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Questionable Rumor Suggests Group FaceTime is Coming in iOS 11

Tycho24 said:
Point is: some people on android MAY be using Hangouts, or they MAY be using Duo... or of course, both/neither.
With Apple- you know for certain that everyone that owns an iPhone, has iMessage.
I was just poking fun at the fact that the fragmentation in Android is so bad that apparently, to get the features of a rumored iMessage update, you'd have to use an older Google app that never really took off (& make sure the other parties all are using it as well), eschewing their "latest & greatest".
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Everyone I know uses 3rd party apps that connect iPhone and android users. Hangouts, duo or iMessages are useless , matters little if one is more fragmented. I want the ability to contact all my friends irrelevant of platform in one app
 
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McTaste said:
Group Facetime sounds like an amazing way to burn through cell data plans.
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Burning through data seems like it could be the foundation of a wonderful business plan? hmmm. I scratch your back, you scratch mine?

....and the 8th day, I created cell towers!
 
Does that mean apple will be bringing that back to the Mac too? iChat used to be able to do that back in the day.
 
motm95 said:
This update to FaceTime would be nice, but I would much prefer Apple release iMessage for Android.
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I am surprised they haven't done this yet. It just makes sense for them. If they make it a high quality app it could potentially draw Android users to iOS.
 
SgtPepper12 said:
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.
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Not at all my experience. Could not be farther from it.
[doublepost=1484984586][/doublepost]Good if they turn their attention to FaceTime. It is such a great piece of technology in the Apple ecosystem.

What I would really like to see is something bold like automatically calling my contacts via FaceTime Audio if they are iPhone users. The phone call equivalent of the blue bubble.
 
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Since the multi-person video chat was introduced in 2004 with iChat AV in Mac OS X Tiger, and other mobile OSes have had that capability for years, I'm amazed it has taken this long.
 
who cares? There are plenty of alternatives that are cross device compatible. While I do prefer iMessage and FaceTime due to their integration in iOS and macOS I can't think of a single unique feature so I would prefer it over alternatives.
 
Facetime and iMessage need an Android and Windows version to be even used by friends and colleagues. Then Apple can think about group features.
[doublepost=1484987179][/doublepost]Apple should extend Desktop features for iOS. Especially on iPad.
 
Analog Kid said:
Huh, didn't realize this wasn't possible already. Didn't iChat allow group video conversations?
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Yes, I remember when they introduced iChat AV and they had a group video chat in the keynote.

From the WWDC keynote:

iChat AV Jobs noted that Panther's iChat AV provided the first personal video conferencing that actually worked; however, Apple wanted to give users an even better experience. For starters, Tiger's version of iChat AV will offer better video quality, via the new H.264 codec (above). But more importantly, it will also offer users' most requested feature: conferencing.

iChat AV in Tiger will support up to ten people in an audio conference chat, and up to four people, including the local user (Jobs called this "you plus three"), in a video conference chat. During a video conference, instead of having a separate iChat video window for each person, you'll see the video feeds of the other people in your chat displayed on panels inside a single window. In the best use of eye candy of the day, each panel is angled as if the video conference participants are seated around a table with you -- a highly polished table that reflects each person's image.

[Non-keynote] When video or audio conferencing in iChat AV, one computer is the "manager" of the conference -- all communication goes through that person. In order to increase performance, iChat AV will dynamically switch the "manager" to whichever person's computer has the fastest Internet/network connection.
 
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Ooaaahhh - so excited, getting back lost features:
Group video chat !!
Headphone jack !!
MagSafe !!
I even foresee normal function keys....and, dare I say, a Mac Mini for 2021
My face is a red emoji right now.
Just amazing, what 28 billion on R&D (plus a few trillions on the bank) can do - maybe they even find out something against lost Airpods - now that the jack returns...
 
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Cougarcat said:
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.
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You are right, the home screen needs to be rethought! After 10 years, I think it's lacking.

But we need to be careful what we ask for, we might get have a section for dongles and watch bands dedicated on the home screen.
 
I Actually believe this article. Seems like an interesting feature. Not one that I would particularly use. But I could see this being for somebody that is in a group setting or larger family.
 
Well at least now we can be sure that whenever you use facetime there will be a third party present and this time it won't just be an American three letter agency. We have our Israeli friends now too!
 
lol I'm on to you MR. Post an intriguing article that sits up top for the weekend. Towards the end of this post you mention that the article also said it might not be in iOS 11. Come on! Still love you though.
 
Martyimac said:
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.
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I have been having unlimited data for the last two years and I only pay 15£ a month. Ah, I also have free roaming to many countries;)
 
Pike R. Alpha said:
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 :)
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We have had unlimited data for years, not an issue.

iChat had that feature (multi chat) then Apple replaced it with iMessanger a downgraded version of iChat and now they are giving us back what they took away, just like iCloud Apple had iDisk that they took away then third party's took advantage and Dropbox and others took over until Apple gives back with iCloud, oh iWeb they took that away, do we get that back next year?
 
MH01 said:
Everyone I know uses 3rd party apps that connect iPhone and android users. Hangouts, duo or iMessages are useless , matters little if one is more fragmented. I want the ability to contact all my friends irrelevant of platform in one app
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Indeed, that feature is a "holy grail" of built in apps.
The fact that it currently ONLY exists via 3rd party apps is a pain... "Oh, you have hangouts? K, well Johnny has Skype, and Suzie has WhatsApp, and Joey has Duo, and Linda has HeyTell, and I have FaceTime... lets all figure out what'll work and agree on one, download it, create an account, have this single video chat session, then never use it again!"
THAT is the current environment.
 
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