--- title: "Meta smart glasses" seoTitle: "Meta smart glasses for developers: SDK, app model & distribution (2026)" description: "Meta smart glasses for third-party developers — SDK access, app model, distribution, capabilities & AI, and where it sits in the 2026 smart-glasses landscape." type: reference platform: all vendor: meta related: - /docs/ecosystem - /docs/ecosystem/openness - /docs/ecosystem/ai - /docs/ecosystem/distribution - /docs/vendors/meta - /docs/concepts/capabilities --- > **Openness verdict.** Semi-open: a real native SDK (the Wearables Device Access Toolkit) plus a hosted Web Apps path ship today, but the platform is preview-narrow — integrations reach at most 100 invited testers, public distribution is partner-gated, iOS App Store publishing is blocked, pairing requires Meta's first-party AI app, and the Meta AI assistant and "Hey Meta" wake word stay closed, so third parties must bring their own AI. **Covered here:** Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 1, 2023) · Ray-Ban Meta (Gen 2, 2025) · Ray-Ban Meta Optics (prescription/optical) · Oakley Meta HSTN · Oakley Meta Vanguard · Meta Ray-Ban Display (monocular HUD + Meta Neural Band). **Not covered here:** Meta Quest 3 / 3S / Pro · Meta (Aria) research glasses. ## Overview Meta ships the highest-volume consumer smart glasses on the market, spanning a camera-plus-audio line (Ray-Ban Meta Gen 1/2, Ray-Ban Meta Optics, Oakley Meta HSTN, Oakley Meta Vanguard) and a display-equipped flagship, the [Meta Ray-Ban Display](https://www.meta.com/blog/meta-ray-ban-display-ai-glasses-connect-2025/) — a monocular full-color heads-up display driven by the wrist-worn Meta Neural Band (EMG). The camera/audio glasses have no screen; they capture the wearer's viewpoint (12MP camera, up to 3X zoom on Display), a 5-microphone array, and open-ear speakers. Ray-Ban Meta Display launched in the US on **September 30, 2025 at $799** (glasses + Neural Band included), with expansion to Canada, France, Italy, and the UK planned for early 2026; the camera/audio models sell more broadly and at lower price points. Third-party access arrives through the **Meta Wearables Device Access Toolkit (DAT)** — a native Android/iOS SDK, in public developer preview — and a separate **Display Web Apps** path for the Display glasses. Meta's [named launch partners](https://developers.meta.com/blog/introducing-meta-wearables-device-access-toolkit/) skew toward accessibility and media: Be My Eyes, Microsoft Seeing AI, and HumanWare (accessibility), Twitch and 18Birdies (streaming/golf), alongside Disney Imagineering, Logitech Streamlabs, L+R, and Pixel and Texel — the accessibility use case is central to Meta's public positioning. (Building on Meta with Extentos → /docs/vendors/meta.) ## Access The primary developer surface is the [Wearables Device Access Toolkit (DAT)](https://developers.meta.com/blog/introducing-meta-wearables-device-access-toolkit/), a native SDK for **Kotlin (Android)** and **Swift (iOS)**, currently at **v0.8.0 (2026-06-25)** and in public developer preview — first announced at [Connect 2025](https://techcrunch.com/2025/09/17/meta-unveils-new-smart-glasses-with-a-display-and-wristband-controller/) (Sept 17–18; the Display + DAT reveal keynote was Sept 17) and [opened as a public preview on 2025-12-04](https://www.uploadvr.com/meta-wearables-device-access-toolkit-public-preview/). It is not GA: APIs still shift between minor versions (the [Android SDK is on GitHub](https://github.com/facebook/meta-wearables-dat-android) with a public CHANGELOG). Anyone can download the SDK and build against real glasses in Developer Mode for free; there is no disclosed SDK license fee. A Meta Wearables Developer Center project (with an `APPLICATION_ID` + `CLIENT_TOKEN` used for app attestation) is required only once you distribute beyond Developer Mode. One hard structural dependency: [Meta's FAQ states](https://developers.meta.com/wearables/faq/) that **the Meta AI app must be used to pair your glasses** — pairing is impossible without Meta's first-party app installed, and DAT brokers each session through it. Docs live at [wearables.developer.meta.com](https://wearables.developer.meta.com/docs/), backed by a public Wearables MCP server and AI-coding plugins; a Mock Device Kit lets you develop and run automated tests without hardware. ## App model There are **two independent third-party systems**. (1) **DAT** — your code runs in *your own* native iOS/Android companion app, which pairs to the glasses over Bluetooth (through the Meta AI app) and brokers a session. It works across the camera/audio models and the Display glasses (display rendering is Display-only, via a declarative Kotlin/Swift component API where each `sendContent()` call replaces the whole screen). (2) **Display Web Apps** — a standard web app you host at any public **HTTPS** URL, added on-device via the Meta AI app under **App Settings → App Connections → Web Apps → Add a Web App**; it loads directly onto Meta Ray-Ban Display and is **Display-only** (no support on the camera/audio glasses). DAT is the general-purpose path (camera, audio, display); Web Apps is a lighter, display-surface path using ordinary web APIs with no app-store or native build. ## Distribution During preview, distribution is deliberately