Inside the New Stream Smart Ring that Lets Users Control Music, Take Notes

In Focus

• Former Meta employees have launched a smart ring called Stream
• The ring allows users to interact with an AI assistant
• Users can take notes and control music with the ring

Former Meta employees have launched a smart ring, Stream, developed by their new tech startup, Sandbar. According to TechCrunch, the ring allows users to interact with an AI assistant, take notes, and control music.

How Sandbar Developed the Smart Ring Idea

Sandbar CEO Mina Fahmi said the idea of developing wearable tech rings with voice note and music control came after a journaling app presented challenges in capturing his thoughts. Leveraging his experience in developing hardware interfaces, he started to explore conversational hardware.

“A lot of my ideas bubble up when I’m walking or when I’m commuting; I don’t want to pull out my phone to interrupt that moment. I don’t want to shout into my earbuds,” Fahmi said in an interview with TechCrunch.

Fahmi is a human-computer interface design expert who previously worked at Kernel and at the smart glasses startup, Magic Leap. Sandbar CTO Kirak Hong worked at Google before joining CTRL-Labs, where he met Fahmi. Meta acquired CTRL-Labs in 2019 to lead its smart wearables work.

How Does the Stream Smart Ring Work?

Sandbar’s smart ring for voice notes is worn on the index finger on the dominant hand. The ring comes with a touch pad and microphones. The microphone stays off by default and, like other smart rings, activates through gesture. The ring is sensitive enough to pick low-level whispers and transcribe the content via an accompanying iOS app.

The iOS app also comes with a conversational AI chatbot that interacts with the user as they record their thoughts. Users can use the app to zoom their ideas out, review previous conversations, and organize ideas into separate notes that AI can edit.

The flat surface serves as a media controller, allowing users to play, pause, adjust volume, and skip tracks. Most headphones offer similar controls. But the wearable tech smart ring with music control offers unique benefits when on the move or both hands are busy.

Stream Smart Ring at a Glance

• The smart ring is worn on the index finger
• The ring comes with a touch pad and microphones
• Stream can pick low-level whispers
• The smart ring starts shipping in June 2026

When Will the Stream Ring be Available to Preorder?

Sandbar will start shipping Stream smart ring in June 2026. However, the company opened pre-orders on November 5, 2025. Sandbar has a Pro subscription package.

Customers who preorder the smart ring get a three-month free subscription and pay $10 each month afterwards. With the subscription, customers get unlimited notes, chats, and early access to new features. Stream will compete with established brands like Oura, which launched Oura smart Ring 4 last year.

Sandbar gives customers full control over their data and applies encryptions during transit and when at rest.