Can't call arbitrary phone numbers from Monterey to iOS 16 iPhone any more

[nottorp]

Start whine: Holy Ahura Mazda, web searches are completely useless now. No matter how I phrase it, I only get zaccharine tutorials that tell me generic drivel about using FaceTime and absolutely nothing about my problem. End whine.

So I have this iOS 16 iPhone XS and this 2018 mbpro running Monterey.

I can still answer phone calls coming on my phone via the laptop but I cannot call a non-apple phone number using my iphone from said laptop any more. I can type a number or select a contact but all I get is a "new facetime" button that is greyed out unless the contact has an iPhone.

This used to work just fine(tm).

Is there any setting either on the phone or on the laptop that I should reset, or is Apple trying to lock me in to talking only to other iPhone users?

 

[nottorp]

Oh I think I solved the problem myself. I'm still able to call phone numbers *in my contacts* from the laptop and through my phone. But the FaceTime app on Mac OS has been castrated and only alllows FaceTime calls now.

Looking forward to see what else is missing when I upgrade the laptop from Monterey to Ventura...

 

[Morac]

Being able to call any number without your iPhone is a feature of your cellular carrier and not specially a Mac feature.

To troubleshoot this I’d try the following steps:
1. Restart your Mac and iPhone.
2. Make sure on your iPhone they the settings -> phone -> calls on other devices -> allow calls on other devices is enabled.
3. Still on iPhone make sure settings -> phone -> Wi-Fi calling -> add Wi-Fi calling for other devices is on.
3. Make sure in the FaceTime settings on your Mac that Calls from iPhone are enabled.

You should be able to make calls on your Mac, though they may require your iPhone to be on the same Wi-Fi network.

If you want to do Wi-Fi calling on your Mac and your carrier supports it you can try toggling “calls from phone” off and on on the Mac FaceTime settings.

Make and receive phone calls on Mac or iPad - Apple Support

With the iPhone Cellular Calls feature, you can make and receive phone calls from your Mac or iPad when those devices are on the same network as your iPhone.

support.apple.com

Make a call with Wi-Fi Calling - Apple Support

With Wi-Fi Calling, you can make or receive a phone call if you have a Wi-Fi connection in an area with little or no cellular coverage. Learn how to make a voice call using Wi-Fi Calling.

support.apple.com

 

[nottorp]

Not without. Through the phone. I'm talking about continuity or handoff or whatever name they have for it.

 

[Morac]

First step would be to restart both devices and the router as that usually fixes 95% of the problems. Next step would be to follow Apple’s troubleshooting steps.

 

[nottorp]

I would love if someone confirmed that they still have the feature on Monterey before resetting all devices...

With the iOS ification of Mac OS going on, I would not be surprised if they just removed the phone number part from the main FaceTime app.

 

[Morac]

It works on my MacBook Air with Ventura. It also worked last year when I was on Monterey.

I said “restart”, not “reset”. You shouldn’t need to reset your devices to get this working. Again follow Apple’s troubleshooting steps in the link above.

 

[bearda]

Just tried it and I can do it on my Monterey and Ventura systems. It's a little awkward to trigger, though.

1) Run FaceTime on the mac
2) Click New FaceTime
3) Type in the phone number. The FaceTime button will stay greyed out, but that's OK
4) RIGHT CLICK on the phone number you just typed. You should have an option to "Call X using iPhone"

 

[nottorp]

Found it, thanks! I mean I had already found how to call a number in my contacts, but not how to call a random number.

Holy Ahura Mazda. It's a really useful feature for me and they're trying to pretend it doesn't exist any more.