WhatsApp support is being added to Meta and Ray-Ban’s Stories glasses

The Stories glasses from Meta and Ray-Bans now support WhatsApp, allowing users to make hands-free calls, send text messages, and hear messages read aloud. Following the release of similar Facebook Messenger features last year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that users will soon be able to directly reply to WhatsApp and Messenger messages with voice commands as well.

The new features, which were first hinted at in April, integrate Stories more deeply into the Meta ecosystem. They continue Meta’s expansion into virtual and augmented reality, as well as social networking. They’re also a potential stopgap after Meta delayed the release of its full-fledged consumer AR glasses, allowing it to focus on audio-focused AR with its existing hardware lineup. It is following in the footsteps of companies such as Bose, which introduced and then discontinued a pair of AR audio glasses, and Amazon’s Echo Frames. Of course, Stories retain their core feature: capturing photos and videos to share on Facebook.

However, for the time being, the new feature will have a limited impact on many WhatsApp users because Stories are only available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, and Australia — not in large WhatsApp markets such as India and Brazil.