Sony annoys Xperia users by making previously free feature part of subscription

Over the past few years, high-end Xperia smartphones have been shipped with the "External Monitor" app, which allowed users to connect a Sony Alpha camera to the smartphone via a USB-C cable and then use the camera as an external monitor. This was pratical for using the smartphone's bright, color-accurate OLED display as a viewfinder, and it also made it possible to stream videos from a professional camera live to the internet directly via 5G.

However, the Xperia 1 VII has been shipped without this app, and there is no official way to install it. The latest update to the Monitor & Control App shows why this is the case, as the "External Monitor" app feature is now part of a paid subscription. Anyone who wants to use the feature must now pay $4.99 per month for the basic subscription to the Monitor & Control app. Despite the subscription, this feature is only available on select smartphones in the Xperia Pro, Xperia 1 and Xperia 5 series.

This approach has already attracted criticism, with numerous Xperia users expressing their frustration on Reddit at having to pay a monthly fee after purchasing the Xperia 1 VII just to use a feature that requires neither a server nor complex software. While it is possible to use a version of the "External Monitor" app on the Xperia 1 VII via a workaround, it is no longer being developed, so it is unlikely to support future cameras