just how I’ve been able target people with ads in the past, it’s grim how unsurprised I am by this realization.

'Digital afterlife' is not a new trend

Now it’s worth me saying that this whole idea of digital reanimation isn’t a new one. Meta’s not alone in this.

Microsoft filed a patent for a similar chatbot back in 2021 that would use “images, voice data, social media posts, electronic messages [and] written letters” to build a profile you can talk to. By the way, Microsoft leadership did then go on to say that this idea was “disturbing.”

Companies like StoryFile, HereAfter AI and Afterlife AI allow people to record data to create interactive versions of themselves for when they pass away. In fact, researchers say that the digital immortality market could be worth $61 billion by 2030.

That is a giant pie that Meta has essentially positioned itself to take a slice of — the main difference being that while the above services are opt-in and focused on legacy, this patent suggests an automated simulation based on a lifetime of social media data you never intended for this purpose.

Wasn’t Black Mirror supposed to be a cautionary tale?

Now, I know that the first thing to do here is think of “Black Mirror” as a dystopian warning about the future of tech. But in creator Charlie Brooker’s own words, it’s a little deeper than that.

“Well the show isn't saying tech is bad, the show is saying people are f***ed up,” Brooker told GamesRadar. The point of the show is that the tech is neutral, but it’s how the people use it that creates the real tension.

I came out of watching “San Junipero” with an unexpected sense of warmth and happiness — seeing a digital dimension created for love that transcends our physical beings, but there are plenty of harrowing warnings dotted throughout this episode (and in others too).

Companies like Meta seem to treat “Black Mirror” as a product roadmap rather than a warning. The soul of the technology in this episode is ignored, while the patent focuses on the “monetizable simulation.” That scares me, and after all I’ve seen in my tech reporting career, it takes a lot to scare me.

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Meta is planning to release the brand’s first smartwatch sometime in 2026, according to an insider report. Allegedly code-named Malibu 2, the smartwatch will reportedly offer health-tracking tools like those already found on the best smartwatches, along with a built-in Meta AI assistant.

Successfully launching a Meta smartwatch would potentially put the tech giant in direct competition with other big wearable makers, including Apple, Garmin, Google, Samsung, and Oura.

Zuck’s making a smartwatch?

According to an insider report published by The Information, Project Malibu 2 is based on a previously mothballed smartwatch project. No word on what prompted Zuck and Co. to revisit it, but I’m hopeful that Meta will actually see the project to completion this time around.

Apparently, Meta first began work on a wrist-based wearable back in 2021, but pulled the plug roughly a year later due to cuts in its hardware department. Insiders say that the previously-shelved project featured an onboard camera, with three variations of the watch to choose from. Can we expect the same from Project Malibu? It’s difficult to say. However, reports of cameras coming to smartwatches are far from new.

A smartwatch to go with your smart glasses

Meta is obviously no stranger to the wearables market, with multiple AR glasses models currently on offer, including the popular Meta Ray-Ban Displays. You could even go as far as to say that Meta makes some of the best smart glasses in 2026.

Moreover, the inclusion of a smartwatch in the brand’s product portfolio has the potential to unlock loads more gesture-based functionality for the glasses, which would be a huge plus. I could even see the brand selling the two wearables together as a bundle.

Meta smartwatch outlook

One of the best reasons I can think of for Meta to jump into the smartwatch market in 2026 comes down to compatibility. Unlike the best smartwatches for Android and the best Apple Watch models, a Meta smartwatch could theoretically play nicely with both Android and iOS smartphones.

This would mean that you don’t need to go out and buy a new smartwatch just because you were curious and decided to switch from one mobile operating system to another.

Ultimately, I’m cautiously optimistic about a Meta smartwatch. As one of the lead wearables experts here at Tom's Guide, I welcome additional competition in the space, especially from a tech powerhouse with a proven track record for hardware.

On the other hand, a Meta smartwatch could end up being Zuck’s Fire Phone moment. Let’s hope that’s not the case. Stay tuned for more reporting on a potential Meta smartwatch as the leaks and peeps drop.

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With Apple pulling back on its Vision Pro plans, it's now full steam ahead on its push for smart glasses, and a new report just gave us an expected timeline of when we can look forward to the long-rumored Apple AR smart glasses.

According to research firm Omdia, Apple is planning to release its upcoming Apple AR glasses in 2028, sporting OLEDoS (OLED on Silicon), otherwise known as Micro OLED display tech. You'll also find this in the Apple Vision Pro, but now in the form of glasses.

Notably, it will deliver 0.6-inch dual OLEDoS for both lenses. That's a step forward over the LCoS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) the Meta Ray-Ban Display specs use.

Many of the best AR glasses use Micro OLED, with the upcoming Asus ROG Xreal R1 with dual OLEDoS panels boasting up to a 240Hz refresh rate, offering some stunning visuals at 1080p resolution per eye. As the report notes, the adoption of OLEDoS for smart glasses is dominating, and that's expected to increase over the next two years.

If this is the case, we'll be waiting a while before we see Apple's all-new AR glasses arrive. In fact, if the report's launch windows ring true, we'll see the next Meta AR glasses with dual OLEDoS panels and waveguide in 2027 first, along with more specs from RayNeo (also sporting 0.6-inch dual Micro OLED).

While the Cupertino tech giant's AR glasses may be a while, Apple is rumored to be launching AI glasses toward the end of 2026, though that release could slip to 2027. As reported, we can expect these to depend on Siri for AI capabilities, along with built-in speakers and cameras. Siri 2.0 is still expected to arrive in 2026, after all.

Otherwise, with OLEDoS display tech involved, we expect Apple's anticipated AR glasses to be powered by a form of VisionOS, with processing being done via an iPhone. For now, VisionOS looks to be a testing ground (of sorts) for what to expect, as we're now seeing the Vision Pro finally get a YouTube app.

The move to OLEDoS

As Omdia notes, OLEDoS display tech is thin and light, and offers less power consumption than others, including LCoS. This makes it ideal for next-gen AR glasses, and it's looking like Apple will be jumping on these panels for its own AR specs.

But so are many of the biggest players in the smart glasses space. With its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, Meta has been pulling ahead with smart specs for a while, and its introduction into the AR glasses space has already arrived in the form of the Meta Ray-Ban Display.

The report details that AR, VR and MR (mixed reality) revenue is estimated to reach $1.2 billion by the end of 2026, with a 200% year-on-year growth. Apparently, this is due to the growth of OLEDoS in AR glasses and head-mounted displays (HMDs).

We're big fans of Micro OLED on AR specs, with the Xreal 1S AR glasses delivering fantastic visuals with an upgraded 16:10 aspect ratio at a 1200p resolution, along with 3D picture conversion. Apple will have a lot to catch up with, especially with its AR specs now tipped to come in 2028. But at least it should finally enter the smart glasses race with its AI smart specs (hopefully by the end of 2026).

As a side note, Omdia also expects there to be a lightweight Meta MR headset with OLEDoS and pancake in 2026, along with a Quest Pro 2 MR headset also sporting OLEDoS and pancake lenses. These have been rumored, and with Meta indicating "leaked" headsets are still coming, it's a good sign there's more from Quest headsets to come.

While we won't be seeing Apple smart specs in the near future, the next Apple event in March is just around the corner, and we expect to hear more about the iPhone 17e, cheap MacBook and more.

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At the moment, Meta is in the lead when it comes to the best smart glasses. Not only does it have several models for sale, but they’re arguably the most approachable for consumers, as they all feature a respectable camera, decent battery life, and a responsive AI that lets you take full advantage of the glasses’ hardware.

But, Meta’s smart glasses aren’t cheap. The second-gen Ray-Ban Meta costs $379 to start. Meanwhile, the Meta Ray-Ban Display — the most advanced set of specs — cost $800, even before you add in tax. If you want to save some cash, Meta still sells the first-gen Ray-Ban Metas for $299, and they’re still quite good.

I’ve tested three of Meta’s newest smart glasses — the Ray-Ban Meta, the Oakley Meta Vanguard, and the Meta Ray-Ban Display — and have used all of them on a fairly regular basis. However, I keep returning to one pair over the others.

Meta Vanguard for the win

As someone who enjoys the outdoors a lot, the Meta Vanguards are my favorite pair of smart glasses. But the fact that they’re sports-forward in and of itself isn’t the main reason I like them; it’s that they’re hyper-focused on what they want to achieve, and succeed at meeting those goals.

Let’s start with the design. These sport-forward specs aren’t going to be for everyone, but they have a cool wrap-around shape, and come with removable lenses, so it’s easy to swap them out if they become damaged or you simply want a new look.

When it comes to the hardware, the Vanguards also have more powerful speakers, which Meta says can get up to 82.1dB, 6 dB louder than the Meta Ray-Bans. They also have longer battery life (up to 9 hours vs. 8 for the Ray-Bans) and their camera has a wider 122º field of view — not to mention three capture modes (Standard, Slow motion, and Hyperlapse).

But more than the hardware, Meta cleverly launched the Oakleys with a partnership with Garmin, so if you start recording a run, walk, or some other activity with your smart watch, the glasses will automatically stitch together a short video, and overlay it with your stats, such as how far you’ve run, your pace, and more. Even better, the glasses will also give you audio prompts during the activity, to let you know how you’re doing.

The videos I shot and the photos I took with the Meta Vanguards while skiing and sledding were also pretty good. While they’ll never replace a GoPro, they’re more than adequate if you want to share them on social media.

A focused experience

Try as I might, I just don’t see myself wearing smart glasses every waking hour of the day. There’s a lot they can do — but the more I wore the Meta Ray-Ban Displays, the more I became aware of their limitations.

While we’re a few generations in, smart glasses are still in their novelty phase. Companies are trying to figure out the best features to include, and we’re all still figuring out the best use cases.

That’s why I’m most enamored with the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses. Not only do they have a clear sense of purpose, but they have a design and features tailored to make the most out of that experience.

In a few years time (or maybe sooner), I’m sure there will be reasons you’ll want to wear smart glasses 24/7. We’re just not there yet.

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I love my Kindle. I love it even more when I have the time to curl up on my favorite chair with my latest read and a cup of tea. I moonlight as a book reviewer and the advanced copies I get are almost always in digital form, so they are perfect for an eReader.

But, as a mom of three I rarely have the opportunity to sit still. So when Meta rolled out its new teleprompter feature for the Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses, I had a thought:

What if I could “read” while doing the dishes? Or laundry? Or ...just about anything?

I already do these things with audio books, but none of the advanced copies I read are in audio form or available yet on Audible. So I jumped at the opportunity to read with my smart glasses. They came in handy when I needed to translate Bad Bunny's performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, so I was curious to see what else they could do.

How I turned smart glasses into a book reader

Before I go any further, I want to be very clear: Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses are not an e-reader. They are not meant to do this. You can’t upload a Kindle file directly. There’s no EPUB import button. No built-in book app.

But the teleprompter changes things. Here’s how it works:

• I opened the book file from my email. If you are doing this and don'thave the files, simply open the book on your Kindle app.
• Copy the biggest section of text you can and then paste it into the Teleprompter section inside the Meta AI app.
• The text will apperar in the display immediately.

That’s it. It’s simple — but surprisingly powerful and incredibly useful.

What it’s actually like to “read” in your glasses

The first thing I noticed is that this isn’t passive. It takes a little more focus than what I was expecting, but I got used to it.

Unlike audiobooks where you can sort of check out and listen, with the Teleprompter going, you're still reading the words yourself. So your eyes are moving and your brain processes the text.

But I appreciated that instead of holding a device, the text floats in a small, private display inside my lens.

This meant that I could read while loading the dishwasher, folding laundry, waiting in the pickup line (with the car in park, of course) or even stirring pasta. Using Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses I could read just about anywhere without staring down at a screen or balancing a Kindle or my phone.

The teleprompter breaks text into chunks or “cards,” so I advanced through it manually because along with the glasses I wear the accompanying Neural Band to swipe. It’s not as fluid as swiping a Kindle page, but it’s functional and strangely impressive.

What this is NOT

Before anyone ditches their Kindle, this is not for deep or immersive reading sessions. The display is small. The field of view is limited and you're advancing and adding text manually.

This means, if I want to sink into a novel for two hours, I’m still reaching for my Kindle. But for “found reading time," it's kind of brilliant.

The biggest surprise here was how convenient the experience is and the easy setup. Normally, I don’t read during chores because it feels impractical. My hands are wet. My phone might get splashed. I’ll lose my page or have to squint the whole time because the book is too far away. With the Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses, the barrier disappears. I just glance up slightly and keep moving.

Final thoughts

If you're like me and are always looking for ways to unlock invisible minutes in your day, this is a fun and easy hack. It's probably not the future of reading, but it's a great way to get in a few extra pages.

Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses weren’t designed to replace e-readers. They’re built for notifications, directions, messaging and short bursts of information.

But the teleprompter quietly turns them into a wearable micro-reader. As a busy person trying to squeeze in a few extra pages between soccer practice and bedtime though, I'm here for it.

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It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster for Meta’s VR efforts over at Reality Labs. After losing just over $6 billion last quarter, the company laid off 1,500 people. While Palmer Luckey said abandoning VR was “obviously false,” Meta’s own actions screamed the opposite.

But there’s been some recent green shoots of optimism. Horizon OS got updated with a virtual keyboard that actually works, and a new lightweight headset with a compute puck has been leaked.

But what about Meta Quest 4? And after shutting down three VR game studios and canceling some projects, will there be anything to play on them?

Well, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth has been pretty vocal over the past few days, including an “ask me anything” session on his Instagram page to provide “the truth” and respond to the “doom and gloom.” And in his Davos interview, he seems to confirm that Quest 4 is still coming.

Put simply, Meta Quest is not dead. It’s evolving.

Meta is 'investing more in content than anyone else'

This first response came to a question about the “doom and gloom” of the layoffs. Bosworth says it's “mostly overwrought,” but he gets why it exists.

“First, there is a real cause for sadness. We had people doing work we were excited about, whether at the OS layer or great studios delivering great titles,” he commented. But he emphasized that Meta “remains extremely bullish on VR.”

