Ray-Ban Meta touchpad controls: every gesture, button and how to customize them

Ray-Ban Meta glasses have no screen, so you control them with your voice or with a few physical controls on the frame: a touchpad on the right arm, a capture button for the camera and a power switch on the left arm. Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3 and the Optics frames add a fourth, the action button.

This guide is based on Meta's help center and published specifications, with the gesture list from Ray-Ban's support FAQ.

Where the controls are

Meta gives the capture button's position in its POV guide and the power switch's in its pairing article.

Touchpad gestures

Ray-Ban's US support FAQ lists the playback and volume gestures, and Meta and Ray-Ban describe what tap and hold does:

Meta's hands-free guide says tapping and holding the touchpad starts a conversation with Meta AI, and that you can also wake the assistant by tapping the frame or saying "Hey Meta." Ray-Ban's FAQ for India adds that tap and hold cancels or exits any assistant response or incoming notification, which is handy when Meta AI starts reading out a long answer.

The capture button

• Press once to take a photo.
• Press and hold until the white LED lights up to start recording video. Press again to stop.
• Hold for 12 seconds with the glasses on to put them into Bluetooth pairing mode, a step Meta describes in its Bluetooth FAQ. Ray-Ban says to fold both arms first.

You can do the same with your voice: "Hey Meta, take a photo" or "Hey Meta, take a video." Our photo and video guide covers clip length and quality settings.

The power switch

Slide the switch on the left arm toward the front of the glasses to turn them on, and back to turn them off. Our guide to turning Ray-Ban Meta on and off explains what the lights mean and how to restart a frozen pair.

The Gen 3 action button

Ray-Ban Meta Gen 3, released Sept. 23, has a customizable action button that Meta introduced for "instant access to Meta AI," according to its launch announcement. The prescription-first Optics frames, launched in March, have one too. You can assign it something else. Ray-Ban's FAQ gives these steps:

1. In the Meta AI app, tap the glasses icon.
2. If you have more than one device paired, swipe to select your Gen 3 glasses.
3. Tap Settings, then Customize controls.
4. Tap Action button and choose the action you want.

Some actions, such as live translation or quick connect, may need extra setup before the button works. You can change the assignment again at any time.

Customizing the touchpad

You can change what tap and hold does. Ray-Ban suggests setting it to do nothing if you often wear the glasses with a hat, a helmet or wet hair, because those can register as taps on the touch sensor. That stops the glasses from waking Meta AI by accident.

At Connect, Meta said more control is on the way: you'll be able to set the touchpad's press and hold to launch a key feature right away, such as placing a call or opening an app.

When taps don't register

If the touchpad or capture button stops responding, Ray-Ban points to wear detection, the sensor that tells when you're wearing the glasses. A loose fit can confuse it. Ray-Ban's steps:

1. Take the glasses off and put them back on.
2. Turn the glasses off and on again.
3. If that doesn't work, turn off wear detection in the Meta AI app. The glasses will then act as if you're wearing them whenever they're on with the arms open, but features like automatic pause and resume for music stop working.