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This is a honest question, so, what is so good about FaceTime? I have not used an iPhone since version 3GS, so it has been a while, but I understand it is just

This is a honest question, so, what is so good about FaceTime? I have not used an iPhone since version 3GS, so it has been a while, but I understand it is just something similar to whatsapp video calls, google meet, or even zoom?

salamandersauce 5y ago
It's just easier to use for Apple entrenched people. You can automatically see which of your contacts you can call with it and you can do it straight from the contacts app. Plus it will ring iPhone/Mac/iPad. Otherwise it's not considerably different.
- xnyan 5y ago
  That's a bit dismissive. I use android and iOS devices regularly and of all the options facetime is what I use the most for the following reasons: 1) The latency is very good, which is critical for a comfortable video chat experience. 2) Performance and experience is reliable and consistent and it handles less-than-ideal network condition very well. It's the one that I know is most likely to give me an acceptable experience the first time.
kevincox 5y ago
I am not aware of anything in particular. But my threshold of "I will run it in the browser" is fairly low, so if someone wanted to do a FaceTime call with me I would join.
throaway46546 5y ago
My Grandpa has FaceTime and already knows how to use it.
drewmol 5y ago
What others have said. From my experience it's relatively simple, feature limited and dead simple to use on screen/camera containing ios/macos devices. The web version won't have the same get the app nag/confusion as zoom/whatsapp/meet, at least temporarily....
lotsofpulp 5y ago
In my family, it was the best video calling option back in 2010-2012 or so, and there was no competition. So all the older people only know how to use Facetime, and no one is going to go through the trouble of teaching them anything else. I also have been embarrassed trying to teach Google's solutions and then Google messing with them over and over, so I won't ever try to introduce a Google service again.
- notsureaboutpg 5y ago
  Google Duo (the FaceTime competitor afaik) works fine and I have used it with all my family for a while now. There's also WhatsApp video which is pretty poor quality, imo. Duo is much clearer and higher quality.
  - modernhybrid 5y ago
    the web interface works pretty nicely as well. I've been using google messages and duo lately and they have been working pretty flawlessly
    - josephg 5y ago
      I’m sure it does - the technical aspects of Google’s products are fantastic. But I’ve been burned enough times now and I just assume anything interesting and new that Google makes will be rebranded / deleted / shunted into a new department in a few years for no reason. Google duo? What about Allo? Is that gchat? Is it related to hangouts? Or was that just a Google plus thing? Does that even still exist? Is duo it related to Meet? It’s all such a mess. When Inbox came out I thought “huh this is great. I’d better not get used to it or I’ll be sad when it inevitably gets shut down in a few years”. And sure enough. I dread the family conversations in a few years of “wait where did the icon go?”
      - fshbbdssbbgdd 5y ago
        The Gmail app pretty much turned into Inbox. I was dreading the shutdown of Inbox but it ended up being a complete non-event.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
Seanambers 5y ago
I see from the responses that one thing that is omitted is the clearly higher audio/video quality. I had someone call me on facebook messenger, but had to ask them to call me on facetime purely because of quality, and its not the first time. As with all Apple products "it just works". I wonder if that may change when it goes to the web.
- TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
  We defaulted to Facetime until it became obvious that it really couldn't cope with occasional bandwidth glitches. We switched to WhatsApp and video quality is noticeably more reliable. It does a better job when - for example - someone is outside and the WiFi isn't 100%.
- cargo8 5y ago
  Duo and WhatsApp have significantly better video quality (especially off of Wi-Fi) than FaceTime
  - imwillofficial 5y ago
    This is demonstrably false. WhatsApp is so bad it makes my eyes bleed.
  - passivate 5y ago
    I've found WA to be more stable on the audio front, and video is great as well. But I have an ancient 6s so I'm not quite putting out the highest quality video.
  - philliphaydon 5y ago
    The audio in WA is good, but the video quality is TERRIBLE on WA. LINE which I use more often is far better quality than WA.
  - cacarr 5y ago
    That's certainly true of Duo in experience.
- 5y ago
Spooky23 5y ago
Zoom is more like Webex, FaceTime is more like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger with less creepyness.
aledalgrande 5y ago
What people said in sibling posts was true before today. Now we'll also have spatial audio, music sharing, video sharing, controls to filter out noise (or not) in real time and other cool features. Although not on the Web I expect.
awad 5y ago
Not to be cliche but...it just works. Especially for the older generation who are used to calling people, the UX is seamless. No links to send (Zoom), no ever-changing products and menus (Google anything), and as few taps as possible/low friction to turn on (Whatsapp is comparable). The audio and video quality is also pretty damn good.
test001only 5y ago
Atleast for me, the experience with Facetime has been less than optimal. For some reason the call option to some of my contacts is always disabled even though they can call me. The left hand side of the window in Mac always displays recently called. No idea how to access contacts in the Mac app. The video quality is all right.
- rootusrootus 5y ago
  > The left hand side of the window in Mac always displays recently called. No idea how to access contacts in the Mac app. In the app itself AFAIK your only option is to type into the search box at the top of the missed calls list, and it will search contacts. Otherwise you can load the contacts app and look there, and then click the facetime icon for the contact you want to connect with.
crossroadsguy 5y ago
Nothing. Works worse than WhatsApp and Google Meet. Way worse than Duo. Functionality wise worse than Zoom but UI is maybe better than Zoom. But wait, FaceTime has essentially no UI. Works a lot better than Signal. But Signal’s audio video and their UI around it sucks, so that’s nothing FaceTime ought to be proud of. It’s just Apple doing Apple things and fans going bonkers over it.
almostdigital 5y ago
I like it because it has lower a/v latency compared to many other apps, especially over long distances. I think many people don't realize how much it affects the feel of the call. A fun way to test is counting to 10 by having one person say 1 and the other say 2 as soon as they hear the 1 and so on. You'd be surprised how long it can take to count to 10 on some apps
natch 5y ago
Privacy, and if negatives can be positives, it's not Facebook by association, not Google, and not Zoom. I won't explain why those negatives are negatives because I think it's widely known, but again it relates to privacy.
helsinkiandrew 5y ago
On an iPhone, the barrier to using facetime is very low, its like making or receiving a video phone call than using a video conferencing app - I'd imagine more elderly or low computer/smart phone literate would can a facetime call to their grandkids than use whatsapp/zoom to do the same
- betteryourweb 5y ago
  Google Duo is simpler than them all... It's been a fucking decade, if these people hadn't found an alternative to and learned a video/conference app other than facetime, it's too fucking late!!!