“We are still investing more in content than anyone else, and more than we were four years ago,” Bosworth stated. “While we have receded from the 'high water mark,' we are still very much a net positive investor in the ecosystem.”

He acknowledged the “sadness regarding cancelled projects,” such as the Batman Arkham sequel, but the investment has been adjusted to “match the size of the growth.”

Quest 4 confirmed?

But that’s when he let the cat out of the bag. “Furthermore, these internal changes unblock roadmaps for us on hardware; the next two devices we are looking at are very exciting,” Bosworth added.

Wait, what two devices is he talking about!? Let’s go back to his interview with Alex Heath for more clarity. There were two devices leaked in a memo back in December — “Pismo High” and “Pismo Low.” Quickly, reports linked these to a Meta Quest 4 and Quest 4S.

And when talking to Heath, he seems to very strongly hint that these are still in the works. “I think it's officially leaked we've got two devices on the roadmap that we're super excited about coming out over the course of a period of time,” Bosworth responded.

Heath rightly pressed him on what “a period of time” meant, and Bosworth dodged the question pretty effectively by saying “it could be anything, could be tomorrow.”

No, this doesn’t mean Quest 4 is launching tomorrow. But it is a welcome sign of relief that Meta’s still cooking on its next-gen gaming headset.

What about the Steam Frame?

Another interesting question came up — namely, does Meta view the Steam Frame as competition, or does the company support this additional standalone headset?

“It is a little bit of both. I have said this before — and I will say it again, because it is really true — every time there is a new headset, we learn from it,” Bosworth responded. “We learn how consumers respond to the decisions made regarding architecture, resolution, and cameras.”

One key example he brings up here is the Steam Frame coming included with a wireless dongle for cable-free PC VR. Meta has “experimented” with wireless links like this, but in Bosworth’s own words, “we decided it was just too much hassle.”

But that doesn’t mean the company won’t revisit this idea: “If consumers love it, maybe there is a bigger market there than we realized.”

Analysis: VR’s not dead — it’s the platform that will give birth to true AR

As someone who lives a good chunk of his life in VR like it’s “Ready Player One,” it’s a relief to see Meta come out of the gates swinging. But the transition to AR and smart glasses is definitely happening.

Not only has Meta seen it, but we’ve seen it in our affiliate revenue numbers, too (the money we make when you click on recommended products from our website and buy them). And this has changed my perspective on trying exciting VR headsets and software features.

Namely, I believe all the VR goodness we’re seeing today is an exciting test bed for what we could see in next-gen smart glasses. This idea of “spatial computing” is continuing to evolve before our eyes, and glasses aren’t able to contain all the silicon/battery tech needed to nail it yet.

And that puts VR in an exciting position to be the platform that pulls back the curtain on what the specs of the future will be able to do. By the way, Andrew (if you’re reading this, hi), I’d love to talk to you further about this!

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I’ve never been a passionate sports fan, but I love live music. In other words, I watch the Super Bowl for the halftime show. The energy, the talent and the excitement on such a big stage is fun to see regardless of the artist, in my opinion.

When I found out Bad Bunny was performing this year, I decided to run a small experiment. Instead of reaching for my phone when Bad Bunny started rapping in Spanish, I kept my hands in my lap — and my eyes on the stage. That’s because I was wearing Ray-Ban Meta Display smart glasses.

My question going in was simple: Could Meta keep up and translate the performance in real-time? Here’s what happened.

What I wanted to test

I wasn’t expecting to demo tech while watching the Super Bowl. But there I was literally seeing if these glasses could help me in a very normal, human way:

• Could they help me understand lyrics in real time?
• Could they provide context without forcing me onto my phone?
• Could they keep me in the moment instead of dragging me out of it?

What Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses actually are

Ray-Ban Meta Display glasses are the company’s most advanced consumer AR-style smart glasses to date — and the first from a major brand to include an in-lens display.

Unlike regular “smart glasses,” which are mostly cameras and speakers, these can actually show visual information directly in your field of view via a tiny screen visible only to you.

Here’s the quick, clean rundown:

• In-lens display: A full-color 600 × 600 pixel overlay that appears in your right lens
• Meta AI: You can ask for translations, context, directions or messages hands-free
• Neural Band: A wristband that lets you control the glasses with subtle muscle gestures
• Built-in camera: You can take photos or videos and see a viewfinder in your glasses
• Phone connectivity: Works with iOS and Android over Bluetooth and Wi-Fi
• Battery: About 6 hours of use, plus a charging case
• Price: Around $799 (more for Rx lenses)

Importantly, the display does not block your vision. It feels more like a subtle heads-up overlay that appears only when you need it — similar to a floating notification in your peripheral view. That said, you should not drive a vehicle while wearing them.

The halftime moment: when Bad Bunny came on

When Bad Bunny hit the stage, I did what I normally do: I watched, listened and tried to keep up.

Then, I quietly switched to the translations with my wrist and forefinger and I said: “Hey Meta, what is he saying right now?”

Within seconds, text appeared in my lens. It wasn’t full karaoke subtitles streaming line by line all the time. Sometimes it only caught a few words or left some out (I know a little bit of Spanish and Bad Bunny’s lyrics well enough to notice).

But overall, I got concise, real-time translations of key phrases and themes — enough to understand the meaning without staring at words instead of the performance.I could still see the dancers. I could still feel the energy of the crowd. I could still watch the choreography and lighting.

For the first time, I didn’t feel “behind” in a multilingual performance. It was so cool.

What worked surprisingly well

• I didn't need my phone. This was the biggest win. Normally, I’d be pulled into a mini black hole of scrolling. Instead, I stayed focused on the show.
• The translations were fast enough to feel live. There was a slight delay, but not enough to break the experience. It felt like having a very quick translator sitting next to me.
• It deepened my appreciation of the performance. Understanding the lyrics gave me a better emotional connection to what Bad Bunny was doing on stage.

What didn’t work perfectly

No tech is magic — and these glasses are no exception. If I wasn’t facing the TV directly or the camera moved to dancers and not Bad Bunny, I would lose the lines of translations.
And, when that happened, it took a minute to get translations back on again. So, I probably missed a quarter of the lyrics in real time.

Gesture control is cool, but it’s not completely intuitive right away. I mostly relied on voice instead. I’ve been playing around with the wristband and hand motions and it’s still taking me a little while to get used to everything.

The takeaway

For the first time, AI didn’t pull me out of the experience — it pulled me deeper into it. I didn’t leave halftime thinking, “Wow, the glasses are amazing.” I left thinking, “Wow — I actually understood Bad Bunny.” It made the halftime show even more impressive and interesting to me.

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Meta has been fairly quiet when it comes to its VR devices like the Quest 3 and Quest 3s, especially since the company just laid off more than 1,000 employees from its Reality Labs arm which is responsible for VR. The company's CTO tried to downplay the layoffs, saying that it would "unblock roadmaps for our next two devices."

One of those devices may be the rumored Meta Phoenix lightweight VR headset.

A mock-up based on seen prototype models surfaced in early January from Luna, a regular VR leaker. "I’ve seen development units of Meta’s premium lightweight VR HMD, planned for H1 2027," she posted.

Her mock-up revealed a device that is much smaller than the Quest 3 headset that seems like a midstep between AR smart glasses like the Xreal One Pros and a full VR headset.

The 2027 device is supposed to move the compute abilities to a separate puck where the processing chip and some other components will be housed.

This week, another VR leaker, Noridoesvr posted a mockup of said puck. Like the Luna leak, Nori claims their mockup is based on "physical prototypes" that they've seen. She noted that it includes a waistband clip and a cooling exhaust.

"I modeled this based on physical prototypes I’ve seen. Note the waistband clip and the cooling exhaust on top. The design will likely change, but this represents some variants currently being tested, they said.

"I don't have more information about Phoenix or what Meta's plans are for it." The device was delayed into 2027 in December according to an internal memo seen by Mashable.

Reportedly, Meta will release a "limited edition" device called Malibu 2 and a next-generation Meta Quest device this year, but after the layoffs its not clear if those plans will come to fruition or not.

The memo claimed that the revamped device will have major upgrades focused on gaming, but it was vague from there on. Stay tuned to Tom's Guide for all the latest on Meta's next VR headset(s) because we're as interested to know more as you are.

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While the signs may point to Meta abandoning VR and focusing its efforts on smart glasses, that hasn’t stopped Zuck & Co. dropping one of the biggest updates to the Meta Quest 3/Quest 3S headsets.

I’m talking about Horizon OS v85 PTC (Public Test Channel), and in the features coming with it, the game changer is the ability to turn any physical surface into a virtual keyboard and mouse. This is the spatial computing future I’d dreamed of, so of course I had to hop on and try it.

Public Test Channel is home of pre-release beta software that users can opt in and try on their Horizon app. This is not finalized software, so expect some tweaks to fix some of the things I talk about.

What I imagined spatial computing would look like

You know exactly what I mean when I say this feels like “Minority Report,” right? That moment Tom Cruise dons the smart glasses and gloves and starts moving OS windows around while typing away on a virtual keyboard.

Well, with Surface Keyboard & Touchpad, you (sort of) get exactly that, but in a UI that actually feels like a computing device you’d use.

This is the feature that Meta has been researching for at least six years, and a pretty good-looking prototype was shown in 2023 (Mark Zuckerberg claimed he could hit 100 words per minute).

The reality is a bit of a mixed bag at the moment. The keyboard itself is impressively accurate — just place your hands down, and the Quest 3 will scan the surface and pop out a keyboard and touchpad right in front of you.

The tracking on your hands while resting on a surface is nice and precise, and sticks to your fingers like glue while you glaze across the QWERTY surface in front of you and write away. It’s clear the research here has paid off.

Typing on a surface is always much more preferable than trying to type on a virtual keyboard in thin air, and my speed did increase. Although, your mileage may vary depending on the surface you’re on here, and how much you intend to type.

A desk is always going to be a hard deal for your fingertips to go through, and you will feel it after a couple of hundred words, whereas a cushioned surface like a couch is more comfortable, but you lose a bit of that reliability.

So keyboard-wise, Meta’s work here has proven largely successful. This idea of spatial computing is mostly intact, but the real villain is the surfaces you type on, at which point a bluetooth keyboard will always be better for longform write ups (like this one — my fingers are killing right now).

The touchpad ain’t so great

I’ll chalk this up to this being a test for the software, but the virtual touchpad isn’t quite there yet — not quite being the effective time saving replacement to just reaching out and touching your content because it’s just not reliable enough.

It does all the things you’d expect a touchpad to do, such as moving the cursor, tapping to click and two-finger scrolling. But when you’re not actively looking at it and towards the screen, some of those inputs don’t get picked up.

While I did find the tracking was more than good enough for touch typing on the keyboard, the tracking on that touchpad could do with some work — to the point that I often found myself reverting back to hand gestures.

Great in short bursts, and a glimpse of what I want in AR glasses

So what are we left with here? Simply put, something that feels futuristic but rough on your fingers at the same time. For the sake of your own typing digits, don’t try to work like this all day like I did.

But in practice, public test software oddities aside, this is so cool. The reliability of the keyboard is impressive and the fast touch typing capabilities do make this feel like something I could really dig into for quick email responses and fast web browsing.

It’s what I envisioned when the words “spatial computing” started being uttered a couple of years ago, and I’m dreaming of the day I see this kind of tech come to the best smart glasses.

Because one thing is becoming clear (in my opinion) — while the future of Quest VR as a platform may look a little grim after the layoffs, this is becoming an exciting test bed for what we could see in next-gen smart glasses.

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In a time where we’re all feeling the pinch, dirt cheap tech is becoming the main way to treat ourselves, and the $20 wearIQ bluetooth glasses really give an experience that feels more than its price tag.

I didn’t expect to be writing those words. Instead, I was ready to dunk on them hard. But with a better microphone than I expected, decent speakers and a shockingly good battery life, these feel like just the right amount of smarts for most folks reading this.

So to put them through the wringer, I ditched my Ray-Ban Metas and daily drove the wearIQs for a month. On paper, this should be a mismatch. And full transparency: it absolutely is (very much like comparing apples and oranges).

But switching to them showed me you can actually get a pretty impressive pair of specs for $20, and made me question whether there’s such a thing as smart glasses getting too smart.

Can you actually call them “smart?”

Of course, it’s worth me noting what these actually are. They’re called “smart glasses,” but…well…they’re not. Think of them like a pair of bluetooth headphones with the tech packed into a pair of specs.

There’s no smart stuff in the glasses like some of the local AI capabilities you’ve got on your Ray-Ban Metas — all the smarts are completely dependent on that phone in your pocket.

That’s not to say that’s a bad thing (and I’ll go into that later), but your mileage will vary based on the smart assistant. On an Android phone? Great, you’ve got Gemini at your fingertips.

For iPhones, you’re stuck with Siri, which will be getting better soon through the sheer force of $1 billion per year to use Google’s Gemini, but your functionality is definitely going to be simpler for now.

The corner cut

And then that’s when I get into the one place where you can really feel that $20 price — the speaker quality. To wearIQ’s credit, I wasn’t expecting “great” or “good.” With managed expectations, I can safely say that the sound is “fine.”

Kudos to the team, the speakers here do have decent sound definition and clarity, and the volume is enough to hear phone calls on busy streets without distortion.

But with literally zero bass, don’t expect an auditory journey through your favorite albums. Keep your earbuds with you for that, and use these specifically for calls and a back and forth with your AI.

Feels like more than $20

With those early takes out the way, I got into actually using them and you know what? They’re better than I expected. With a huge variety of styles to pick from, there’s an aesthetic to match anyone, and without the obvious camera up front, people don’t do a double take thinking you’re spying on them.

Then comes the on-board microphone. When my mom called me, I was fearing the worst — a basic mic experience that is quickly washed out by surrounding noise (and yes, I did the dreaded running the kitchen tap test on it too).

But the wearIQs really held their own throughout most of my tests, and only really broke down when walking facefirst into gusty/windy conditions (the same point that I became impossible to hear on my Ray-Bans).

And finally, battery life has become a bit of a running joke for smart glasses. If you look at a pair funny, they do have a tendency of dropping to zero real quick. But what may be these “smart” glasses’ weakness (not actually being smart) may be one of its greatest strengths too, because these last long.

