Questionable Rumor Suggests Group FaceTime is Coming in iOS 11

[MacRumors]

Group FaceTime calls will be a new feature introduced in iOS 11, according to an unverified rumor shared by Israeli site The Verifier. Citing "several people familiar with iOS development," the site says group FaceTime calls are being worked on by Apple's iOS 11 team, with some of the work taking place in Israel.

Said to be a "social" update that focuses on iMessage and FaceTime development, iOS 11 will reportedly let users start multi-person calls through a group conversation in iMessage. Up to five people at once will be able to participate in a call.

The Verifier is not a site with an established track record for accurate rumors, so it is not clear how reliable this information is. We've heard few details on iOS 11 at this point in time, so the rumor should be viewed with skepticism until backed up by a secondary source.

The site also says that Apple could choose not to release group FaceTime calls in iOS 11, instead saving the feature for a future update.

Group FaceTime calls have been a long-desired feature on iOS and Mac devices, and would go a long way towards bringing FaceTime more in line with Microsoft's Skype software, which allows several people to communicate with one another through video chats.

iOS 11 will likely be released alongside new iPhones in the fall of 2017, but we expect to see a preview of the new software at the Worldwide Developers Conference, likely to be held in June of 2017.

Article Link: Questionable Rumor Suggests Group FaceTime is Coming in iOS 11

 

[farewelwilliams]

*looks at the photo*
you know you can already fit more than one person on one end of the facetime chat by extending your arm out, right?

 

[Appleaker]

Hopefully this is true. It would also make sense if Apple is to focus on iPad features this year (Although it wouldn't be exclusive to iPad)

 

[Scotty2Hotty]

Bout' time!

 

[Cougarcat]

Great, can't wait for more iMessage screen effects...wasn't iOS 10 a "social" update? I'd like to see an "interface" update. Fix Control Center and rethink the home screen.

The one thing I want from FaceTime is to have a prominent battery low icon on the screen with 5 or 10 percent remaining, to prevent accidentally dropped calls due to the battery running out.

 

[MrGimper]

"Social" update = more emoji = woohoo!

 

[Analog Kid]

Huh, didn't realize this wasn't possible already. Didn't iChat allow group video conversations?

 

[jerry16]

Said to be a "social" update that focuses on iMessage and FaceTime development

Hopefully this means they are going to clean up the Messages interface some. I love the new features from iOS 10 - particularly the gifs being integrated - but it is so clunky getting to them. It's a very unintuitive process.

 

[Cougarcat]

Huh, didn't realize this wasn't possible already. Didn't iChat allow group video conversations?

Yes, but it was over AIM.

 

[TMRJIJ]

Shame it took this long but... SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!...I DON'T CARE IF THE UPDATE IS FREE!

 

[McTaste]

Group Facetime sounds like an amazing way to burn through cell data plans.

 

[Corrode]

Surprised they didn't offer this sooner. It will certainly drive iOS adoption if all your friends can group chat except you.

 

[jpn]

so, FaceTime Audio still doesnt have group calls currently?

 

[motm95]

This update to FaceTime would be nice, but I would much prefer Apple release iMessage for Android.

 

[Martyimac]

Meh, not a big deal for me and my friends.

 

[Fzang]

Group Facetime sounds like an amazing way to burn through cell data plans.

I thought the point of video chats over cellular was... I don't know, video chats over cellular?

 

[Pike R. Alpha]

Group Facetime sounds like an amazing way to burn through cell data plans.

No worries. One day we will all have unlimited data.

About the GUI. That is not what it will look like. There is a mask around the inlay/picture and you can move it

 

[Born Again]

simpson's did it.

google that is

 

[Martyimac]

I sincerely doubt that unlimited data plans are going to come anytime soon. Why would they? That is a cash cow for the cell providers. Kind of like subscription services for all the data programs.

 

[TMRJIJ]

I sincerely doubt that unlimited data plans are going to come anytime soon. Why would they? That is a cash cow for the cell providers. Kind of like subscription services for all the data programs.

I have unlimited data... unfortunately it's Sprint

 

[AppleMad98004]

"Social" update = more emoji = woohoo!

Yup. The focus will be communication....Because it is a phone! They want FaceTime and iMessage to be killer apps that are iOS only and keep the user base sticky.

 

[Pentium]

Yup, we need that

 

[JGIGS]

Wake me up when Apple releases facetime and imessage for multi / web platforms. Since Android and other platforms aren't going away I find Apple only social apps kinda useless.

 

[Altis]

I love the professionally shot/edited photos they use to represent FaceTime calls.

I doubt her iPad has wifi on top of a mountain, either.

 

[SgtPepper12]

They should really repair FaceTime first. It's such a terrible piece of software and is a constant source of frustration. Crashes, drops, conflicts with multiple devices, randomly flipped pictures etc.