A new Ray-Ban Meta update adds reminders and voice messages

Meta is bringing reminders to its Ray-Ban smart glasses, a feature it previewed during its Connect event last month. With the update, you can ask Meta AI to remember your surroundings, like where you parked, and even time up reminders to make a phone call.

The other features coming with the update include the ability to send and record voice messages on WhatsApp or Messenger without taking out your phone. You can now ask Meta AI to scan QR codes or call phone numbers that you come across, too.

Meta is also updating how you invoke Meta AI while wearing the smart glasses. Instead of saying "Hey Meta" before each question, you now only need to say "Hey Meta" for your first question and then ask any additional questions without the prompt. You also no longer have to tell Meta AI to "look and" when you're asking about something you see.

Meta's AI assistant is currently only available in the US and Canada. You can access the new features by updating the Meta View app on iOS and Android to version 186, which started rolling out on Wednesday. Along with this update, Meta revealed that its limited edition translucent Ray-Bans have already sold out online (but some may still be available in stores).

It's been almost one year since the launch of the $299 Ray-Ban Meta glasses, and they've shown a lot of promise, especially when Meta rolled out the ability to process images, text, and audio earlier this year. In future updates, Meta will launch the ability for its smart glasses to translate speech in real time, starting with English, French, Italian, and Spanish.

It's not clear if Meta plans to address the possibility of bad actors using the smart glasses as a way to dox people's identities, which is an issue two college students recently called attention to.