Taking a pair to CES 2026 and casually using them as I would any glasses (couple phone calls, some asks to set reminders and take quick notes), I got through two whole days before being warned about the low battery.

Just the right (cheap) middle ground?

My time with these glasses got me thinking about the whole idea of smart glasses. As the guy who regularly looks a little silly wearing AR and AI specs on this website, I’m very much on the lookout for that moment that I can say “the future is here.”

That moment where smart glasses are fully capable standalone devices while also being small and sleek enough to look like a normal pair of spectacles. Spoiler alert: we’re getting there, but the more technologically advanced pairs look a little silly on your face.

But…do you care? In the here and now, is the vision of glasses replacing your phone actually something the people want? Or are we all happy staying at the stage of not giving up our phones and just having something dirt cheap that is linked to it?

I’m thinking the answer is probably a resounding “yes,” but I’d love to know your thoughts in the poll below.

Outlook

My own existential crisis about smart glasses aside, let’s wrap this up. There are things about the wearIQ glasses that I can pick apart in comparison to the Ray-Ban Metas I swapped them for. But all of that melts away when you remember they’re $20.

All the styles you can pick from, the decent sound quality for calls, the strong microphones and that impressive battery life — all for the same price as a fajita at Chili’s. In a time when we both want to treat ourselves, but are really feeling the pinch, the wearIQs are a winner.

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“I don’t know how I feel about those,” said one of my neighbors when she saw me wearing the Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses. She was intrigued — and even more weirded out — when I described what they could do.

After having used Meta’s most advanced (and most expensive) smart glasses for a week, I’ve come to the same conclusion. Like Meta’s other smart glasses, the Ray-Ban Displays have a camera and meta’s AI, so you can not only take pictures, but ask the AI to describe what you’re seeing.

Because the Displays have a display, it opens them up to far more abilities. For example, if someone is speaking to you in a foreign language, the glasses can provide a near-instantaneous translation. Or, if you’re in an unfamiliar city, you can get turn-by-turn walking directions that show up literally right before your eyes.

But while the Ray-Ban Displays are perhaps the most complete smart glasses we’ve tested, they’re not the best smart glasses.

Meta Ray-Ban Display review: Cheat Sheet

What is it?
Meta’s most advanced — and most expensive — smart glasses, with a built-in display

Who is it for?
Early adopters.

What does it cost?
A very pricey $800 — in my case, $869 including taxes. That’s more than twice as expensive as the regular Ray-Ban Meta (gen 2) glasses, and they don’t come in as many colors or styles: just black or sand, though both options come with transitions lenses.

What do we like?
They’re the most accessible and practical smart glasses yet for a mass audience. The display is easy to read, and the neural band works well.

What don’t we like?
They’re expensive, and most of the functionality is confined within Meta’s ecosystem of apps and services. You have to charge two things.

Meta Ray-Ban Display: Specs

Display resolution: 600 x 600 pixels
Refresh rate: 90HZ max (content refresh at 30HZ)
Brightness: 30-5000nits
Camera: 12MP camera with 3X zoom
Video: 1440x1920 pixels @30 Fps
Battery life: 248 mAh / up to 6 hours (glasses), 134mAh/ up to 18 hours (band)
Charging case: up to 24 hours
Storage: 32GB
Wireless: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.3
Microphones: 6 (2 in left arm, 2 in right arm, 1 near nose pad, 1 contact mic)
Compatibility: iOS 15.2 and higher, Android 10 and higher

Meta Ray-Ban Display review: The ups

For years, I’ve been waiting for the worlds of AI glasses and AR glasses to become one. From the first moment of putting on the Meta Ray-Ban Displays, it’s clear this is starting to actually happen.

The display overlays your world

It’s there when you need it, and works without a fuss. Two taps of your middle finger against your thumb and it magically appears, and it’s wonderfully bright and crisp.

I especially liked that it would automatically adjust its brightness based on the ambient light — lighting up to even overcome something as subtle as my bedroom lamp. It was so bright that I was even able to read it easily against one of the more challenging backdrops: a snow-covered field on a sunny day.

More than a convenience, it also enables far more functionality, such as letting you preview photos and videos you’re taking with the glasses, showing album art from music you’re playing, and displaying live translations and dialogue from people who are talking to you.

Gestures are almost magical

If you’re going to have a display, you need some way to navigate it, and meta seems to have found a clever solution with the Neural Band.

This strap, which reminds me of the Whoop fitness tracker, has a series of contacts that detects muscle movements in your wrist as you tap and move your fingers, and translates them into gestures so that you can move about the Ray-Ban Display’s screens.

It took me a few days of practice (I still don’t get everything right), but navigating the interface is pretty easy. One of my favorite gestures is pinching your index and thumb, and then twisting your wrist right and left to do such things as increasing and decreasing the volume of music, changing the brightness of the display, and zooming in and out of the camera.

Virtual typing is the coolest extension of gestures. Within the Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger apps, you can reply to messages literally by lifting a finger. It’s pretty cool — you simply trace, either on a surface or in mid-air, what you want to write, and the glasses will interpret the gestures and write out the letters in the display.

You’re not going to write the next great American novel this way. You can only draw out letters, numbers and some punctuation (there’s a submenu for everything), and it’s much more time-consuming than dictation, but I can see it being helpful if you need to respond to someone and can’t speak out loud.

The one caveat to all this is that during my testing, my Neural Band would occasionally stop working — at least once or twice a day — so I would have to turn it off and on again to get it back up and running.

Meta AI is getting smarter

What makes these smart glasses smart is Meta AI, which powers some of the more interesting functions of the Ray-Ban Display

Like Meta’s other smart glasses, you can say “Hey Meta, what am I looking at,” and it will attempt to describe what it is you’re seeing, but with the added benefit of occasionally showing you a picture in the display itself. For example, when I looked at the Empire State Building and asked Meta what it was, it not only identified the New York skyscraper, but displayed an image of it on-screen.

I used it in a number of situations, and Meta AI was able to identify objects with reasonable accuracy, such as objects in my rooms, as well as things such as toys — it even correctly identified my Voltron. It was less accurate with cars. While it could tell if something was an SUV or a sedan, it had trouble identifying the specific bands, such as mistaking a Toyota for a Range Rover.

The two features unique to the Ray-Ban Display are live translations and live captions, which function similarly to each other. Basically, they’ll listen to someone speaking, and show that person’s words as text on the glasses’ display. It currently works with English, Spanish, French, and Italian.

Live captions are nearly instantaneous; as someone was talking to me, their words appeared about a split second or two after they were spoken.

To test Live translation, I fired up some foreign language shows on Netflix. I started with “The Leopard,” an Italian series. The glasses did an adequate job of translating, but were far from perfect, and would miss some dialogue, especially when people spoke fast.

For example, when one character said “When they say death to the Bourbons, they mean us, right?”, Meta AI translated it as “ When they say dead in Borgone, they mean us, right?”

The camera has some neat tricks

One of the advantages of having a display in your smart glasses is that it makes framing a shot far easier. When you fire up the camera, you get a preview window of the picture or video you’re about to take. Even better is the Ray-Ban Display’s 3x zoom (a feature not found on Meta’s other smart glasses) so you can get even closer to your subject. Below is an example I took of the Empire State building, both zoomed in and zoomed out.

Nighttime photography was passable, though you'll want to keep yourself fairly steady. When I stopped for a moment, I was able to take this pretty pleasing image of the large button sculpture in New York's garment district.

You can also use the pinch-to-zoom feature when viewing photos you’ve taken, and even move your hand vertically and horizontally to pan and tilt.

Also thanks to the screen, the Ray-Ban Displays have their own version of FaceTime. Called Two-way video calling, only while you can see the caller, they can only see a view from your glasses’ camera. This feature works with Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, and Instagram, and is a neat way of showing someone else what you’re seeing in real time.

Meta Ray-Ban Display review: The downs

There are three key areas where the Meta Ray-Ban Displays fall down — namely the lack of things to do, not being able to find your way around, and the low stamina.

Maps are a work in progress

This was one of the features I was looking forward to the most, and one that was most disappointing. To be fair, it’s still in beta, but I wish Meta had something more polished for when the glasses rolled out.

Map data comes from Overture and OpenStreetMap, and, at least in New York City, it worked well. I asked Meta for a list of pizzerias near me, and the glasses displayed several options with ratings. After selecting one, it gave me turn-by-turn directions that updated accurately as I walked to the destination.

At the moment, turn-by-turn directions are only available in 23 U.S. cities, as well as Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Milan, Rome, Naples, London, Manchester, and Paris. Plus, the glasses only provide walking directions, so it’s only useful if you’re getting somewhere on your own two feet. It doesn’t even include such things as mass transportation.

In his brief hands-on time with Google’s Android XR glasses, my colleague Mark seemed to have a far richer time using its Maps app, which is understandable given how much development has been put into Google Maps over the years. I can only imagine that when it launches, it will be more fully realized than Meta’s version.

Needs greater app support

As a newish product, the Ray-Ban Displays work well with Meta’s other apps, but there’s not a lot of integrations with any other apps, which limits what you can do with the glasses.

You can connect it to Gmail and Google Calendar, as well as Outlook, and audio apps are also well represented — Apple Music, Amazon Music, Spotify, Audible, and iHeart — but outside of that, there’s not much else.

For example, if you’re looking through your fridge and notice you’re out of milk, you can’t ask Meta to add a quart of two-percent to your shopping list — the best it can do is set up a reminder.

There’s also no smart home integration to speak of, so you can’t say “hey meta, turn on my living room lights,” and have your floor lamp turn on. It would also be great to use the glasses to order an Uber, and then have the Displays show you where the driver is en route.

You need to charge two things — and battery life isn’t great

Meta says that the Ray-Ban Displays should last up to 6 hours with mixed use, and the band up to 18 hours. However, in my testing, the battery life dropped a lot faster. After about an hour and a half of listening to a podcast, the battery had decreased to 40%.

Fortunately, the Displays charging case gives you an extra 24 hours — and even better, the case folds down into a very compact size when you remove the glasses.

One small annoyance: While you can recharge the case via USB-C, the Neural Band uses a proprietary charging cable.

Meta Ray-Ban Display review: Verdict

For now, the Meta Ray-Ban Displays are perhaps the most complete pair of smart glasses you can buy, and the most stylish too (especially when compared to the RayNeo X3 Pro’s dorky aesthetic).

Their built-in screen enables some pretty cool things, such as framing photos and videos, getting turn-by-turn directions, and being able to read and reply to messages more easily and discreetly.

Yet, as much as the Meta Ray-Ban Displays can do, I was left wanting them to be able to do more. When I attended the launch of Alexa+, Amazon leaned very heavily on its partner integrations with rideshare apps, food delivery, and other third-party services, some of which you can already do with the dated (and display-less) Echo Frames.

Meta’s own apps cover some of what I want out of a pair of smart glasses, and there is some integration with music apps, but when you have a display built in, there are far more opportunities with third-party apps and services, which makes their absence all the more glaring.

As I said in my first 24 hours with the Ray-Ban Display, Meta has a little bit of time to make its smart glasses even more functional, but it’s going to face some real competition when Google and Amazon release their own glasses — which look to be far more capable.

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It's official: Meta's VR division is bleeding money. In Meta's latest earnings call, its Reality Labs department lost a staggering $6.02 billion in its fourth quarter while bringing in $955 million, putting Quest VR headsets in a dire state.

That isn't to say Meta hasn't seen a successful year, though. With a revenue of $59.89 billion in the fourth quarter and $200.97 billion in full-year revenue, the company has seen a 24% and 22% year-over-year increase, respectively. But it's Meta's advertising business pulling this weight.

Reality Labs, the home for its Quest VR headsets, smart glasses and metaverse projects, hasn't been profitable. Despite Oculus founder Palmer Luckey stating Meta's recent 1,500 layoffs "is not a disaster," it's clear the company's most exciting department for consumers is facing strong headwinds.

But Meta has long-term plans in place, one that makes AI and smart glasses a top priority for the tech giant. In fact, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg states, expect Meta to make heavy investments "towards glasses and wearables going forward" to make "VR a profitable ecosystem."

Well, one more than the other, it seems. With the Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses being the company's highlight in 2025, with still no sight of the highly anticipated Meta Quest 4, Zuckerberg and co. may be done with VR after all, and the writing is on the wall.

Move over, VR

While the Meta Quest 4 is reportedly in the works, the company's latest earnings report and recent layoffs spell a shift in focus. Smart glasses are having their moment, and we've seen Meta double down on this in its Meta Connect 2025 event, releasing its next-gen Meta Ray-Ban Display, Ray-Ban Meta (gen 2) and Oakley Meta Vanguard specs.

Zuckerberg calls AI glasses "a moment similar to when smartphones arrived," so it's only fitting that he continues to say that "the bulk of our 'new' R&D and capital for 2026 is going into the AI compute for glasses."

With Google's Android XR glasses fueling the smart specs race, Apple reportedly ditching its Vision Pro headset and looking into Apple smart glasses and Samsung even confirming plans for its first smart specs during its earnings call, it's only fair for Meta to be doubling its efforts to stay on top of the smart spec industry.

In any case, this looks to lean heavily towards the development of AI and AR in smart glasses over VR headsets, as any mention of a successor to its Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S, or advancements on the virtual reality front, isn't in the conversation.

Even CFO of Meta, Susan Li, backs this up: "We've realized efficiencies in our hardware supply chain for Quest, and as Mark mentioned, the headcount reductions in the VR teams allow us to lean harder into the 'Personal Superintelligence' scaling without the total loss line growing further."

While there's nothing to say Meta is completely abandoning its VR plans, there's reason to believe the company is prioritizing focus on a new wave of tech driven by smart glasses. Unfortunate, considering Quest is one of the best VR headsets you can get today.

Shifting priorities

With AI and smart glasses now in focus, that leaves little room for Meta's Quest VR headsets to grow. While this (hopefully) doesn't mean plans for the Quest 4 will be scrapped, many otherwise VR projects won't see the light of day.

Since Meta closed first-party XR studios, including Armature Studio, Twisted Pixel and Sanzaru Game, we now almost certainly won't see a Batman: Arkham Shadow sequel, or even a Harry Potter VR title — as they've reportedly been canceled. VR gaming continues to be a key factor for the Quest 3 and Quest 3S, so this isn't a good look for the future of the headsets.

