Connecting with people sitting in different places has become easier with apps like Google Duo, Google Hangouts, Skype, Zoom, and more. In these times, when we have to be indoors and maintain social distancing, these apps are our best hope to stay connected with our friends, colleagues and loved ones. One such app, which comes as an inbuilt feature, is FaceTime on iPhone.
When you and the recipient both have an iPhone, then what best way to connect through a video call then FaceTime. In this blog post, we have discussed some tips and tricks to keep in mind while making FaceTime Calls.
Also Read: Best Zoom Alternatives for video conferencing
How Many Can People Join a Facetime Group Call?
You can FaceTime 32 people at the same time. Yes, the latest developments of the app have made it possible to add more contacts in a group Facetime call. This is available in two ways- Through the FaceTime app and via Message group. One can easily open FaceTime and add people to a call or make a call on a group formed on the Messages app.
Tips for making FaceTime Group calls
Apart from making sure that you have turned on FaceTime in the Settings app and signing up, there are other things you need to remember. Let’s move on to tips and tricks to remember, to make the most of the FaceTime group calls.
1. Inform Your Contacts About The Call
Prior information helps others to get ready for the call, and therefore everyone can join on time. We can call it a fundamental etiquette for making the video calls. Just because everyone is now connected to the internet all the time, does not mean they will be prepared to be on a video call. So, to make you FaceTime call successful, one must inform the contacts personally over a phone call or text. This will also allow them to update their system, for this feature requires the latest version available for the device to connect on a group call.
Note: You must have iOS 12.1.4 or later which is available for iPhone 6 and later, also for older models of iPad and iPod Touch. The new iPad gen could have iPadOS for the latest models supporting the operating system. For Mac users, your system must have macOS Mojave 10.14.3.
When you start to add people on FaceTime to make a group call, you need to add their names on contacts or phone numbers/ email addresses. If any of the participants’ names shows a Timer sign in front, it indicates that the person won’t be able to join the group call.
2. Form A Group Of People To Be On FaceTime Call
You can make a group of all participants on the Messages app first as the messages app allows you to make a FaceTime call directly. Simply head to Messages app, and then open a group and then tap on the top of the screen. This has all the participants on it, select them, and you will see a video call icon, tap on it. It will start a FaceTime call with all the participants you have chosen. One can also add contacts on the ongoing call with the Add Person option, which appears when you swipe up.
3. Using A Mac, No Problem
The FaceTime group call can be made using Mac as the FaceTime app available on Mac as well. All you need to do is make sure you have an updated version of macOS Mojave 10.14.3. Now go to the FaceTime app, sign in to the app and then, head to the top of the app. Add the phone numbers or email addresses of the people, with whom you want to have a group FaceTime call. If a person is already on your contacts list, then enter his/her name to add the person on call. Once all participants are added in the list, click on the video or voice call icon to proceed with a voice or video call.
4. Learn About The Icons
One must learn the usage of all the icons before you make a call, be it basic ones mute and speaker icons placement. To make it easier for everyone and avoid the unwanted background noise, it is much better to mute yourself until you have to speak. The speaking person tile appears on the centre for making it easy to concentrate on the person who is talking. Since it allows upto 32 people in the same call, it is also important one understands the settings that appear tapping on the screen. The camera icon will flip the camera, and it will now show rear camera view on-call while you can tap it again to turn the camera back to make it front-facing. Other icons are Video, Mic, Speaker, to enable/disable any of them, you must tap on them. Also, you can leave the call at any point, clicking the exit sign, ‘X.’
5. Learn to have fun with FaceTime
Using Animoji and Memoji on FaceTime calls can make it more fun. Although this is a limited feature for users with iPhone X and later. People can also try other effects during the call to make it much more fun. While you need to capture the moments, you must learn how to record the FaceTime calls with the inbuilt screen recorder on your device.
Also to take a screenshot, one must turn on FaceTime Live Photos from the Settings app. This will help you take Live Photos during the FaceTime group calls, the notification for the photo clicked is sent to all members.
Read more – Fix FaceTime app not working
Wrapping up:
FaceTime is a very trusted app as it is an inbuilt app for iOS devices. One does not have to worry about third-party apps and their usage. People in your groups can also text and call in the same group. All one needs is to have the latest system updates on their respective devices.
We hope this article will be helpful to you as you connect to your co-workers, family and friends in a group call. We would like to know your views on this post to make it more useful. Your suggestions and comments are welcome in the comment section below. Share the information with your friends and others by sharing the article on social media.
We love to hear from you
We are on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube. For any queries or suggestions, please let us know in the comments section below. We love to get back to you with a solution. We regularly post the tips and tricks along with solutions to common issues related to technology. Subscribe to our newsletter to get regular updates on the tech world.
Related Topics:
How to find your lost Apple Watch.
How to record FaceTime with sound on your iPhone.
Subscribe Now & Never Miss The Latest Tech Updates!