narrow — capped at **up to 100 testers**, a limit that applies to *both* paths. DAT integrations reach users through **invite-only release channels** managed in the Wearables Developer Center: you invite testers by email (each needs a Meta Account), and testers accept via [wearables.meta.com/invites](https://wearables.meta.com/invites) — useful for alpha/beta within an org, but bounded to that 100-tester ceiling ([per Meta's Display-glasses build guide](https://developers.meta.com/blog/build-for-display-glasses/)). There is **no Meta content-review/app-review gate** on functionality; the only review is an internal permission-justification check (camera/microphone/voice-invocation), which is not shown to end users. **Public publishing to the general public is partner-gated** in preview — only select partners (Meta names the accessibility/media roster above plus Disney Imagineering, Logitech Streamlabs, L+R, Pixel and Texel) could publish broadly — with general availability planned for 2026. **iOS App Store publishing is not currently supported**: because DAT uses Apple's `ExternalAccessory`/MFi framework, App Store submission leads to rejection today; the sanctioned iOS path is release channels (and Meta's own signing/TestFlight-style sharing). **Display Web Apps distribute via password-protected URLs** during preview — you share the link/QR to invited testers, and there is **no app store, discovery, or public listing surface** of any kind; recipients with Developer Mode enabled add it in one tap, but nothing is publicly findable. ## Capabilities, limits & AI **Camera:** photo capture and live video streaming over DAT at three resolution tiers (LOW 360×640, MEDIUM 504×896, HIGH 720×1280); HEVC is available as an opt-in `StreamConfiguration` codec (the default stream can be raw), and the Display's camera is 12MP with 3X zoom. **Microphone / audio in:** the 5-mic array is captured via Bluetooth **HFP at 8 kHz mono** — you request it through the OS audio session (there is no raw multi-mic array API). **Audio out / TTS:** playback to the open-ear speakers is done by routing your own audio over Bluetooth **A2DP**; there is no built-in TTS engine — you bring the audio bytes. **On-lens display:** only on Meta Ray-Ban Display — via DAT's declarative layout components (vertical scroll only, full-screen replace) or via Web Apps (fixed **600×600** additive overlay, dark UI recommended). **Web Apps API surface:** motion and orientation data (IMU via `DeviceMotionEvent`/`DeviceOrientationEvent`), phone GPS geolocation, **first-class Meta Neural Band input**, and **client-side local storage**, all through standard web APIs. On the **DAT (native)** side, Meta's permissions docs note that new device capabilities may be added in future iterations, so accelerometer/inclinometer/IMU access is *not* part of the current preview. **Input:** on Display, navigation comes from the **Neural Band EMG** and temple **captouch** gestures, surfaced to Web Apps as arrow-key/Enter events (no mouse/touch/keyboard; text input unsupported). **Reserved surfaces:** the **"Hey Meta" wake word**, **Meta AI**, and system 'transactions' (notifications, Hey Meta) are system-owned; raw Neural Band gesture signals and IMU-for-gesture are not exposed. **AI & the assistant:** Meta AI is **closed to third parties** — Meta states voice commands and Meta AI capabilities are 'not part of our initial developer preview' and only something it is 'exploring for future updates.' There is **no bring-your-own-assistant hook into Meta AI and no custom wake word**; third parties implement their own AI by capturing mic/camera in their companion app and running their own STT/LLM/TTS off-device (phone or cloud). DAT does expose a **'voice invocation' permission** to start your integration by voice, but that is invocation, not access to Meta AI. There is no third-party **on-device AI** runtime — and Web Apps explicitly lack camera and microphone access. ## Roadmap Momentum is steady and dated. **2025-09-17:** Meta Ray-Ban Display ($799) and DAT revealed in the Connect Day-1 keynote (developer coverage spans Sept 17–18). **2025-09-30:** Display ships in the US. **2025-10-30:** DAT SDK v0.1.0 (initial public release). **2025-12-04:** DAT enters public developer preview. **2026-02-03:** v0.4.0 adds Display support; **2026-04-15:** v0.6.0 adds Ray-Ban Meta Optics + HEVC streaming; **2026-05-14:** v0.7.0 adds the Display capability + the Device Access Toolkit App Model (DAM); **2026-06-25:** v0.8.0 broadens model support (Oakley Meta HSTN/Vanguard, Meta Glasses) and adds `clearDisplay()`. **Announced / planned:** general-availability public publishing in 2026; Meta's permissions docs note that new device capabilities may be added in future iterations (specifics such as microphone-array or IMU exposure are not committed); and Meta AI/voice-command access is named as an area it is 'exploring for future updates.' Display international expansion (Canada, France, Italy, UK) is slated for early 2026. ## In the landscape Meta smart glasses is one platform in the third-party [smart-glasses landscape](/docs/ecosystem). See [how open it is](/docs/ecosystem/openness) relative to other platforms, [how AI works](/docs/ecosystem/ai) across them, and the full [platform comparison](/docs/ecosystem).