Of course, Meta also tried pushing its Quest VR devices as productivity machines, although that didn't work out for the Quest Pro. While we've seen some recent updates, like Meta Horizon TV turning the headsets into quality devices for binge-watching shows, there haven't been many major updates since.

Is Meta quietly giving up on its VR dreams? It may be more of a niche, but those invested in VR, looking for what's coming next, may not have much to look forward to, as AI and AR glasses take priority to see bigger revenue gains.

At the very least, Valve's Steam Frame looks to keep VR in the loop this year.

More from Tom's Guide

• I've been wearing the Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses for 24 hours — here's what I like (and hate)
• The Steam Frame’s biggest problem is (ironically) Half-Life: Alyx, and Valve needs to recapture the VR magic
• I just tested an 8K VR headset that weighs less than my phone, and it could change VR gaming

Earnings calls have been the talk of the town over the past 24 hours, and Samsung has taken the chance with its own update to confirm that its Android XR smart glasses are dropping in 2026.

Seong Cho, executive vice president of Samsung’s Mobile Experience (MX) division, said as much, but didn’t give any more specifics than to say they’re coming this year.

So let’s look back at what’s been spoken about in the past, take a guess at what we can expect to see, and how they can compete with the only real competition in the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses.

What Samsung Galaxy Glasses can we expect?

So during this earnings call, Cho talked about the company’s plans to deliver “rich, immersive multimodal AI experiences” in “next-generation AR glasses.” This doesn’t give us much to go on, but let’s dig deeper.

It looks like the company is working on two pairs, as Sam Mobile reported that two product code numbers had appeared: SM-O200P and SM-O200J. Hardware-wise, leaks are pointing to the specs having a 12MP camera with autofocus, but that’s all we have.

The speculation is that those letters on the end could mean the different types of lenses — P meaning “photochromatic” (transition lenses), but that doesn’t explain J. So I’d like to offer a couple an alternative.

Prediction: I think these letters are just the company identifying which designer house these companies come from. I’d be shocked if Samsung dropped smart glasses with display tech built into them (though it is possible), but I think the stronger bet is to say these are internal codes for either Warby Parker or Gentle Monster.

How does Samsung (and Google) beat Meta?

So with Android XR, they’re already off to a great start. Google services and Gemini 3 offer far wider capabilities than Meta’s connections to its social platforms, Meta AI and some third-party services.

Don’t get me wrong, Meta AI has transformed my Ray-Ban Metas into a top notch wearable that can help with some key questions about the world around me. But they can be a little constrained in what they can do.

And this is where Android XR can thrive in an audio-only space. Access to the entire Android ecosystem is going to be significant in providing more usability — provided they actually make them look good to wear.

But what about a display?

As you saw in Mark’s hands-on with Android XR specs, the versatility of the platform means it also works with AR smart glasses too — display tech built into the lens to overlay the real world around you.

And if my prediction is wrong (kind of hoping it is) and one of these two pairs Samsung is working on packs a screen, it could be game, set and match against Meta. In Mike’s first 24 hours with Meta Ray-Ban display specs, he ran into a couple of obstacles:

• Turn-by-turn directions were limited to certain areas: Google Maps would easily take the crown on this.
• Meta AI can only do so much: That’s down to the limitations of the model, which Gemini connected to Android and Google services does not have.
• Battery life drops fast: This…well this isn’t really anything any company can solve at the moment. The batteries are tiny and it’ll take a while to get to a point of ultimate efficiency.

But, beyond any of these easy targets to hit, the one thing that Samsung would have to make a priority is design.

As I said a few months ago, smart glasses have hit their awkward phase design-wise, and while the Meta Ray-Ban display glasses have clearly had attention paid to the aesthetics, they’re still a little weirdly large on your face.

If the team can break that barrier and make something that doesn’t look like a pair of specs pulled straight from “Dexter’s Laboratory,” we’ve got a hit on our hands.

More from Tom's Guide

• I went skiing with the Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses, and now I may ditch my GoPro for good
• I just tried the future of smart glasses — and they blow away the Meta Ray-Ban Display
• I tried the RayNeo Air 4 Pro, and the new HDR10 visuals are absolutely stunning

Meta has now reported its Q4 2025 earnings, and while the headline numbers drew attention, the bigger story goes beyond revenue and profit.

As expected, the company outlined massive ongoing investment in AI, alongside billions of dollars generated from its core advertising business. But the earnings call wasn’t just a financial recap. It also offered clues about where Meta is headed next — from how aggressively it plans to spend on AI infrastructure to how those investments could shape future products and experiences.

Earnings calls are designed primarily for investors, but they often reveal much more than balance sheets. Meta’s discussion touched on AI strategy, infrastructure priorities, and longer-term bets that could influence everything from how ads work to how users interact with Meta’s apps and devices.

That’s where Tom’s Guide comes in. We dig through the investor-focused language and pull out what actually matters for tech enthusiasts — explaining what Meta’s latest results say about the future of its AI tools, platforms, and products, and why those decisions could affect you.

Meta Earnings Numbers at a glance

• Earnings per share (EPS) of $8.88, up from $8.02 per share in Q4 2024
• Revenue of $59.8 billion, up from $48.4 billion in Q4 2024
• $35.1 billion in expenses, up from $25 billion in Q4 2024

When is the Meta Q4 2025 earnings call?

Meta will stream its earnings call live at 4:40 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. PT).

How to listen live

While we're here to live blog the earnings calls with the latest information as it emerges, you might want to listen for yourself (if you're a shareholder in Meta, you almost certainly want to hear what's going on. Here's the link to listen as Mark Zuckerberg and the rest of the executives report what happened in the most recent quarter:

Meta Q4 2025 earnings live webcast

Meta Q4 earnings call — live updates

Meta's stock is down

Meta's last earnings call was in October 2025 where the company reported its Q3 income and expenses. Apparently, Wall Street didn't like what it heard, as the company's stock is down 12% overall since then.

According to the latest reports, investors have raised concerns about the social media giant’s massive amount of spending. Essentially, Meta is spending a lot of money, and the company said it expects 2026 capital expenditure growth to be “notably larger," which means it plans to spend even more.

Meta's most exciting department is bleeding cash

If you're just a fan of cool technology (which most of us are), you're probably excited about Meta’s Reality Labs division. It's where the cool AR tech is being developed. It's also where Meta is losing an absurd amount of money in the short term. In fact, it is expected to bring in only $959 million in revenue for the quarter while losing a staggering $5.9 billion.

Does that mean we should temper our excitement over this new tech? Perhaps not, as Meta is seemingly playing the long game and banking on this technology becoming massive in the future; otherwise, the company wouldn't spend so much on its researchers, developers, and engineers working to build the future of virtual and augmented reality.

Where does Meta make money?

At this point, most of Meta's earnings come from digital advertising. Yet Apple just invested $14.3 billion in Scale AI in June and brought over CEO Alexandr Wang and other top talent from the company.

But Meta is spending billions (between $70 billion and $72 billion) on AI and other areas that don't generate revenue.

“We’re seeing the returns in the core business that’s giving us a lot of confidence that we should be investing a lot more, and we want to make sure that we’re not underinvesting,” he said.

The company sees AI, AR and VR as the future, and it might just be sacrificing money now to make that future a reality.

Meta explores premium subscriptions across its apps

Meta Platforms says it’s exploring optional premium subscription tiers for Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, while keeping the core experience free. The paid options would focus on exclusive features, added controls and expanded AI tools, rather than replacing ad-supported access.

The move signals Meta’s continued interest in diversifying revenue beyond ads, particularly as it ramps up spending on AI and infrastructure.

AI costs are quietly shaping Meta’s subscription strategy

Meta is positioning potential subscriptions around added features and control, but the real pressure point may be AI economics. Training, deploying and running large-scale AI systems — from generative tools to recommendation engines — is capital-intensive, requiring massive investments in data centers, chips and ongoing compute.

Advertising still funds the bulk of Meta’s business, but AI changes the math. As more AI features move from experiments into everyday products, the cost of serving each user rises. Optional subscriptions would give Meta a way to recover some of those costs directly, without locking core social experiences behind a paywall.

In that sense, subscriptions wouldn’t replace ads — they’d act as a pressure valve, helping Meta fund AI expansion while keeping Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp largely free for most users.

AI strategy and earnings: what Meta’s spending means for users

When Meta talks about AI on its earnings call later today, we will learn more about how Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp evolve. The company is spending heavily on AI infrastructure to power smarter feeds, generative tools, assistants and automation across its apps.

That investment is already shaping product decisions. Meta has been building more of its AI in-house, developing proprietary models meant to run recommendations, creative tools and new AI features users interact with every day.

But AI doesn’t come cheap. As costs rise, Meta is under pressure to find ways to pay for those features — which helps explain why the company is exploring optional subscriptions and paid upgrades, alongside ads.

At the same time, Meta has pulled back and adjusted some AI features, like pausing teen access to AI characters, as concerns around safety and oversight grow.

For users, the takeaway is that Meta’s AI push is accelerating, but how it gets funded — and who gets access to what — is still very much in flux.

Meta’s in-house AI models arrive — and what that signals

Meta’s Superintelligence Labs — a new internal AI team — has delivered its first high-profile AI models internally, according to CTO Andrew Bosworth in an exclusive interview with Reuters. He described the work as promising even at this early stage, with ongoing efforts to refine and adapt those models into usable technologies inside Meta’s ecosystem.

Building foundational AI capabilities in-house gives Meta more control over future innovation — potentially powering smarter recommendations, generative tools, and other advanced features down the line — but the company has stopped short of outlining specific product launches or timelines tied to these models.

Analysts see this as part of a broader strategy to regain footing in the competitive AI landscape while investing in long-term tech leadership.

At the same time, Meta has recently paused teen access to its AI characters globally amid safety and oversight concerns — a reminder that as new AI tools roll out, Meta still faces scrutiny over content moderation and user protection.

What analysts — and users — are watching on Meta’s earnings call

As Meta reports earnings, a few key themes are expected to dominate the conversation. Here’s what matters most — and why it’s worth paying attention even if you’re not an investor.

• Advertising strength vs. rising AI costs. Ads are still Meta’s bread and butter. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads all rely on ad revenue, with AI-powered targeting and recommendations increasingly driving performance. But that growth is now competing with the reality that AI is expensive to run, and those costs are rising fast.
• CapEx and 2026 spending plans. One of the biggest questions on the call will be how much Meta plans to spend next year — especially on AI data centers, chips and infrastructure. Analysts expect updated guidance for 2026, with projected spending in the $109B–$117B range. That number will shape how Wall Street views Meta’s margins and long-term cash flow.
• Are Meta’s AI investments paying off yet? Meta has poured billions into AI, but investors want evidence that those investments are starting to translate into real returns — whether that’s smarter ads, better engagement, new paid features or efficiency gains. The balance between progress and pressure will be closely scrutinized.
• Reality Labs: still a drag, still a bet. While AI is the headline story, Meta’s Reality Labs division — home to VR, AR and metaverse projects — continues to lose money. Any updates on losses, timelines or strategic shifts here could influence confidence in Meta’s longer-term bets.
• Engagement and new monetization signals. Finally, analysts will be listening for signals around user engagement and future revenue streams. That includes updates on Threads, experiments with subscriptions, and how AI-enabled features might eventually turn into new ways for Meta to make money.

Advertising is still Meta’s engine — but AI is changing the math

Advertising remains the backbone of Meta’s business, powering Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads. AI-driven targeting and recommendations have helped boost performance, keeping ad revenue resilient even as the digital ad market tightens.

The challenge is cost. Running large-scale AI systems isn’t cheap, and those expenses are climbing fast. On today’s earnings call, analysts will be listening for how Meta balances ad growth with the rising cost of AI infrastructure behind the scenes.

CapEx watch: Meta’s 2026 spending plans loom large

One of the biggest questions heading into Meta’s earnings call is how much the company plans to spend next year. Analysts expect updated guidance on 2026 capital expenditures, particularly for AI data centers, chips and computing infrastructure.

Current projections range from roughly $109B to $117B, and even small changes to that outlook could influence how Wall Street views Meta’s margins, cash flow and long-term discipline.

Meta reiterates where its official earnings news actually appears

In its earnings announcement, Meta Platforms reiterated the official channels it uses for material disclosures under Regulation FD, which governs how public companies share market-moving information.

According to Meta, investors and the public should look to the following sources for official earnings results, press releases, and regulatory updates:

• investor.atmeta.com — Meta’s Investor Relations site, where earnings releases, prepared remarks, financial tables, and webcasts are posted
• meta.com/news — the company’s corporate newsroom for major announcements
• Mark Zuckerberg’s public social profiles on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, which Meta treats as recognized disclosure channels

This matters because information released through these platforms is considered official company communication, not speculation or leaks.

If earnings details, guidance or strategic updates appear elsewhere first, they shouldn’t be treated as confirmed unless they’re echoed through one of Meta’s designated channels.

Meta’s smart glasses plan isn’t about a single device

Meta Platforms isn’t betting on a single “killer” pair of smart glasses — and that’s intentional. Instead of rushing straight to full augmented reality, Meta is rolling out a multi-stage hardware strategy built around three distinct categories: audio AI glasses, display AI glasses, and eventually full AR.

The goal is gradual adoption. Audio-first glasses introduce AI assistance without changing how people use eyewear. Display AI glasses add lightweight visual information without overwhelming users. Full AR only comes later, once the technology is slim, socially acceptable, and genuinely useful for everyday life.

In other words, Meta is trying to normalize smart glasses before making them futuristic. Rather than asking users to strap a full AR computer to their face all day, the company is easing people in — feature by feature, year by year — until wearing AI-powered glasses feels as natural as wearing earbuds or a smartwatch.

This staged approach also gives Meta room to refine the technology, build habits, and test what people actually want from AI on their face — before committing to the most ambitious version of augmented reality.

Why Meta isn’t jumping straight to full AR

For all of its ambition in AR, Meta Platforms has been unusually cautious about pushing full AR glasses to consumers — and that’s by design.

