FaceTime Audio Only - iCall

I'm just hoping that the use of FaceTime audio isn't any more restricted than FaceTime video. I'm able to make FaceTime video calls over 3G on my phone and would love it if FaceTime audio ends up being the same. (I know they've said Wifi only).

It is called the 'don't piss off the carriers' logic.

WHERE has this been confirmed to be WIFI only?

This works just fine without WIFI, across networks even.

2 nights ago I did facetime audio using an AT&T iPhone5 on 4G and a Verizon iPhone 5 on...

I think they should call it EarTime.

jeremiah239 said:

I think they should call it EarTime.

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MouthTime.

Jare said:

MouthTime.

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Touché

Sounds a little dirty though hahaha

HarryAinslie said:

iMessage has the capability to know whether the recipient is using an Apple Device which has iMessage switched on.

I think the way forward with FaceTime Audio Calls, {iCall}, If you are on WiFi, when you choose a contact to call, it does the search to make sure the recipient has iCall switched on, just like it does for iMessage then it makes the decision to automatically use iCall, however if the recipient isn't available for iCall then it will make a standard call using your Network Provider. Just like iMessage sends your message as a SMS if the recipient is not reachable via iMessage.

What this means for us users is we won't have our minutes being used up and we don't have to have good Network Coverage from our Network Provider to make the calls.

Goodbye 3rd party apps such as Viber, Skype etc


What does everyone else think?

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WhatsApp, Viber etc. are alive and kicking, despite iMessage...

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HarryAinslie said:

The carriers would make money on the data rather than the call. The way things are going, they're going to be making a lot of money on Data because of the amount of Apps etc that require Data!

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Video calls uses a lot of data, voice calls not so much...

jeremiah239 said:

Touché

Sounds a little dirty though hahaha

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I was going to say VoiceTime, but MouthTime made me laugh more.

Jare said:

I was going to say VoiceTime, but MouthTime made me laugh more.

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Lol

This will never happen as a default. It's very un-apple to do it, unlike iMessage.

The difference between iMessage automatically defaulting and Facetime Audio automatically defaulting is huge. Facetime audio calls will drop if you walk out of WiFi range, drop from 4G to 3G, switch towers without keeping your IP address, you name it. They require a CONSTANT connection, versus a brief blip of data use for iMessage. VoIP isn't ready for full-time use on mobile devices yet.

HarryAinslie said:

The carriers would make money on the data rather than the call. The way things are going, they're going to be making a lot of money on Data because of the amount of Apps etc that require Data!

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Carriers don't make money by you using data. They make money buy selling you large data packages that aren't fully used. So in effect they sell you the data and then discourage you from using it.

Apple loves to embarrass ppl at their keynotes.

I hope it's provided as an option at the very least in iOS 7.1.

Im able to make facetime calls or facetime audio on 3G/4G/Lte with no problem... I do it all the time, and works great!

Frederico Luna said:

It is called the 'don't piss off the carriers' logic.

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What are they going to do? NOT carry the iPhone anymore? Ha!

c0LdFire said:

Facetime audio calls will drop if you walk out of WiFi range, drop from 4G to 3G, switch towers without keeping your IP address, you name it.

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This doesn't have to happen, it just needs to be tweaked. T-mob has had the option for years and it would hand off between towers and when leaving wifi to towers. It conversely would never hand off from towers to wifi (that was one limitation of their service.) With some dedicated engineering it could be tweaked to work this way if they wanted to invest in the tech. I do agree that full VOIP is not really ready for truly "mobile" devices. Those remaining primarily on one location are fine, but not for true mobility.

squeakr said:

This doesn't have to happen, it just needs to be tweaked. T-mob has had the option for years and it would hand off between towers and when leaving wifi to towers. It conversely would never hand off from towers to wifi (that was one limitation of their service.) With some dedicated engineering it could be tweaked to work this way if they wanted to invest in the tech. I do agree that full VOIP is not really ready for truly "mobile" devices. Those remaining primarily on one location are fine, but not for true mobility.

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There's a huge difference between T-Mobile's WiFi calling and FaceTime Audio: T-Mobile owns their WiFi calling. The calls still bounce through their servers, so the handoff is easy. Something tells me carriers (specifically AT&T & Verizon) won't work with Apple quite as nicely on this since it cuts directly in to their bottom line. It'd be handing the call off from Apple's servers to the carrier's. There's no nice way to do that without a few seconds' delay or dropping it and re-dialing unless there's a massive collaboration effort between Apple and the carriers. It just won't happen.

c0LdFire said:

There's a huge difference between T-Mobile's WiFi calling and FaceTime Audio: T-Mobile owns their WiFi calling. The calls still bounce through their servers, so the handoff is easy. Something tells me carriers (specifically AT&T & Verizon) won't work with Apple quite as nicely on this since it cuts directly in to their bottom line. It'd be handing the call off from Apple's servers to the carrier's. There's no nice way to do that without a few seconds' delay or dropping it and re-dialing unless there's a massive collaboration effort between Apple and the carriers. It just won't happen.

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But this calling is currently available over the cellular radio so these carriers are getting their due. AT$t and Sprint also offer this option already as they have a cellular to wifi box to use in spotty situations. The only issue I have with your statements is that I don't see how this would cut into their profits? They are getting their fees for your usage that you in fact are bypassing and possibly under utilizing (if on your wifi) which means more profit for them and available bandwidth for others or you are overusing your data when on cellular data and thus being charged overages. Either way that would be a profit win for the carriers, just as text messaging is nothing but pure profit for the providers, as these texts are sent on the carrier handshake and utilize no more signal usage than the phone updating its location and equipment information. How can paying overages for utilizing more data than allotted or paying and not using data at all cut into profits (both situations and everything on between is pure profit). This is why they require the data plan as it is the real money maker.