Meta Ray-Ban Display Apps: What's Built In, How Web Apps Work and What's Still Closed

You open the app grid on your new glasses and find Meta's own apps. So where is everything else? This guide covers Meta Ray-Ban Display apps as of November 2026: what comes built in, how third-party apps get onto the glasses, whether an app store is coming and what kind of app works on a small screen in one lens.

The short version: built-in apps cover messaging, calls, the camera, music, maps, captions and a teleprompter. Third-party apps exist, mostly as web apps, but you add them yourself in Developer Mode, because Meta hasn't opened public publishing.

Meta Ray-Ban Display apps list: what comes built in

The Display shows apps in full color on a 600 x 600 pixel screen in the right lens. You control them with the Meta Neural Band on your wrist or the touchpad on the frame. These are the built-in apps and features Meta and the tech press have documented so far:

Meta AI. Ask questions by voice, including about what you're looking at, and see the answer in the lens.

Messaging. WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram messages, plus a Messages app. With the Neural Band you can write replies with your finger on any surface (this started in Early Access).

Calls. Voice calls and WhatsApp video calls. Meta's Hologram avatar for WhatsApp video calls is rolling out in Early Access in the US.

Camera and Photos. Take photos and videos and look through them in the lens.

Music. Spotify and other connected audio apps, with controls on the display.

Maps. Walking directions in supported cities. At Connect 2026 Meta announced cycling and public transit directions for the US and Canada, plus directions that use landmarks instead of street names.

Captions. Live captions of the person you're looking at, translation for a few languages and captions for phone calls.

Teleprompter. Text cards you flip through with the Neural Band, added in early 2026.

Calendar and widgets. A Calendar app (English, US first) and widgets for reminders, events, weather and stocks.

Instagram Reels. A Reels feed inside the Instagram app.

Games. Small Neural Band games such as Hypertrail, GOAT and 2048.

Two more are announced but not everywhere yet: notifications from your other phone apps, and Explore, an on-glasses app for finding third-party experiences (Meta's Connect 2026 post). Features roll out by country and language, so you may not see all of them. The Display is sold in the US, Canada, the UK, France, Germany and Italy.

Will Meta Ray-Ban Display have an app store?

Not yet, and Meta hasn't promised a classic one. Here's where things stand:

Developer preview since May 2026. Meta opened the display to outside developers in mid-May 2026 with two routes: web apps and a native phone SDK.

Publishing is closed. Meta's developer FAQ says: "You'll soon be able to submit your Device Access Toolkit and Web Apps experiences to be published on these surfaces." There's no date.

Explore starts curated. Meta says Explore "surfaces web apps to add in one tap" and that it's "starting with a curated showcase". On submitting: "we'll share how to submit your experience soon" (Meta Explore page).

A showcase form exists. Developers can send their web app to Meta, but that form picks apps for promotion. It doesn't publish anything.

So: a curated shelf is coming, an open door for every developer isn't. Unofficial community directories exist, but they only link to apps. Installing still goes through Meta's own flow.

How Meta Ray-Ban Display web apps work

A web app is a website made for the glasses: HTML, CSS and JavaScript at an HTTPS address. The glasses open it in a built-in browser, it needs no phone app and the developer can update it anytime. Web apps run only on Meta Ray-Ban Display, not on Ray-Ban Meta glasses without a screen.

To add one today:

Turn on Developer Mode. In the Meta AI app, go to Settings, then App Info, and tap the app version number five times. Confirm with Enable.

Add the URL. In the Meta AI app, open App Settings, then App connections, then Web Apps, and tap Add a Web App. Paste the address the developer gave you. Menu names shift between app versions, so look around if yours differ.

Or scan a QR code. Developers can create a special install QR code. Look at it while wearing the glasses and confirm.

Expect an "unverified" label. Meta shows it for every app it hasn't reviewed.

Meta's troubleshooting page adds that web apps may not appear if they aren't available in your country or your account doesn't pass its age checks, and Developer Mode doesn't change either one.

Web apps can't use the microphone or the camera. In Meta's words: "Only the Device Access Toolkit can use the glasses' camera or capture microphone audio." They can talk to a server over standard fetch and WebSocket, play sound and react to the Neural Band (Meta's Web Apps docs).

Web apps people are building

Within weeks of the preview, developers were sharing web apps on Reddit, LinkedIn and social media. heise listed ports of Snake, Breakout, Tetris and Doom, a rhythm game, a running app that races your past Strava runs, smart home controls, step-by-step recipes, to-do lists, sports scores and unofficial clients for YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Twitch and Discord.