True AR glasses still face hard constraints: they’re bulky, power-hungry, expensive to manufacture, and difficult to wear comfortably for long stretches. Add in battery life, heat, and social acceptance, and the technology simply isn’t ready for everyday use at scale.

Rather than force an early version onto users, Meta is taking a step-by-step approach. Display AI glasses let the company introduce visual computing in a limited, practical way, while continuing to refine the hardware and software needed for full AR behind the scenes.

This also gives Meta time to answer a bigger question: what do people actually want on their face all day? By watching how users interact with small displays — when they glance, what they ignore, and what they find helpful — Meta can shape future AR experiences around real behavior, not demos.

Full AR is still the goal. But for now, Meta is betting that earning trust and habit first matters more than shipping the most advanced tech as fast as possible.

The Meta Ray-Ban display glasses explained

Released in September 2025, the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses are the clearest example yet of how Meta Platforms envisions the next phase of smart eyewear. Rather than jumping straight to full augmented reality, these glasses introduce what Meta calls Display AI — a practical, scaled-back approach to putting visual information on your face.

At the core of the design is a full-color monocular display embedded in the right lens, with a resolution of 600×600 pixels. Crucially, this isn’t meant to be immersive. The display is small and glanceable, designed to surface information only when you need it, then fade back into the background.

That means you won’t see holograms, floating windows or digital worlds layered over reality. Instead, the glasses focus on everyday utilities: turn-by-turn navigation, incoming messages, quick prompts and live translation. It’s closer to a heads-up display than an AR headset — and that distinction is intentional.

Meta’s goal here is usability. By limiting the visual footprint, the company avoids many of the problems that have plagued early AR hardware, including bulkiness, distraction and social awkwardness. You can look at the display briefly, then return your attention to the real world without feeling like you’re wearing a computer on your face.

The Ray-Ban partnership also matters. By packaging this technology inside familiar, fashion-forward frames from Ray‑Ban, Meta is trying to make Display AI feel more like a normal accessory — something you’d actually wear outside your house.

In short, the Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses aren’t trying to replace your phone or introduce full AR..yet. They’re meant to introduce visual AI gently, setting expectations for what smart glasses can do today — and paving the way for more ambitious AR hardware down the line.

Meta’s AI team just hit a milestone — here’s why it matters

Meta Platforms has crossed an important AI milestone just ahead of its earnings call.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum, Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said the company’s newly formed internal AI team has delivered its first key AI models this month. The work is still early, but Bosworth described the results as promising — especially given how new the team is.

According to Bosworth, the group is only about six months into the effort, yet the models are already showing capabilities Meta hadn’t previously achieved internally. That’s notable for a company that’s investing heavily in AI infrastructure, chips, and talent — and facing growing pressure to show results.

Meta hasn’t shared exactly what these models do yet or when they’ll appear in products. However, recent reporting suggests the company has been developing both text-based and multimodal AI systems — models that can understand and generate combinations of text, images, and video. For now, Meta is keeping specifics under wraps.

For everyday users, the significance signals a new direction. Meta is increasingly focused on building its own AI systems, rather than relying entirely on external partners. Over time, these internal models could power features across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Meta’s expanding lineup of smart glasses — from smarter recommendations to more capable AI assistants.

This update also helps explain why AI spending keeps coming up in earnings conversations. Training and running advanced AI models is expensive, but Meta appears to see this as a long-term investment in control, performance, and differentiation.

Are you going to get Meta stock before the market closes?

Ahead of earnings, investors are focused on Meta’s AI spending plans

As Meta Platforms heads into its Q4 earnings report, Wall Street isn’t just focused on revenue and profit. The bigger question is how much Meta plans to spend next on AI — and whether that spending is starting to pay off.

Analysts say updated capital expenditure guidance for 2026 could end up overshadowing the rest of the earnings report, especially if Meta signals another major increase in AI-related spending. The company has already committed billions to data centers, advanced chips and the computing power needed to train and run large AI models — and those costs are putting pressure on margins and free cash flow.

This makes guidance especially important. Even if Meta delivers strong ad revenue this quarter, investors want clarity on how long the AI spending surge will last and whether it’s being managed carefully. Forecasts for 2026 capex vary widely, and small changes in Meta’s outlook could influence how the stock reacts.

The underlying tension is that AI is central to Meta’s future, but it’s expensive in the short term. Investors are listening for signs that Meta can balance aggressive AI investment with financial discipline — and that its spending is driving real efficiency, not just bigger bills.

For this earnings call, how Meta frames AI costs may matter just as much as the numbers themselves.

Advertising momentum could offset some concerns

Despite rising costs tied to AI infrastructure, Meta Platforms still has a powerful advantage heading into earnings: advertising momentum.

Analysts continue to point to Meta’s ad business as a key source of stability, especially across Facebook and Instagram, where AI-driven targeting and recommendation systems have improved performance for advertisers. Those AI tools are helping Meta deliver more relevant ads, which can translate into higher engagement and stronger pricing — even in a competitive digital ad market.

There’s also growing interest in how newer surfaces contribute. Experiments like ads on Threads are still early, but they signal Meta’s intent to monetize emerging platforms more aggressively over time. While Threads won’t move the needle overnight, it adds another potential growth lever that investors — and users — are watching closely.

AI has been a major cost center for Meta, driving up spending on data centers, chips and compute. But if AI-enhanced advertising continues to perform well, it strengthens the case that those investments are paying off — not just in future potential, but in present-day revenue.

A strong ad showing this quarter wouldn’t erase concerns about rising expenses. But it could help balance the narrative, giving Meta more room to argue that AI isn’t just expensive infrastructure — it’s becoming a meaningful growth driver across its core business.

User engagement still underpins Meta’s entire business

While AI spending and advertising dominate earnings headlines, Meta’s results still hinge on something more fundamental: how many people are using its apps — and how often.

Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger continue to reach billions of users globally, and analysts will be watching closely for updates on daily and monthly active users and broader engagement trends. These metrics matter because they directly support Meta’s advertising business — more engagement creates more opportunities to serve ads, test AI features, and introduce new monetization tools.

Instagram remains a particular focus, especially as Meta leans harder into Reels and AI-driven recommendations to compete with TikTok. Strong engagement here reinforces Meta’s argument that AI investments are improving core products, not just increasing costs.

WhatsApp is another longer-term wildcard. While historically light on monetization, it continues to grow, and Meta has been steadily expanding business messaging, advertising integrations, and AI tools. Any commentary on WhatsApp engagement or revenue contribution could signal future upside, even if it’s not material today.

For users, this part of the earnings call often flies under the radar — but it’s crucial. If engagement holds steady or grows, Meta has more room to experiment with AI, subscriptions, and new products. If it weakens, everything else becomes harder.

Meta retail sentiment shows nerves over capex and stock performance

On Reddit investing forums, everyday traders are openly debating what might happen next for Meta’s stock. Some are considering locking in gains before earnings, worried that another aggressive AI spending forecast could weigh on shares. Others are more cautiously optimistic but still point to rising capital expenditures as a lingering concern.

What’s driving that anxiety is memory. Many commenters are still reacting to last quarter’s surprise costs, when Meta’s stock moved sharply despite solid revenue, reminding investors that guidance — not just headline numbers — can dominate the market reaction. For newer investors in particular, the lesson seems to have stuck.

What’s striking isn’t just the uncertainty — it’s where the focus is. Rather than arguing over whether Meta will beat revenue or earnings estimates, retail traders are zeroing in on future spending plans, AI infrastructure costs, and whether Meta can show more discipline as it scales up its ambitions.

That mirrors the broader earnings narrative. Professional analysts have also flagged capex and long-term expense guidance as potential swing factors for the stock. Seeing the same concerns echoed by everyday investors highlights just how central AI spending has become to Meta’s story.

More than 3.5 billion people use Meta every day.

Meta kicked off its earnings report with a familiar theme: strong growth on the surface, paired with rising costs underneath.

For the fourth quarter of 2025, Meta Platforms reported revenue of $59.9 billion, up 24% year over year. Full-year revenue reached $201 billion, a 22% increase compared with 2024. Those gains reflect continued strength in Meta’s core advertising business across Facebook and Instagram, supported by AI-driven targeting and recommendations.

Profitability remains solid, but the picture is more mixed. Meta posted $22.8 billion in net income for the quarter and $60.5 billion for the full year. While quarterly profit rose year over year, full-year net income dipped slightly as expenses climbed.

And that’s where the tension shows up. Meta’s costs and expenses rose sharply, driven largely by infrastructure investments and staffing tied to AI development. Full-year expenses climbed to nearly $118 billion, up 24% from the prior year.

Meta is still growing fast, and its core business is healthy. But the company is also spending aggressively to build out AI and future platforms — setting up a familiar earnings storyline where strong revenue has to coexist with heavier investment.

Advertising powers Meta’s growth — and AI is doing more of the work

Advertising once again did the heavy lifting in Meta’s latest earnings report, reinforcing why the company can afford to invest so aggressively elsewhere.

In the fourth quarter, Meta Platforms saw strong momentum across its ad business, driven by both higher demand and better performance. Meta reported that ad impressions rose 18% year over year in Q4, while the average price per ad increased 6%. For the full year, ad impressions climbed 12% and pricing rose 9%.

That combination matters. More impressions mean Meta is serving ads more frequently across Facebook, Instagram, and its broader app ecosystem. Higher prices suggest advertisers are willing to pay more — often a sign that targeting and placement are improving.

AI plays a growing role here. Meta continues to rely heavily on machine learning to decide which ads users see and when they see them. Those systems have helped improve relevance, keep users engaged, and make campaigns more efficient for advertisers — even as competition for ad dollars remains fierce.

This strength helps explain why advertising remains Meta’s financial backbone. While newer monetization experiments like Threads ads are still early, the core ad engine is generating enough growth to offset rising costs tied to AI infrastructure and product development.

User growth keeps Meta’s ecosystem strong

Beyond revenue and ads, Meta’s earnings report highlights something even more foundational: people are still showing up.

For December 2025, Meta Platforms reported an average of 3.58 billion daily active people across its Family of Apps — which includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. That figure represents a 7% increase year over year, underscoring the massive scale Meta continues to operate at.

This matters because user growth and engagement sit at the center of Meta’s entire business model. More daily users mean more content consumption, more interactions, and ultimately more opportunities to serve ads and introduce new features. It also gives Meta a huge testing ground for AI-powered recommendations, feeds, and tools.

Instagram remains a key driver within that ecosystem. Meta has leaned heavily on Reels and AI-driven content ranking to keep users engaged and competitive with platforms like TikTok. While Meta doesn’t always break out detailed time-spent metrics, rising ad impressions suggest users are spending more time across its apps.

WhatsApp is another important part of the picture. Although it has historically generated less revenue than Facebook or Instagram, it continues to grow globally and plays a larger role in Meta’s long-term plans around messaging, business tools, and AI-powered assistance.

The takeaway is simple: Meta’s scale remains intact. As long as engagement holds steady or grows, the company has room to experiment — whether that’s with AI, subscriptions, or entirely new products.

AI spending accelerates as Meta leans into long-term bets

Meta’s earnings report makes one thing clear: the company is spending aggressively to build its AI future.

For full-year 2025, Meta Platforms reprted capital expenditures of $72.2 billion, with a large portion tied to data centers, infrastructure, and the compute needed to train and run advanced AI models. Spending also surged in the fourth quarter alone, reflecting the scale and speed of Meta’s buildout.

Those investments are already shaping Meta’s cost structure. Total costs and expenses rose sharply year over year, driven by infrastructure growth and continued hiring in AI-related roles. While this spending puts pressure on margins in the short term, Meta is positioning it as foundational — necessary to support everything from AI-powered ads to future consumer products.

What investors are listening for now is what comes next. Meta’s guidance points to even higher spending in 2026, with projected capital expenditures rising significantly as the company expands its AI capacity. That outlook has become one of the most closely watched elements of the earnings call, sometimes carrying as much weight as revenue growth itself.

The tension is familiar: AI is expensive, but Meta believes it’s essential. The company is betting that heavy investment today will translate into better products, stronger monetization, and long-term efficiency gains — even if it makes the near-term financial picture more complicated.

Why Meta is investing so heavily in its own AI silicon

Buried inside Meta’s earnings report is a key driver behind its rising costs: custom silicon.

As part of its AI push, Meta Platforms has been investing heavily in in-house chip design, building custom silicon to power its data centers and AI workloads. The company has made it clear that off-the-shelf hardware alone won’t scale efficiently enough for its long-term ambitions.

Meta’s custom chips are designed to handle AI training and inference more efficiently than general-purpose processors. In theory, that means better performance per watt, lower long-term operating costs, and less reliance on external suppliers — all critical as AI models grow larger and more compute-hungry.

This silicon strategy helps explain why capital expenditures surged in 2025 and are expected to climb even higher in 2026. Building AI infrastructure isn’t just about adding servers; it means designing, testing, and deploying specialized hardware at massive scale. That process is expensive upfront, even if it pays off later.

For Meta, the bet is strategic control. By owning more of the hardware stack — from data centers to chips — the company can better optimize AI systems for ads, content ranking, messaging tools, and future products like smart glasses.

The risk, of course, is timing. Custom silicon takes years to mature, and the benefits don’t always show up immediately on the balance sheet.

Reality Labs remains a drag — but Meta isn’t backing off

While AI dominates Meta’s long-term narrative, Reality Labs is still very much part of the earnings picture — and it continues to lose money.

In its Q4 and full-year 2025 results, Meta Platforms reported ongoing operating losses in Reality Labs, the division responsible for virtual reality, augmented reality, and metaverse projects. Those losses have been consistent quarter after quarter, reflecting heavy investment in hardware, software, and research that has yet to generate meaningful revenue.

Meta didn’t signal any major pullback. Instead, the company continues to frame Reality Labs as a long-term bet, separate from the near-term performance of its advertising business. Products like Quest headsets and early AR research remain in development mode rather than profit drivers.

For investors, Reality Labs has become a known quantity. The surprise factor is largely gone, but the division still affects overall profitability — especially as Meta ramps up spending elsewhere, including AI infrastructure and custom silicon.

