{"id":17990,"date":"2025-09-15T15:47:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T15:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/17990\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T15:47:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T15:47:08","slug":"snap-releases-spectacles-os-2-0-ahead-of-2026-launch-of-consumer-ar-glasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/17990\/","title":{"rendered":"Snap Releases Spectacles OS 2.0 Ahead of 2026 Launch of Consumer AR Glasses"},"content":{"rendered":"

Snapchat creator Snap today released Snap OS 2.0, the XR operating system powering its fifth and upcoming sixth gen Spectacles AR glasses, which are expected to launch next year.<\/p>\n

Snap\u2019s sixth gen Spectacles (aka \u2018Specs\u2019) are looking to appeal to consumers, which is a company first. And they\u2019re ostensibly set to frontrun its largest competitors by launching next year.<\/p>\n

Besides being lighter and smaller than the 2024-era glasses, that\u2019s essentially all we know about the next version of Specs, as the company is keeping the lid on price, release date, and even specs of its first pair of consumer AR glasses.<\/p>\n

With today\u2019s release of Snap OS 2.0 though, it\u2019s clear the company is making way for the consumer launch of its next Specs, packing in an overhauled web browser, more intuitive UI for viewing content in AR, as well as porting the popular XR rhythm game Synth Riders (2018).<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a breakdown of everything Snap announced:<\/p>\n

Browser \u2014 We\u2019ve overhauled the Spectacles Browser with a new, minimalist design to make it faster and more powerful. We\u2019ve also optimized it for quicker page loading and better power efficiency.<\/p>\n

Spotlight \u2013 With the dedicated Spotlight Lens, we\u2019ve created a phone-free, larger-than-life experience that spatially overlays your favorite content onto the real world.<\/p>\n

Gallery \u2013 The Gallery Lens provides a spacious, interactive way to view your Spectacles videos. You can scroll through a carousel of your captures, zoom in for more detail, organize your favorites, and easily send them to friends or post to Snapchat.<\/p>\n

Synth Riders \u2013 Players will be able to catch notes, ride the rails, and dodge obstacles by moving to the music, all while staying grounded in the real world and with the real people around you.<\/p>\n

Notably, earlier this summer the company also added\u00a0real-time text translation for things like signs and menus, speech translation for 40 languages, and an AI-powered \u2018Spatial Tips\u2019 function, which lets you ask Specs\u2019 AI about the world around you.<\/p>\n

While the standalone AR glasses (2024) are admittedly bulky, they\u2019ve given Snap something of a first mover advantage among its larger competitors, such as Meta, Google, Apple, Samsung\u2014all of which are currently working on AR glasses.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Snap Spectacles fifth gen (2024) | Image courtesy Snap Inc<\/p>\n

While we\u2019re still waiting to see the company\u2019s next gen AR glasses for consumers, these recent OS updates point to a device that Snap hopes we\u2019ll use in everyday life, like in restaurants, on the beach, in public transport, and not just in a static office or living room.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, developers have been able to create Lenses (basically AR mini-apps) integrated with Google Gemini or OpenAI\u2019s ChatGPT since June 2025, in addition to porting smartphone-based Snapchat Lenses to Specs using\u00a0Lens Studio API.<\/p>\n

And, according to\u00a0Snap CEO Evan Spiegel, Specs are set to be an integral part of the company\u2019s future, with Spiegel noting in an open letter last week<\/a> that Snap is heading into a make-or-break \u201ccrucible moment\u201d next year.<\/p>\n

Beyond increasing revenue through ads and direct revenue streams via its Snapchat smartphone app, Spiegel sees its AR glasses and AI integration playing a large role in the company\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n

Spiegel calls Specs are \u201can enormous business opportunity,\u201d noting the AR device can not only replace multiple physical screens, but the operating system itself will be \u201cpersonalized with context and memory,\u201d which he says will compound in value over time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis moment isn\u2019t just about survival. It\u2019s about proving that a different way of building technology, one that deepens friendships and inspires creativity, can succeed in a world that often rewards the opposite,\u201d Spiegel says.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, some of Snap\u2019s largest competitors are moving at a more iterative pace, first releasing smart glasses like Ray-Ban Meta and Google\u2019s forthcoming Android XR glasses<\/a>, instead of launching full-AR glasses first. Both Samsung and Apple are rumored to be exploring smart glasses in addition to their work on AR glasses.<\/p>\n

Want to know more about smart glasses and AR glasses? Check out our handy primer on the key differences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Snapchat creator Snap today released Snap OS 2.0, the XR operating system powering its fifth and upcoming sixth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17991,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[85,46,125,340,341,342],"class_list":["post-17990","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-virtual-reality","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-technology","tag-virtual-reality","tag-virtualreality","tag-vr"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17990","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17990"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17990\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}