salamandersauce 5y ago

It's just easier to use for Apple entrenched people. You can automatically see which of your contacts you can call with it and you can do it straight from the contacts app. Plus it will ring iPhone/Mac/iPad. Otherwise it's not considerably different.

xnyan 5y ago
That's a bit dismissive. I use android and iOS devices regularly and of all the options facetime is what I use the most for the following reasons: 1) The latency is very good, which is critical for a comfortable video chat experience. 2) Performance and experience is reliable and consistent and it handles less-than-ideal network condition very well. It's the one that I know is most likely to give me an acceptable experience the first time.

kevincox 5y ago

I am not aware of anything in particular. But my threshold of "I will run it in the browser" is fairly low, so if someone wanted to do a FaceTime call with me I would join.

throaway46546 5y ago

My Grandpa has FaceTime and already knows how to use it.

drewmol 5y ago

What others have said. From my experience it's relatively simple, feature limited and dead simple to use on screen/camera containing ios/macos devices. The web version won't have the same get the app nag/confusion as zoom/whatsapp/meet, at least temporarily....

lotsofpulp 5y ago

In my family, it was the best video calling option back in 2010-2012 or so, and there was no competition. So all the older people only know how to use Facetime, and no one is going to go through the trouble of teaching them anything else. I also have been embarrassed trying to teach Google's solutions and then Google messing with them over and over, so I won't ever try to introduce a Google service again.

