If you hear noticeably better in one ear, open-ear glasses that split audio across both sides are awkward to use. Meta’s latest system update for its Ray-Ban Meta glasses, version 129, adds two settings aimed squarely at that problem. One is Mono Audio and the other is Audio Balance.
What the two new settings do
Mono Audio collapses the left and right channels into one, so a sound placed on your weaker side is not lost. Here is Meta’s in-app description, as quoted by 9to5Google:
Mono Audio: Hear the same sound on both sides. If you have hearing anomalies, Mono Audio combines the left and right channels so nothing gets missed on the side you can’t hear. Applies to sounds your glasses make, like Meta AI and notifications.
Audio Balance is the companion control. Rather than merging the channels, it shifts the sound toward one ear, which suits anyone who simply wants more output on a particular side. Both sit under Device settings, then Audio, then Accessibility.
One scope detail matters before you expect too much. Both settings apply to audio the glasses themselves generate, such as Meta AI replies and notification sounds. Meta’s own wording does not extend them beyond that, so do not assume every audio source is covered.
Within that scope, this is a straightforward win. Hearing differences between ears are common, and a pair of glasses that insists on stereo delivery can drop half of a spoken answer. A single toggle fixes that.
Version 128’s navigation features are already out
Version 128 is being written about alongside 129, so it is worth separating the two. That earlier release first appeared in September and is not new this week. It is now broadly available as an update in the Meta AI app.
Version 128 is the one that added turn-by-turn pedestrian navigation, triggered by asking Meta to navigate to a destination. It also lets you push a location from your phone to the glasses using a mapping app’s share function. Alongside that, it brought spatial audio support and anti-tampering protection that disables the camera if the privacy LED is interfered with.
Rollout
Version 129 is described as still starting to roll out, so the audio settings may not be on your pair yet. Version 128’s navigation additions, by contrast, should already be waiting for you. Check the Meta AI app rather than the glasses themselves, since that is where the firmware update is delivered. If you are tracking this category more broadly, Samsung’s first smart glasses are due in November.
Source: 9to5Google
