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You know there are dozens of video chat apps that interoperate between OS X and Linux, right? Try Google Hangouts, ooVoo, or Skype.

by skrowl 11y ago

nxzero 11y ago
Point is FaceTime is a native app and if it was possible to interface with it, developers would do so.
ino 11y ago
I'm not willing to install another browser plugin to enable video chat anymore. Until video chat works without plugins I'm using the standalone apps. I know chrome bundles the hangouts plugin. I wish it didn't and worked without plugins.
- quicklyfrozen 11y ago
  Chrome doesn't bundle a plugin for hangouts, they use WebRTC. They use the plugin on other browsers that don't have WebRTC.
  - TD-Linux 11y ago
    No, they use a bunch of nonstandard extensions to WebRTC that basically amounts to the plugin. This is why the plugin is required on Firefox, even though it supports WebRTC. https://webrtchacks.com/hangout-analysis-philipp-hancke/ https://webrtchacks.com/hangout-analysis-philipp-hancke/
dahart 11y ago
That sounds really presumptuous, since chances are high @amelius knows about the alternatives, and since it's still a great point even with the alternatives; if I want to use Linux, great, good for me, but I'm not going to walk around trying to convince all my friends & family that are happily using FaceTime to switch to something that requires an installation, is harder to use, and is not integrated with the calling features of their devices.
AndrewUnmuted 11y ago
None of your examples deliver sound quality that comes anywhere near that of FaceTime Audio.
- microcolonel 11y ago
  What a load of crap.
mseri 11y ago
Yes, but FaceTime use of bandwidth is an order of magnitude smaller... In additino, Skype is not updated in Linux since ages
- gajjanag 11y ago
  I am curious about this, since I assumed that Google would have put in quite a bit of effort to make sure that Hangouts is competitive in terms of bandwidth usage across platforms. Do you have any performance figures? And a harder question: any ideas as to why this is the case?

You know there are dozens of video chat apps that interoperate between OS X and Linux, right? Try Google Hangouts, ooVoo, or Skype.

by skrowl 11y ago

You know there are dozens of video chat apps that interoperate between OS X and Linux, right? Try Google Hangouts, ooVoo, or Skype.

nxzero 11y ago

Point is FaceTime is a native app and if it was possible to interface with it, developers would do so.

ino 11y ago

I'm not willing to install another browser plugin to enable video chat anymore. Until video chat works without plugins I'm using the standalone apps. I know chrome bundles the hangouts plugin. I wish it didn't and worked without plugins.

quicklyfrozen 11y ago
Chrome doesn't bundle a plugin for hangouts, they use WebRTC. They use the plugin on other browsers that don't have WebRTC.
- TD-Linux 11y ago
  No, they use a bunch of nonstandard extensions to WebRTC that basically amounts to the plugin. This is why the plugin is required on Firefox, even though it supports WebRTC. https://webrtchacks.com/hangout-analysis-philipp-hancke/ https://webrtchacks.com/hangout-analysis-philipp-hancke/

dahart 11y ago

That sounds really presumptuous, since chances are high @amelius knows about the alternatives, and since it's still a great point even with the alternatives; if I want to use Linux, great, good for me, but I'm not going to walk around trying to convince all my friends & family that are happily using FaceTime to switch to something that requires an installation, is harder to use, and is not integrated with the calling features of their devices.

AndrewUnmuted 11y ago

None of your examples deliver sound quality that comes anywhere near that of FaceTime Audio.

microcolonel 11y ago
What a load of crap.

mseri 11y ago

Yes, but FaceTime use of bandwidth is an order of magnitude smaller... In additino, Skype is not updated in Linux since ages

gajjanag 11y ago
I am curious about this, since I assumed that Google would have put in quite a bit of effort to make sure that Hangouts is competitive in terms of bandwidth usage across platforms. Do you have any performance figures? And a harder question: any ideas as to why this is the case?