Search Reddit for Meta Ray-Ban Display apps and that's mostly what you'll find: developers posting their own projects and install links. Treat them as unreviewed software and only add apps from people you trust.

Meta Ray-Ban Display app development: two routes

Web Apps

The quick route. Host a page, keep it light and test it in Meta's free Chrome extension, the Meta Ray-Ban Display Simulator, which shows a 600 x 600 frame and sends the same direction and select events as the glasses. Meta also publishes a UI toolkit and plugins for AI coding tools.

Wearables Device Access Toolkit

The native route. Your Android or iOS app uses Meta's SDK to send screens to the display over Bluetooth and gets taps back. Version 1.0 began rolling out on September 30, 2026. Publishing to all users is still closed: you can invite testers through a private release channel, and Meta's docs say App Store publishing isn't supported yet.

What makes a good app for a 600 x 600 display

The screen is small, sits in front of one eye and adds light to what you see, so black pixels are transparent. Meta's guidelines and limits point to a few rules:

Glanceable beats browsable. A score, the next step, one message. Long feeds and articles fight the format.

Bright on black. Black backgrounds, high-contrast text. Meta's UI toolkit uses 28-pixel body text, so every line counts.

Input is directions and select. The Neural Band sends up, down, left, right and select (a pinch). Back is a tap of the middle finger. Design for a handful of choices, not a menu tree.

The device is slow. Meta's numbers: about 500 Kbps, 150 ms round trips and a CPU about 12 times slower than a laptop core. The first load should stay under 300 KB.

The screen sleeps. For native apps, Meta says the display dims after 20 seconds without input and sleeps at 25. Show the newest information the moment the wearer wakes it.

Let the phone do the heavy lifting. Web apps have no mic or camera, so anything that listens or sees needs a phone or server behind it.

Good fits: navigation steps, timers and workout stats, recipes, captions, teleprompter cards, quick replies, live scores and short hints during a conversation.

Example: Hinty Voice Assistant as a Display web app

Hinty Voice Assistant listens to a conversation and, a second or two after someone asks you a question, shows a short suggested answer, also built from your own documents like your resume or notes. It works today with Google Meet, Zoom and Teams in Chrome, in the web app and in the phone app. Now we're adding smart glasses. On Meta Ray-Ban Display:

Your phone listens. It sits on the table and hears both of you. Glasses mics focus on the wearer and tune out the other person, and web apps can't use the mic anyway.

The hint shows up in the lens. When the other person asks you a question, Hinty sends a short hint: two short lines.

The Neural Band controls it. One gesture repeats the hint, another skips it.

Pairing takes a short code. The glasses open the Hinty page, and you link it to your account with a code.

The honest status: our Display web app runs in Meta's Developer Mode only, because Meta hasn't opened public publishing. A native integration with Meta's SDK is prepared and waits for Meta too. Smart glasses support is in testing: testers get it first, testing is free and there are no release dates yet. You can become a tester now.

On glasses with speakers but no display, such as Ray-Ban Meta, or with any Bluetooth earbuds, Hinty reads the hint into your ear instead. Also planned: Rokid Glasses, Vuzix Z100, Even Realities G2 (as an Even Hub plugin), glasses with a built-in browser such as RayNeo X3 Pro and INMO Air3, and wired display glasses as a second screen.

Hinty is not affiliated with or endorsed by Meta or Ray-Ban.

FAQ

Does Meta Ray-Ban Display have an app store?

Not a public one yet. Meta is starting with Explore, a curated showcase on the glasses and in the Meta AI app, and says it will share how to submit apps soon.

How do I add Meta Ray-Ban Display apps that aren't built in?

Turn on Developer Mode in the Meta AI app (tap the app version five times), then add the web app's HTTPS address under Web Apps in the app settings, or scan the developer's install QR code with your glasses.

Is there a full list of Meta Ray-Ban Display apps?

Meta doesn't publish one for third-party apps. The built-in apps are listed above. For community web apps, developers share links on Reddit and in unofficial directories, which send you back to Meta's install flow.

Can Meta Ray-Ban Display web apps use the microphone or camera?

No. Only native apps built with Meta's Device Access Toolkit can use the camera or microphone, and those can't be published to everyone yet.

Can I use smart glasses with live hints in a job interview or meeting?

Yes, and tell the other person you use an AI assistant. In some countries and US states, everyone in a conversation has to agree before it's recorded or transcribed, so check the rules where you are.

Keep reading

AI Voice Assistants in Job Interviews: What Candidates Need

Smart Glasses With a Display

Teleprompter Glasses

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