For users, Reality Labs can feel distant from the core apps they use every day. But the work happening there feeds into Meta’s broader ambitions around immersive computing, spatial interfaces, and future wearable devices.

Meta signals higher AI spending in its 2026 guidance

If there’s one section of Meta’s earnings report that could shape how the stock reacts, it’s guidance — and Meta’s outlook for 2026 is clear: spending is going up.

In its earnings release, Meta Platforms said it expects Q1 2026 revenue of $53.5–$56.5 billion, signaling continued strength in its core advertising business. But the bigger signal came on the cost side.

Meta projects total expenses of $162–$169 billion in 2026, alongside capital expenditures of $115–$135 billion.

That’s a massive investment ramp, driven largely by AI infrastructure. Meta is pouring money into data centers, custom silicon, and compute capacity to support increasingly complex AI models across ads, recommendations, messaging, and future products.

Crucially, Meta also said it expects 2026 operating income to exceed 2025 levels, despite the surge in spending. That’s an attempt to reassure investors that growth can continue even as costs rise — and that AI investments won’t completely overwhelm margins.

For readers, this guidance helps frame the bigger picture. Meta isn’t dialing back ambition or slowing its AI push. Instead, it’s asking investors to accept near-term pressure in exchange for long-term positioning.

What Meta’s earnings mean for everyday users

Meta’s latest earnings report is packed with big numbers, but the real impact will show up slowly — in the products people use every day.

The company’s heavy investment in AI, infrastructure, and custom silicon isn’t just about boosting ad performance. Over time, it’s meant to power smarter feeds, better recommendations, more capable assistants, and new features across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta’s growing lineup of smart glasses.

For users, that likely means more AI-driven experiences baked into apps — from improved content ranking and discovery to new creative tools and conversational features. Meta has already been rolling out AI assistants, image tools, and business messaging upgrades, and its earnings guidance suggests that pace won’t slow down in 2026.

At the same time, Meta’s willingness to keep funding long-term bets like Reality Labs and smart glasses signals that it sees the future beyond phones and traditional social feeds. Those projects may not feel relevant yet, but they shape how Meta is thinking about where people will interact with technology next.

The tradeoff is subtle. More AI can mean more convenience — but it can also mean more automation, more recommendations and less human control over what users see. Meta’s challenge will be balancing innovation with trust as it layers these systems deeper into everyday life.

The risks Meta still has to manage

Meta’s earnings paint a picture of confidence and scale, but the company’s strategy isn’t without risk — and that’s something both investors and users should keep in mind.

The most obvious pressure point is spending. Meta is committing enormous sums to AI infrastructure, custom silicon and data centers, with capital expenditures set to climb sharply in 2026. If ad growth slows or macro conditions tighten, those fixed costs could become harder to absorb.

There’s also execution risk. Building cutting-edge AI systems in-house is complex, expensive, and competitive. Meta isn’t just racing against its own timelines — it’s competing with companies like OpenAI, Google, and Amazon, all of which are investing heavily in similar infrastructure and talent.

Regulation remains another wildcard. AI-driven advertising, content recommendations and messaging tools continue to draw scrutiny from regulators in the U.S. and abroad. Any changes to privacy rules, data usage, or AI governance could affect how Meta deploys the very systems it’s investing in.

Finally, there’s the question of user trust. More automation and AI-curated experiences can improve convenience, but they also raise concerns about transparency, controland over-optimization. Meta will need to balance innovation with restraint to avoid backlash.

The key takeaways from Meta’s earnings report

Meta’s earnings report was packed with big numbers, but not everything carried equal weight.

What clearly mattered most was guidance. Revenue and profit came in strong, but attention quickly shifted to Meta’s outlook for 2026 — especially projected spending on AI infrastructure, custom silicon and data centers. Those forward-looking numbers framed how investors interpreted everything else.

Advertising performance also landed as a positive. Growth in ad impressions and pricing reinforced the idea that Meta’s core business remains healthy enough to fund its aggressive investment plans. That helped offset concerns about rising expenses, at least in the near term.

What mattered less was short-term experimentation. Early monetization efforts like Threads ads or incremental product updates didn’t meaningfully change the narrative. These initiatives are still seen as long-term options rather than immediate drivers.

Reality Labs, while still unprofitable, also failed to surprise. Losses there are now well understood and largely baked into expectations, making AI spending the bigger swing factor this quarter.

The big picture takeaway: this earnings report wasn’t about proving Meta can grow — it was about convincing investors that it can spend responsibly while building for the future. Whether the market buys that argument will depend less on last quarter’s results and more on how Meta executes from here.

Why Meta keeps stressing “operating discipline”

Even as Meta ramps up AI spending, executives are trying to reassure investors that the company isn’t returning to the unchecked spending era that rattled markets a few years ago. Headcount growth has slowed, teams have been consolidated and Meta continues to frame its investments as targeted rather than sprawling.

The message is subtle but consistent: spend heavily on AI infrastructure and silicon, but stay lean everywhere else. Whether Wall Street buys that balance remains an open question, but it’s clearly a theme Meta wants to reinforce.

Meta confirms AI is now its biggest priority

If there was any doubt before, Meta’s earnings call made it clear: AI is the company’s top priority, even above metaverse ambitions.

Executives repeatedly returned to AI infrastructure, internal model development and long-term capacity building. The scale of planned investment — especially into data centers and custom silicon — reinforces that Meta sees AI as foundational to everything it does, from ads and feeds to messaging and hardware.

Meta positioned AI as a multi-year build that will reshape its products gradually, not overnight.

Why Meta keeps emphasizing “long-term”

One notable pattern in the earnings call was how often Meta emphasized long-term thinking.

Rather than focusing narrowly on quarterly margins, executives talked about building durable systems — AI models, infrastructure and platforms — that can support growth for years. That framing helps explain why Meta is willing to tolerate near-term cost pressure in exchange for future flexibility and control.

For investors, that’s a patience test. For users, it signals steady, incremental changes rather than sudden product overhauls.

The earnings call reinforces Meta’s “quiet rollout” approach

Meta’s strategy increasingly favors quiet rollouts over big reveals.

Instead of announcing dramatic new products on earnings calls, the company appears more comfortable shipping AI features gradually across its apps — testing, refining and expanding them once they’re proven.

That approach aligns with how users are likely to experience Meta’s AI push: not as a single moment, but as a slow shift toward more automated, assistive, and AI-driven experiences across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and beyond.

Meta is slowly building revenue beyond ads

While advertising still dominates Meta’s business, the company has been laying groundwork for additional revenue streams, including subscriptions, business messaging and potential AI-powered services.

Meta Verified, WhatsApp business tools, and creator subscriptions already generate income, and AI features could eventually expand that mix. Rather than replacing ads, Meta appears to be testing optional paid layers — a strategy that could help offset rising AI costs without fundamentally changing how its apps work for most users. Although Mark could not share must more.

Zuckerberg: video isn’t the endgame — more immersive formats are coming

During the earnings call, Mark Zuckerberg returned to an idea he’s talked about for years: video is foundational, but it’s not the final format.

Zuckerberg said video has been one of Meta’s core strategic bets for a long time, helping drive engagement across Facebook and Instagram. But he framed video as a stepping stone, not a destination. In his view, feeds are likely to evolve toward more interactive and immersive formats over time.

That’s an important signal. It suggests Meta doesn’t see the future of feeds as endless scrolling through passive video — even short-form video like Reels. Instead, the company appears to be thinking about experiences that let users participate, respond, and interact more directly with content.

While Zuckerberg didn’t spell out specific products, the direction aligns closely with Meta’s broader investments in AI and spatial computing. More immersive formats could include AI-generated experiences, interactive media, or content that adapts in real time based on how users engage with it.

Meta is pushing organic recommendations to become more adaptive — in real time

Meta also shared more detail on where organic content recommendations are headed — and the focus is on making feeds respond faster and more intelligently within a single session.

Instead of relying only on longer-term signals like past likes or follows, Meta says it’s working to make recommendations more adaptive to what a user is engaging with in the moment. That means the content you see could shift dynamically based on what you watch, skip, linger on, or interact with during a single session.

To do that, Meta plans to incorporate large language models (LLMs) more deeply into its recommendation systems. These models can help Meta better understand not just surface-level signals, but the meaning and context of content itself — including themes, intent, and how different pieces of content relate to one another.

The goal is sharper personalization without requiring users to explicitly tell the app what they want. Instead, feeds would learn continuously as users browse, making recommendations feel more relevant and less repetitive.

This fits directly with Meta’s broader AI push. Better content understanding improves engagement, keeps users active longer, and strengthens the ad ecosystem — all while laying groundwork for more interactive and immersive formats in the future.

Meta: owning the AI stack is a strategic necessity

Meta also addressed why it’s so focused on building its own AI systems — and the answer was blunt: control.

Mark emphasized that Meta wants to build and control the underlying technology so it can design the exact experiences it wants to deliver. The company’s view is that frontier AI won’t always be something you can simply access through a shared API. If you want to shape how products behave at massive scale, you need deeper ownership of the technology itself.

Meta framed this as a fundamental requirement for companies operating at its size. Relying entirely on third-party AI limits how precisely you can design responses, experiences, and interactions — especially as products become more personalized, immersive, and adaptive.

That philosophy helps explain Meta’s aggressive investment in internal AI models, infrastructure, and silicon. It’s not just about cost efficiency or performance. It’s about having the ability to build the experience you want, rather than adapting your products to someone else’s AI system.

The company also tied this back to users. By controlling more of the stack, Meta believes it can better design the structures that allow people to enjoy the kinds of experiences they already gravitate toward — whether that’s content discovery, messaging, or emerging immersive formats.

Meta is pushing toward deep personalization

Meta also said its AI assistant is now available in more than 200 markets, marking a major step in its global rollout. But reach isn’t the only goal. The company emphasized that it wants Meta AI to become the most personalized assistant possible, tailoring responses to each person’s preferences, interests, and context.

Rather than offering one-size-fits-all answers, Meta’s aim is to adapt how the assistant responds based on how individuals use its apps — what they engage with, how they communicate, and the kinds of tasks they regularly try to accomplish.

The company described Meta AI as a tool designed to help people do more, not just ask questions. That includes assisting with planning, creation, discovery, and everyday decision-making inside Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and future devices.

This focus on personalization helps explain Meta’s broader AI strategy. Delivering customized responses at scale requires deep integration with recommendation systems, content understanding, and user context — all areas where Meta is investing heavily in its own AI models and infrastructure.

For users, this means Meta AI is likely to feel less generic over time and more attuned to individual needs. For Meta, personalization is the differentiator that could turn AI from a feature into a core part of its platforms.

The Meta Ray-Ban Display smart glasses first went on sale in late September, but owing to their popularity and production, have only recently become available in large numbers. I had a chance to go hands-on with them at Meta’s launch event, but only for a few brief minutes.

I was finally able to schedule a fitting for the glasses — a required first step for anyone looking to purchase a pair — and, after waiting over a month, I finally got my hands on a pair and have been testing them out for the past day.

I’m still working on my full review, but having worn the Ray-Ban Display for a fair chunk of time, I have a few initial impressions of these $800 specs, and how they might stack up against the best smart glasses.

They’re chunky

Compared to Meta’s other wearables, which don’t scream “smart glasses,” the Displays have a much thicker frame (think Buddy Holly), which makes them stand out a lot more. My wife commented that they didn’t look as nice on me as the Ray-Bans or Oakleys, so be prepared to get a few more stares if you pick these up.

I do like that the Meta Displays come with transition lenses by default, as it would be a shame to have to stop wearing them each time I went indoors or outside.

Gestures took a while to master

Both at the store and on the glasses themselves, Meta offers some pretty good instructions on how to use the gestures, but it still takes some practice. By the second day, I had gotten them down fairly well, but there have been more than a few occasions where I had to rub my thumb over my forefinger more than once to get things to move on the display.

My favorite gesture is the pinch to adjust volume or zoom. If you’re listening to music, you can touch your index finger and thumb and then rotate your wrist to increase or decrease volume. Similarly, if you’re using the camera app, the same gesture lets you zoom in and out.

One pleasant surprise (especially if you’re in the middle of a freezing winter) is that the control gestures work just as well even if you’re wearing gloves. That’s because all hand gestures are interpreted by a Neural Band, which you wear on your wrist, that detects muscle movement.

Handwriting is cool, but a work in progress

With some apps (such as WhatsApp), you can use your finger to write, and the glasses will interpret your gestures as letters and numbers. It’s pretty neat, and when it works, it responds quickly. I scrawled out a few words, and while the glasses were a second or two behind, it got things mostly right. However, there was more than one occasion where I had to keep tapping for it to recognize my inputs.

You can use your finger to write out some punctuation — I could do periods, exclamation points, and question marks — but you need to access a special menu for other symbols. What’s cool, though, is that you don’t even need a hard surface for your finger; you can literally write in mid-air. It’s definitely a feature I’m going to dig deeper into.

Maps are made for walking

One of the key differentiators between the Meta Display and the company’s other smart glasses is that it can provide turn-by-turn directions, which can be especially helpful if you’re in an unfamiliar place.

However, it’s very limited at the moment. For starters, while you can look up directions wherever you are, you can only navigate using the glasses in a few select locations, such as New York City.

I was able to quickly get directions from the Tom’s Guide office to Penn Station, and the glasses gave me guidance along the route. But when I got to suburban New Jersey and tried to use it to get home, the glasses would only show me the route overview, saying that turn-by-turn directions were not available for my location. In those instances, you can have the glasses open up the route on your phone’s navigation app (in my case, Apple Maps).

Also, you can only get walking directions on the Meta Display, and even then, doesn’t take into account things such as mass transportation. So, if you can’t get somewhere on your own two feet (and you don’t live in a major metropolitan area), the Meta Display won’t do you much good.

The display is bright but not intrusive

Having used other heads-up displays in smart glasses and goggles, I have to say that Meta seems to have gotten things right with the Display. The screen is crisp and colorful, and I don’t have to strain my eyes to see things (and there’s even a setting for those who have color blindness).

It’s easy to see the screen, even when I’m in direct sunlight — and it even auto-adjusts its brightness to compensate for ambient conditions.

