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Facetime over Mobile Network not just WiFi ?

D

Darthdingo

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 11, 2010
602
0
I don't own an iPhone 4 yet, but like the idea of Facetime, for my Wife and kids, but heard it only works over WiFi ? Where as the Nexus-S it works over anything, Wifi...3g...4G...

Is there a way to get Facetime to work over the mobile network ?

Thanks
 
You have to jailbreak it. And install My3G. I use facetime over 3g all the time. It works pretty good.
 
Theres plenty of apps that allow you to video chat over 3G. Tango, Skype, Frig, yahoo messenger...
 
lsvtecjohn3 said:
Theres plenty of apps that allow you to video chat over 3G. Tango, Skype, Frig, yahoo messenger...
Click to expand...

From my testing, and others that have tested, it seems that FaceTime is usually the best in concerning of quality of video/audio.
But if you can't use it, Skype & Tango are pretty good as well.
 
Apple artificially limits FaceTime to only work over Wi-Fi due to its agreements with carriers.

11 months ago Apple said that FaceTime would be an open standard that could be implemented by anyone - that hasn't happened yet, which would have been the easiest way to get FaceTime over 3G.
 
I used to worry about Facetime not supporting 3G, but all the people I know that do videochat use Skype. Today I have not meet anyone that uses facetime.



You say facetime works on the nexus-s... Facetime is exclusive to iOS. You must be using an Android app and confusing it with Facetime.
 
RebeccaL said:
I used to worry about Facetime not supporting 3G, but all the people I know that do videochat use Skype. Today I have not meet anyone that uses facetime.



You say facetime works on the nexus-s... Facetime is exclusive to iOS. You must be using an Android app and confusing it with Facetime.
Click to expand...

The biggest advantage FaceTime has over Skype is that with Skype you have to have it running on your phone in order to receive a call (Skype is a notorious batter drainer too). I understand that FaceTime requires the other person to have an iphone 4, ipod touch that supports FaceTime or a Mac, but that's not a problem for me since all of the people I facetime with have the necessary hardware. I have family going to Europe this summer and they can easily get in touch with me via FaceTime as long as they have wifi and I know that they will. With Skype it would be a real pain to communicate since there's no way I can leave Skype running all the time on my phone.
 
So far, FT is amazing over 3g thanks to some great hacks in cydia. However, Still a bit frustrated as well as miffed that I cannot make and take FT over bluetooth. I have a Jawbone Icon, works amazing with my iP4 for listening and talking to pretty much all aps other than FT, I wish we could solve this issue and get FT to work over BT. I find FT to be frustrating having everyone hear my conversation over speakerphone rather doing it over BT. has anyone found a way to make FT work over BT with their Jawbone Icon?
 
RebeccaL said:
Today I have not meet anyone that uses facetime.
Click to expand...

Hello, its very nice to meet you. I use FaceTime every day with my family and a few friends in other states.

Another note of point, I don't understand why people are so afraid to see people and talk to them. People would rather text then merely call someone up and say "hi". Are we becoming anti-social?

And I've found the more we use FaceTime, the more a normal phone call seems...less. It did take about 5 FT calls to actually feel comfortable with it all.
And most people are afraid to leave their comfort zone, so it goes to figure.
 
I too use Facetime daily to see my daughter while I am at work.....I love it and so does she. Seeing her smiling face while I am at work is priceless. Having a bad day changes instantly upon seeing her face on my iPhone screen. Now if AT&T could get their act together we could have it available over 3G as well
 
chadam said:
So far, FT is amazing over 3g thanks to some great hacks in cydia. However, Still a bit frustrated as well as miffed that I cannot make and take FT over bluetooth. I have a Jawbone Icon, works amazing with my iP4 for listening and talking to pretty much all aps other than FT, I wish we could solve this issue and get FT to work over BT. I find FT to be frustrating having everyone hear my conversation over speakerphone rather doing it over BT. has anyone found a way to make FT work over BT with their Jawbone Icon?
Click to expand...

Have you tried the Bluetooth Mono toggle for sbsettings?
 
I like FaceTime over other options since you don't need 3rd party apps running in the background. However, my wife and I liked Tango since it looked like the FaceTime UI. Now we just FaceTime with 3G unrestrictor... but lately I've been using a 4G LTE portable mifi to FaceTime with my wife and kids when I travel.
 
iceterminal said:
From my testing, and others that have tested, it seems that FaceTime is usually the best in concerning of quality of video/audio.
But if you can't use it, Skype & Tango are pretty good as well.
Click to expand...

I agree that FaceTime is better than all those other apps I was just saying you could use those other app as well. Some people think the on video chat option is FaceTime.
 
lsvtecjohn3 said:
I agree that FaceTime is better than all those other apps I was just saying you could use those other app as well. Some people think the on video chat option is FaceTime.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. Its great to have options and choices. I have only tested FaceTime vs Skype. On Wifi, FT was far superior. But again, I have high end bandwidth. So they both were optimal. But on 3g I've only used Skype.
But I've heard Tango is widely used and enjoyed.
 
Darthdingo said:
I don't own an iPhone 4 yet, but like the idea of Facetime, for my Wife and kids, but heard it only works over WiFi ? Where as the Nexus-S it works over anything, Wifi...3g...4G...

Is there a way to get Facetime to work over the mobile network ?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Yes.

You simply jailbreak your iPhone 4 and install 3G Unrestrictor
 
"Have you tried the Bluetooth Mono toggle for sbsettings?"

Yes, still no dice, does not work. Cannot make FT calls over BT w/Jawbone Icon. Anyone have luck?
 
iceterminal said:
Hello, its very nice to meet you. I use FaceTime every day with my family and a few friends in other states.

Another note of point, I don't understand why people are so afraid to see people and talk to them. People would rather text then merely call someone up and say "hi". Are we becoming anti-social?

And I've found the more we use FaceTime, the more a normal phone call seems...less. It did take about 5 FT calls to actually feel comfortable with it all.
And most people are afraid to leave their comfort zone, so it goes to figure.
Click to expand...


Nice to meet you too LOL.

I was refering to my friends and family that do videochat. They are all on skype none of them uses Facetime.
 
Darthdingo said:
Yes you are right, I meant Gtalk;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJAiH5-64sI&feature=player_embedded
Click to expand...

The official Gtalk for iPhone is limited to a webapp without cam support. You will have to use one of the other video clients mentioned here or wait(hope) for google to make a native iOS version. It is possible since they have already done Voice, Earth, search and Translate.


There are also many third party Google talk clients on the Appstore, but I don't know if they support video.
 
RebeccaL said:
Nice to meet you too LOL.

I was refering to my friends and family that do videochat. They are all on skype none of them uses Facetime.
Click to expand...

Well I'm in a giving mood (yeah, I'm cool that way. its how I roll) so if you'd like to have one person in which you can use FaceTime with please let me know and I'll give you my number. No, don't worry about some sicko or perv. I'm happily married.

We still have some friends that have older iPhones so we might use Skype for that, but its not to often. A lot of our friends here and a few over seas will use FaceTime. Also, the mac geeks can use it from their iMacs/Mac Mini's/etc. So its not just limited to iPhone 4's.
 
I never use facetime. Everyone I know uses Tango because not only does it work over 3g, but it is compatible with android phones so you're not limited to people with iphone 4s
 
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