Sony Xperia 1 phones are already rare these days compared to the days of the Xperia Z days. But for hardcore users of the company’s Alpha cameras, getting one flagship phone always came with the benefit of using it as an extra screen on your camera. But now, that feature is reportedly being locked behind a paywall.
The handy feature is handled by the Monitor & Control app, or External Monitor on older devices. But as a Reddit user has pointed out, the free feature is no longer free with its version 2.4 update. GSMArena points out that, as long as you don’t update to said version, the feature remains free. If you already have, there’s the option to sideload an older version of the app back onto your phone.
To be clear though, the Monitoring & Control app does have free features. It’s also worth noting that these are compatible with phones not made by Sony. But of course, the key thing here is the high-resolution monitoring via HDMI / UVC, which remains an Xperia exclusive. And now there’s a paywall on top of that.
As mentioned at the beginning, Sony Xperia phones are not as ubiquitous as they once were during the Xperia Z days. The last thing the company needs is an extra reason for potential customers to not pick it. But the company has seemingly done just that.