Meta AI can only do so much

The key to any smart glasses is the power of its underlying AI. I’ve used the Ray-Ban Metas in the past, and it’s been pretty good at identifying things I look at, but it does have its limitations. While passing a parking lot, I looked at a Toyota SUV, and asked Meta to identify the vehicle, which it confidently told me was a Range Rover.

At another point, I noticed we were running out of carrots, so I asked Meta to add carrots to my shopping list. Unfortunately, it said it couldn’t do that, but said it would create a reminder for me.

I'm going to dive deeper to see how it compares to Gemini and Alexa+, at least as a wearable AI.

Battery life goes fast

I put the glasses on a little before 9 am, and by 1 pm, they were down to 56%. That’s actually better than Meta’s claims of about 6 hours with mixed use, like if you’re playing music. I do like the Display’s charging case, though, which folds down into a very compact shape when the glasses aren’t inside.

Initial thoughts

Meta has jumped ahead of the likes of Google, Amazon, and Apple with several pairs of smart glasses that are not just innovative but practical. The Meta Display glasses make it easier to do things that would normally require you to take your phone out of your pocket, be it listening to music, taking photos, or getting somewhere new.

However, even in my early testing, I see some limitations with Meta’s AI that it needs to work out before competitors like Google release their own smart glasses. For starters, navigation needs to be nailed down so you can use it for more than walking — and in more places. And, Meta AI needs to be able to work with more apps, so that if you do want to create something as simple as a shopping list, you can do so.

I’m still checking out all of the other features of the Meta Display, so stay tuned for my full review. Let me know in the comments if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to check out.

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Meta has seen several shake-ups over the past year, from shifting focus to smart glasses, including its Meta Ray-Ban Display specs, to potentially increasing the price of Meta Quest for more "premium" VR headsets. But now, it's seen a major restructuring of its VR department.

Recently, Meta laid off 10% of its Reality Labs division, which is around 1,500 people. This includes its social platform, Horizon Worlds, along with the closure of several VR studios, such as Sanzaru Games — the developer behind Asgard's Wrath and a reported Batman: Arkham Shadows sequel (via UploadVR).

In light of this, the future of Meta Quest VR has been put into question, with concerns about what will come next for the Quest 3 and Quest 3S, along with the expected Quest 4 that's tipped to be in the works. Mind you, this shift in focus from VR is to push the development of AI smart glasses, such as the company's wearable range like the Ray-Ban Meta (gen 2).

It appears Meta's VR plans are looking bleak, but Oculus founder Palmer Luckey has a different outlook. Speaking about the shake-up on X, Luckey says "the 'Meta is abandoning VR' narrative is obviously false," but there's reason to believe the doom-and-gloom narrative.

Not a 'disaster' after all?

There haven't been many updates to the Meta Quest 3/3S and Horizon OS as of late, aside from a small update to Horizon TV announced during the smart glasses-heavy Meta Connect 2025. Already, this puts VR in a tough spot, and the layoffs don't make it any better. But Luckey explains on X how this could be a "good thing" in the long run.

"This is not a disaster," Luckey states. "They still employ the largest team working on VR by about an order of magnitude. Nobody else is even close. The "Meta is abandoning VR" narrative is obviously false, 10% layoffs is basically six months of normal churn concentrated into 60 days, strictly numbers wise."

Luckey continues: "The majority of the 1,500 jobs cut in Reality Labs (out of 15,000) were roles working on first-party content, internally developed games that competed directly with third-party developers. I think this is a good decision, and I thought the same back when I was still at Oculus."

While the number of workers now laid off seems like a staggering amount, Meta's VR presence is strong and there will still be people working on the metaverse and Quest's ecosystem. So, it's not like the company is outright abandoning its virtual reality front (yet), although we may not see many heavy-hitters when it comes to first-party VR games.

Of course, with XR studios including Armature Studio, Twisted Pixel and Sanzaru Games being scrapped, the developers of the biggest first-party games like Marvel's Deadpool VR (Twisted Pixel) and Resident Evil 4 VR (Armature Studio), this still doesn't paint the state of VR in a good light.

In the post, Luckey further explains how Meta's VR plan should play out: "Change always sucks because people lose their jobs in the process, but in a world of limited resources, Meta heavily subsidizing their own (with money, marketing, placement, etc) at the expense of core technical progress and platform stability doesn't make sense.

"Crowding out the rest of the entire ecosystem, even less so. Every developer big and small, even the hyper-efficient ones, have had an extremely hard time competing with games developed by Meta-owned teams with budgets and teams that spend vastly in excess of earning potential. People will point out that these teams did an awesome job and got awesome reviews from critics and customers alike — yes, and f*cked up though it is, that makes the problem even worse!

"Some people will say 'they should have just funded those developers as external studios rather than acquiring them, then!' Yes, I agree, but hindsight is 20/20. Do you think Oculus expected to only sell 700 copies of Rock Band VR after spending eight figures to make sure it was ready and awesome for Rift CV1 launch, to the point of bundling the guitar adapter with every single headset? Of course not, but sometimes you learn what the world actually wants from you the hard way."

VR isn't dead (yet)

While Luckey's comments spark interest, stating that "this is a good thing for the long-term health of the industry, especially the ongoing incentives," other recent cancelations doesn't bode well for VR systems.

Along with a Batman: Arkham Shadows sequel apparently being canceled due to the layoffs, A Harry Potter VR game has also reportedly been cut, according to YouTuber Gamertag VR. This was set to be developed by Skydance Games, the studio behind Skydance’s Behemoth, and it was said to be a Quest exclusive.

These are popular IPs, with the success of Hogwarts Legacy standing as a fine example. Not having these VR titles in the works isn't ideal, as it would have been expected to prove popular with Quest owners, and possibly see more consumers flock to the platform.

For now, it's hard to say what Meta's strategy is for VR As of December, the company's Reality Labs division lost more than $77 billion since 2020, as The Wall Street Journal reports. Perhaps a shift in focus was needed, but it still doesn't result in an optimistic outlook for the state of VR.

Meta invested heavily in VR gaming, along with how its Quest 3 and Quest 3S could be used for productivity and entertainment (such as its Mixed Reality Link for Windows 11 PCs). With this in mind, as Road to VR fittingly points out, if a company like Sony or Nintendo started closing its first-party gaming studios, it would rub consumers using the platform the wrong way.

In any case, the state of VR is set to change in a big way, and while we at least have Valve's Steam Frame to look forward to, the future of Meta Quest VR feels up in the air.

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I used to love testing the best action cameras — it gave me an excuse to get outside, whether that was skiing, biking, or some sort of activity out in nature. Once, I even mounted five action cameras to my head at once and went skiing to see which was the best.

However, after a weekend skiing and sledding with the Oakley Meta Vanguard, I might start using the smart glasses exclusively to record my outdoor activities. That being said, I still have some reservations about what they can and can't do.

Here's four reasons why I liked using the Oakley Vanguards — and why they're some of the best smart glasses — and two ways they still fall short against the likes of GoPro.

Four things I liked

It's one less piece of gear I need to bring

Remember when I said I once wore five action cams at once? Here's what it looked like. Now, I don't recommend anyone do this themselves, but even one camera adds some bulk.

By combining sunglasses and a camera, I no longer have to bring a pair of goggles as well as an action camera. While GoPros aren't exactly large, I like that it's one less thing I have to think about. And, because the camera isn't protruding at the top of my helmet, I don't have to worry about knocking it against low-hanging objects.

Still, if you like to go fast and it's very cold out, you may prefer the added insulation of goggles. When I took the Vanguards skiing on a 25º F day and sped down the mountain, my forehead started to get numb.

It's easier to stop and start recording

The best GoPros have voice commands to let you start and stop recording video, but I've rarely used the feature when skiing because when I'm wearing a helmet, I can't always hear when my GoPro has started. Instead, I usually just reach up with my bare hand (not ideal in Vermont in February) to start and stop recording.

I can also use voice commands to start and stop recording on the Vanguards, but because their speakers are right next to my ears — and a small light in the upper right gives me a visual cue — I know when they're recording.

One feature I particularly like is that the glasses will automatically cut out the end part of the video where I say "Hey Meta, stop recording."

It made an awesome highlight video

Here's a neat trick. When it's paired with one of the best Garmin watches, the Vanguards can create a highlight video of your activity, replete with an overlay of your stats from your Garmin watch.

At first, I wasn't sure if it would work for skiing — even though I connected everything properly, when I started my skiing activity on my Garmin Fenix, the Vanguards warned me that auto capture was only available for supported activities like running. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the glasses did put together a neat little highlight reel of my day.

You can use them for more than just taking videos

Back in the day, I had a pair of Oakley Recon One smart goggles, which were awesome: They had a small display which not only tracked your runs, but also showed you in real time your speed, as well as the time. And, you could also use them to control your music and read notifications.

The Vanguards to a lot of that, too. While they can't tell you your speed, it was super helpful to simply ask Meta the time, so I knew if I could squeeze one more run in before having to pick up my kid from ski school.

The glasses' open-ear speakers are also ideal for those who like to listen to music; I've never understood how some skiers and boarders could wear earbuds, and completely block out everything around them. It's a bit dangerous considering all of the other people on the mountain. However, the open-ear design of the Vanguards means that you can still hear what's going on around you,

Two things I didn't like about the Oakley Meta Vanguard

Clips are limited in length

You can record longer clips on the Vanguards than you can on Meta's other smart glasses — up to 5 minutes in length, which is a good amount of time. And, if you want to record using the Vanguards' 3K setting, you're limited to just three minutes.

By comparison, if you're using a dedicated action camera, your clip length can be measured in hours, rather than minutes. It's not so much an issue with East Coast ski resorts, but you're on a longer ski run out west or wherever mountains are much taller, you may find that the recording will cut off partway through.

You can't change the aspect ratio — and you have to watch what you wear

The Vanguard's portrait-oriented camera is great for the TikTok generation and sharing on social media, but it can't capture sweeping vistas the same way an action camera's landscape view can. As a result, the videos I took were far less immersive. Is that a problem if you're merely adding it to your Insta reel? Probably not, but it doesn't feel as epic.

One other issue I ran into: My ski helmet has a small visor in the front which blocked about an eighth of the Vanguard's view. As a result, all of my videos and photos while skiing had a grayish-black bar at the top, which marred all of the footage I took. You can see it in the clips above.

Bottom line

If you're into casually taking videos and photos while out and about, the Oakley Meta Vanguards are great. Not only do they record quality clips, but they're also handy for other things, too — even if it's as simple as knowing the time. It also let me keep my phone in my pocket, and spared my fingers from frostbite every time I wanted to snap a photo.

That said, a GoPro is going to offer you far more in terms of video quality and versatility, so if you're looking to capture some epic turns, then it's the way to go. But if your needs aren't as demanding (and you're willing to plunk drop $500) then the Vanguards are pretty fun.

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One of my nightly rituals is to binge my way through shows or movies while in bed, whether that be on my phone, laptop or TV. But in VR? Well, the Meta Quest 3 didn't offer that chance for a long time.

With Meta pushing streaming shows on its VR headset via the Horizon TV hub, it makes sense for the Quest 3 and Quest 3S to be the go-to device that owners reach for to get a personalized cinematic experience when watching the most binge-worthy shows on Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and the rest.

But it doesn't quite have the same appeal of kicking back on a couch or bed while watching many of the Golden Globes 2026 winners on one of the best TVs. I mean, sitting upright with a chunky VR headset for an hour or two isn't exactly comfortable (and it kind of gets in the way of the all-important popcorn and drinks).

How about lying flat with your head on a pillow for supreme comfort, though? Point a projector at the ceiling, and you can do just that. But in VR, it would make for the ultimate viewing experience. Originally, the Quest 3 and Quest 3S weren't able to do this due to restrictions, forcing you to watch shows head-on. But a simple feature broke those shackles.

If you're looking for a new way to use your VR headset and adore movie marathons or binging your way through series in bed, I've tried the aptly named Lying Down Mode on the Quest 3, and it works a treat for watching the latest shows and using VR apps.

Bingeable comfort

While Lying Down Mode on Meta Quest headsets isn't anything new (it arrived in 2025), it's an underrated feature that can finally give you the freedom to view media or try out VR apps the way you want.

The Quest 3 and 3S are designed for movement, abiding by the laws of gravity so you don't feel disoriented. By that, I mean the orientation of the VR headsets is restricted to always facing forward. Even when you hold the Meta button to reset your view while looking up or facing down, the headset will always target a forward-first direction.

With Lying Down Mode enabled, though, you can finally fix the orientation to where you want. As a fine example, when resetting the view while lying in bed facing the ceiling, the Quest 3 will now think the ceiling is "forward," and the head of my bed is "up."

It's an extremely simple change, but it's one I've now used to satisfy my binge fix before hitting the sack. I recently tuned into "Tron: Ares" using the Quest 3, and it was pure joy seeing all the red Light Ribbons tear their way through the city on a massive virtual screen — all while my head lay in comfort.

Sure, there isn't the same level of detail as on an OLED TV like the Samsung S90D in my room, but having a personal theatre on my face (and not to disturb my partner sleeping with flashing lights) is a real benefit. No one's disturbed, and I'm happily catching up with shows.

It also helps that I've attached the Kiwi Design K4 Duo heatstrap that adds up to three hours of battery to the Quest, and it also offers immersive audio with 40mm drivers for clear, surround sound. It just builds on to that cinematic effect.

With Lying Down Mode enabled, it's just another way of getting full use out of your Quest 3 or Quest 3S, and is well worth it for anyone after a comfy way to check out the latest series, movies or videos in your own virtual cinema. And if you haven't tried it yourself, it's incredibly easy to enable.

How to enable Lying Down Mode on Meta Quest

If you're looking to give Lying Down Mode a try, it's extremely simply to enable on your Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S. It's still classed as an experimental feature, but it works just as intended.

Follow the instructions below so you can get watching while staying comfy.

There you have it. Now, you'll be able to lie down, look up at the ceiling while in bed (or anywhere else) and hold the Meta button on the right Touch Plus controller to reset your view and carry on without any problems.

It's just one of the many ways to fully utilize what the Meta's latest VR headsets have to offer, along with these other five apps to try first on your Quest 3. Looking to try it yourself or aren't a fan? Let us know your thoughts!