notsureaboutpg 5y ago
Google Duo (the FaceTime competitor afaik) works fine and I have used it with all my family for a while now. There's also WhatsApp video which is pretty poor quality, imo. Duo is much clearer and higher quality.
- modernhybrid 5y ago
  the web interface works pretty nicely as well. I've been using google messages and duo lately and they have been working pretty flawlessly
  - josephg 5y ago
    I’m sure it does - the technical aspects of Google’s products are fantastic. But I’ve been burned enough times now and I just assume anything interesting and new that Google makes will be rebranded / deleted / shunted into a new department in a few years for no reason. Google duo? What about Allo? Is that gchat? Is it related to hangouts? Or was that just a Google plus thing? Does that even still exist? Is duo it related to Meet? It’s all such a mess. When Inbox came out I thought “huh this is great. I’d better not get used to it or I’ll be sad when it inevitably gets shut down in a few years”. And sure enough. I dread the family conversations in a few years of “wait where did the icon go?”
    - fshbbdssbbgdd 5y ago
      The Gmail app pretty much turned into Inbox. I was dreading the shutdown of Inbox but it ended up being a complete non-event.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

Seanambers 5y ago

I see from the responses that one thing that is omitted is the clearly higher audio/video quality. I had someone call me on facebook messenger, but had to ask them to call me on facetime purely because of quality, and its not the first time. As with all Apple products "it just works". I wonder if that may change when it goes to the web.

TheOtherHobbes 5y ago
We defaulted to Facetime until it became obvious that it really couldn't cope with occasional bandwidth glitches. We switched to WhatsApp and video quality is noticeably more reliable. It does a better job when - for example - someone is outside and the WiFi isn't 100%.
cargo8 5y ago
Duo and WhatsApp have significantly better video quality (especially off of Wi-Fi) than FaceTime
- imwillofficial 5y ago
  This is demonstrably false. WhatsApp is so bad it makes my eyes bleed.
- passivate 5y ago
  I've found WA to be more stable on the audio front, and video is great as well. But I have an ancient 6s so I'm not quite putting out the highest quality video.
- philliphaydon 5y ago
  The audio in WA is good, but the video quality is TERRIBLE on WA. LINE which I use more often is far better quality than WA.
- cacarr 5y ago
  That's certainly true of Duo in experience.
5y ago

Spooky23 5y ago

Zoom is more like Webex, FaceTime is more like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger with less creepyness.

aledalgrande 5y ago

What people said in sibling posts was true before today. Now we'll also have spatial audio, music sharing, video sharing, controls to filter out noise (or not) in real time and other cool features. Although not on the Web I expect.

awad 5y ago

Not to be cliche but...it just works. Especially for the older generation who are used to calling people, the UX is seamless. No links to send (Zoom), no ever-changing products and menus (Google anything), and as few taps as possible/low friction to turn on (Whatsapp is comparable). The audio and video quality is also pretty damn good.

test001only 5y ago

Atleast for me, the experience with Facetime has been less than optimal. For some reason the call option to some of my contacts is always disabled even though they can call me. The left hand side of the window in Mac always displays recently called. No idea how to access contacts in the Mac app. The video quality is all right.

rootusrootus 5y ago
> The left hand side of the window in Mac always displays recently called. No idea how to access contacts in the Mac app. In the app itself AFAIK your only option is to type into the search box at the top of the missed calls list, and it will search contacts. Otherwise you can load the contacts app and look there, and then click the facetime icon for the contact you want to connect with.

crossroadsguy 5y ago

Nothing. Works worse than WhatsApp and Google Meet. Way worse than Duo. Functionality wise worse than Zoom but UI is maybe better than Zoom. But wait, FaceTime has essentially no UI. Works a lot better than Signal. But Signal’s audio video and their UI around it sucks, so that’s nothing FaceTime ought to be proud of. It’s just Apple doing Apple things and fans going bonkers over it.

almostdigital 5y ago

I like it because it has lower a/v latency compared to many other apps, especially over long distances. I think many people don't realize how much it affects the feel of the call. A fun way to test is counting to 10 by having one person say 1 and the other say 2 as soon as they hear the 1 and so on. You'd be surprised how long it can take to count to 10 on some apps

natch 5y ago

Privacy, and if negatives can be positives, it's not Facebook by association, not Google, and not Zoom. I won't explain why those negatives are negatives because I think it's widely known, but again it relates to privacy.

helsinkiandrew 5y ago

On an iPhone, the barrier to using facetime is very low, its like making or receiving a video phone call than using a video conferencing app - I'd imagine more elderly or low computer/smart phone literate would can a facetime call to their grandkids than use whatsapp/zoom to do the same

betteryourweb 5y ago
Google Duo is simpler than them all... It's been a fucking decade, if these people hadn't found an alternative to and learned a video/conference app other than facetime, it's too fucking late!!!