(Image credit: Future)
We’ve seen shrinkflation come to a lot of tech products this year, and now it’s Meta’s turn because one of its smart glasses' most important features is now being held hostage behind a paywall.Conversation Focus helps a lot of people I know with their minor hearing problems, or in helping them to better understand conversations in loud, chaotic environments. It runs entirely locally on-device (no cloud AI needed), but that hasn’t stopped Zuck & Co. from rate-limiting it: no more usage unless you pay $20 a month for the company’s premium plan.What are the rate limits?
(Image credit: Meta)As Meta states on its support page, “all AI glasses owners get free monthly usage for certain features.” However, when you reach the free usage limit, you’ll have to upgrade to the Meta One Premium plan for $19.99 per month.In the section about rate limits, that’s when you find that “Conversation Focus is currently available for free for 3 hours per month, or for 15 hours per month for Meta One Premium Subscribers.” On top of that, unused hours “do not roll over to the next billing cycle.”By the way, it's worth noting that Digital Trends did the math. That would mean you get six minutes of Conversation Focus a day per month on the Free tier, and premium subscribers only get 30 minutes a day. Whether you use it for free or have the money for that subscription, this is tough.Why this rate limit makes no sense