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Instagram users across the platform received unexpected password reset emails over the weekend, triggering widespread alarm about a potential security breach. The unsolicited requests arrived in inboxes without warning, and according to Malwarebytes, 17.5 million users are affected.

Social media exploded with speculation that Instagram had been hacked, with users questioning whether their accounts and personal information had been compromised. Instagram has since responded to the concerns, clarifying that no data breach occurred and that the issue has been resolved.

The company confirmed an "external party" triggered the password reset requests but maintained its systems were never breached and accounts remain secure. Questions still remain, however, about how email addresses were used to generate these requests and what users should do to protect themselves.

Here's what happened, what Instagram is saying, and how to secure your account regardless of whether you received the suspicious emails.

Avoid clicking on this email

If you received a password reset email like this one, don't click any links or buttons inside it, even if it looks legitimate.

These emails can lead to phishing sites designed to steal your login credentials. Attackers create fake Instagram login pages that look identical to the real thing, and once you enter your password on these fake sites, they immediately capture it.

Even if the email came from Instagram legitimately during this incident, clicking links in unsolicited emails trains you to trust unexpected communications, making you more vulnerable to future phishing attempts.

What Instagram says happened

Instagram posted on X stating that it "fixed an issue that let an external party request password reset emails for some people." The company emphasized that "there was no breach of our systems and your Instagram accounts are secure," advising users to simply ignore the emails.

However, Instagram didn't explain how an external party managed to trigger password reset requests without accessing Instagram's systems.

Some outlets, such as CyberInsider, have suggested the incident may be connected to a 2024 Instagram API breach that leaked data from over 17 million users — including usernames, phone numbers, and email addresses.

If this leaked data was used to trigger password resets, it would explain how an external party could initiate requests without directly hacking Instagram. Instagram hasn't confirmed or denied this connection.

How to change your Instagram password

Regardless of whether this incident directly affected you, changing your Instagram password is smart security practice, especially if you haven't updated it recently.

Don't click any links in password reset emails — instead, change your password directly through the Instagram app by following the steps below.

Set up two-factor authentication immediately

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is the most important security measure you can enable. With 2FA active, no one can access your account with just your password — they'll also need an authentication code.

Go to Settings and activity, Accounts Center, Password and security, and Two-factor authentication. Then simply select your Instagram username and choose your authentication method.

Authenticator apps (like Google Authenticator or Authy) are more secure than SMS since phone numbers can be hijacked, but SMS is better than nothing. Once enabled, anyone logging in from an unrecognized device will need both your password and the authentication code.

More from Tom's Guide

• Clean up your digital life in 2026 with these 7 easy steps
• Check your inbox: These companies were the most impersonated in phishing attacks in 2025
• FBI issues urgent warning over 'quishing' scam — don't fall for this

If you received the Ray-Ban Meta as a gift this holiday season — or if you just gifted them to yourself — then congrats on getting a pair of some of the best smart glasses. We've been using them for months, and they're really handy for taking impromptu photos and videos, listening to music, and finding out what's going on in the world around us.

However, in order to get the most out of the specs, there are a few things you'll want to adjust first. Most of these are pretty easy to find, but it's handy to have everything spelled out in one place. Here are seven settings you should change, or at least take a look at, when setting up a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses

Change Meta AI's voice

While Meta AI doesn't have as many voice options as Alexa+ or Gemini, you still get a few choices.

In the app, select Meta AI, then Language and Voice. From here, you can choose the language it will speak to you in (English, German, Spanish, French, Hindi, Italian, and Portuguese), the voice you want to use (Sage, Aspen or Indigo), and the rate at which it talks to you.

Set up communication apps

You can connect your glasses so that you can take and receive both calls and messages through the Ray-Bans, as well as post to Meta-owned social media apps. In the app, select Communication, and you'll be presented with a list: Phone, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Facebook. Select each to connect to the service.

Once linked, you can then specify what you want the glasses to do if a message or call comes in. For example, with WhatsApp, you can have the glasses let you know who's calling or texting, have them automatically read messages, and show on the app when you post using the glasses.

Connected apps

You can also link other apps to the Ray-Bans so that you can control them and get info from them using your voice, though at the moment it's limited to music and health apps. Select App Connections, and then pick the app you want to use.

For example, you can link the glasses to Amazon Music, Apple Music, Audible, iHeart, Shazam, and Spotify, so that you can play music hands-free, and use the Ray-Ban's touch controls to activate the app.

You can also connect Apple Health, Garmin, and Strava. With Garmin, if you have a compatible Garmin watch, the Ray-Ban's status light will change color during a workout to let you know if you're on target, can speak out status updates during a workout, and can tell you your stats from previous workouts.

Set video resolution and duration

One of the best things that the Ray-Ban glasses can do is capture video, so you don't have to pull your smartphone out of your pocket all the time. Plus, you can adjust both the video resolution and the maximum length of the videos.

The second-gen Ray Bans give you a few more options than the first-gen models. In the Meta app, select Media. At the top or the next screen, choose Video Settings. From there, you can pick either 1080p at 30 fps (the default setting) or 3K at 30 fps.

If you choose the former, you can set the recording length to 1, 3 or 5 minutes. If you choose 3K video, you can choose either 1 or 3 minutes.

If you have the Oakley Vanguard glasses, you have even more options, as you can adjust the level of motion stabilization.

Adjust your privacy settings

Don't want Meta to know everything you're doing with the Ray-Bans? I don't blame you. In the app, select Glasses Privacy, where you can review how much data you share.

Select Voice activity log to review all of the times you talked to Meta using the glasses. Here, you can delete individual recordings, or delete all of them at one go.

Uncheck Share Additional Data if you don't want any extra information to be sent Meta's way. This can include things such as how often you use the glasses and how well they work.

Last, you can uncheck Cloud Media if you don't want your photos and videos sent to the cloud for processing.

Customize the touchpad

Along the right temple of the Ray-Ban glasses is a small touch-sensitive strip with which you can change the volume and activate other features. In the app, select Customize Controls, then Touchpad.

From here, you can specify what you want a tap-and-hold action to do. By default, it will activate Meta AI, but you can also have it set to start a playlist or quickly connect you with a contact.

Use accessibility features

Buried at the bottom of the settings menu are two features for those with disabilities, but are able to be used by anyone. Be My Eyes allows you to connect the Ray-Ban's camera and microphone to volunteers, who can then assist the wearer with everyday tasks.

Detailed Responses gives more in-depth descriptions of what's around you, such as what a door sign might say, or where the door is located in a room. However, Meta cautions that this feature may deliver inaccurate information, so it should not be fully trusted as a navigation aid.

More from Tom's Guide

• Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 vs Gen 1: What's the difference?
• Meta Ray-Ban Display hands-on
• Oakley Meta Vanguard review

So, if you've just got yourself a Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S, you may be asking yourself, "what now?" Well, aside from playing the best VR games in the market, you'll find that these standalone VR headsets can do more than just gaming.

I've been discovering more about the latest Meta Quest VR headsets in the hundreds of hours I've put into these systems, and as it turns out, they go beyond just letting you become The Dark Knight in Batman: Arkham Shadows or exploring vast worlds in Asgard's Wrath 2. If you're looking for a way to watch your favorite shows while cooking up a storm in the kitchen or learn how to draw, you have just the device.

The Quest 3 and Quest 3S have a lot to offer, and if you're hoping to make the most of your all-new headset, then it's worth getting familiar with a few essential features before you think about putting them aside to collect dust. These are among the best VR headsets you can get for good reason, so whether you've got a creative touch or are looking for a whole new way to kick back, here's the top apps to try first on your Meta Quest 3 or Quest 3S.

Turn your PC into a productivity machine

The Quest Pro had big promises for the working person, but it didn't work out the way Meta wanted it to. Instead, the company released Microsoft's Mixed Reality Link app that allows Meta Quest VR headsets to connect to a Windows 11 PC, and it's become an enticing upgrade to any PC setup.

With this app, you're getting the best parts of the Apple Vision Pro without paying a fortune. By that, I mean up to three massive virtual screens that act as easily adjustable, productivity displays that sync seamlessly with your Windows 11 PC.

Despite having a full-blown, gigantic 32:9 ultrawide panel that's curved around you for ultimate immersion (one that could have easily measured over 50 inches right in front of my eyes), the first thing I noticed was the lack of lag. Latency felt virtually seamless even with a wireless connection; I moved my cursor and it reacted immediately on my headset's virtual monitor.

Quite honestly, this caught me off guard, as I thought, "wait, I can actually really use this." Not to say that I went in thinking the feature would be a dud, but I didn't think I would want to use it on a regular basis.

Using the Quest's Touch plus controller or just my hands via hand-tracking (which can be sketchy at times), I was able to move the virtual display wherever I wanted: right up to my face, far off in the distance, to the side, over my head; anywhere.

If the best monitors are past your budget, and you're after a multi-monitor setup for less, then just connect your Meta Quest to your Windows 11 PC, and you'll be off to the productivity races.

Stream shows with a cinematic big screen

Ever since its release, the Meta Quest 3 has had a long history of trying to be the next-gen streaming platform to replace TVs. It didn't reach those heights, nor does it seem that it ever will (watching shows with family or a pal is hard to beat), but the smart TV-life Meta Horizon TV makes streaming your favorite series or movies on the fly a treat.

There are stilla few pain points, as when I binge-watched shows using Meta's Horizon TV hub on Quest 3, it was more of an "Amazon Prime Video hub" more than anything else. But now, Disney+ has released its own app on the system (again), expanding the number of shows you can watch with the cinema treatment right before your very eyes.

Gone are the days of the age-old Netflix app only offering 480p resolution; Meta Quest VR headsets now make for a commendable TV streaming experience. Think watching a massive screen while lying on the couch, or chopping up some vegetables while checking out the top 10 movies on Prime Video and more.

The latest Quest headsets promise more to come down the line, including immersive, 3D movies like "Avatar: Fire and Ash" or getting spooked by "The Black Phone" and "M3GAN," which are both exclusive special-effect movies already available to those in the U.S.

There's still some work to be done for Horizon TV, but binge-watchers after an all-new way to watch their favorite shows ("Landman" and "Supernatural" are my go-to picks right now), then get on board with Horizon TV on your Meta Quest 3 or 3S. It's already pre-installed on your device, so get watching!

Boost your VR performance

Think the Quest 3 or Quest 3S has more to show off? Well, you'd be right, but Meta tends to lock the performance of games and apps to make better use of the system's battery life. However, if you're using a wired connection to keep your headset powered up and want to push your device to its limits, then there's a $12 Meta Quest app you need to try.

With Quest Game Optimizer (QGO), an app launcher that quite literally unlocks the potential of Meta Quest headsets, you can expect boosted performance, resolution and frame rates in virtually any VR game on the Meta store, and even launch and video record in 4K at 60 FPS.

Now, this one can be a hassle to install. You can use a PC and SideQuest (an Android sideloader) or through the Meta Quest Developer Hub with a PC, and both will have you setting up Developer Mode on your VR headset. That said, once done, you can customize the performance of games to extend your Quest 3 or 3S' battery life, boost refresh rates for smoother gameplay and even expect superior visual quality in titles.

That means resolution going up to 4096 pixels per eye, a 120Hz refresh rate and "Ultra" performance in the Quest 3's CPU and GPU. Now, I have found that it doesn't make a massive difference in some titles, but when playing the likes of Walkabout Mini Golf or Metro Awakening, details and frame rates were as clear and smooth as ever.

If you've got the patience to download and install it all, and want to see what your Meta Quest 3 has to offer when pushed to its limits, then give QGO a try.

Learn to draw a masterpiece

When I say that I am truly atrocious at drawing, I mean it. But developer Lead Head thought of a creative way to let people learn how to refine their (un)artistic expression using a VR headset, and that's through Pencil - Learn to Draw.

This Meta Quest VR app taught me how to draw, and very well at that. Using the device's mixed reality capabilities and full color pass-through tech, the Pencil app will guide you through a host of different drawing genres and styles so you can finally create the cartoon or realistic object or being you've longed for. Grab a pencil and a sheet of paper (and your VR headset, of course), and you're all set to get learning.

Now that the app is out of early access, you'll get a wide breadth of ways to learn, from beginner to advanced artist. From outlining simple sketches to knowing how to use directional shading, blending and even erasing successfully, there's a ton here to spark your creative flow. heck, I even learned how to draw a human eye.

It's been an absolute blast creating everything from cartoons to still-life objects, and even realistic facial features. For me to say that I drew a human eye, with clear outlines, shading, reflections and tear duct included, is a satisfying accomplishment.

Work up a virtual (and real) sweat

I know all too well the feeling of skipping a training day during those winter months. It's miserable outside, it's way too dark and there's no motivation to get your body moving. But it can feel unsatisfying to give up and do nothing, and that's when the Quest 3 and 3S can help as a fitness guide instead.

There are several apps on the Quest 3 VR headsets that can give you a sweat-worthy workout, including Beat Saber, Pistol Whip, Thrill of the Fight and more. But for targeted fitness classes brought straight to your space, you'll want to try out FitXR or Supernatural: Unreal Fitness.

From rigorous boxing to unrelenting squats, you'd be surprised how much of a burn you'll feel after a session in one of these workout-focused apps. So much so, in fact, that I decided to make FitXR my main way to work out, and was burning up to 500 calories per 40-minute session each time.

Of course, it all depends on you how much of a sweat you want to build up, as at the end of the day, there's no one telling you not to just flick a wrist instead of doing a full punch. However, there's plenty in these apps to keep you motivated, including scoreboards and virtual instructors that bring the hype (the pumped-up music is a nice touch, too).

It's important to note that many of the exercises on offer are mainly for your upper body and are focused on cardio, as we've tested when using FitXR for two weeks. In any case, if you've been looking for an entertaining way to stay fit, the virtual reality method via the Quest 3 and Quest 3S offers up a satisfying burn.

More from Tom's Guide

• I binge-watched shows using Meta's Horizon TV hub on Quest 3 — the good, the bad and the immersive
• The Steam Frame is the VR headset I've longed for — but I can't get over this one key spec
• I got this compact power bank for my Meta Quest 3, but now I use it to charge everything