Facetime who is available

The UAE is believed to have hacked dissidents' iPhones to spy on their activities, and live video chats might make that surveillance difficult. We wouldn't count on this reprieve lasting long as a result. If this does represent a policy change, though, it could represent either an acknowledgment of changing times or simply a matter of practical necessity. Sign up. FaceTime calls finally seem to be working in the UAE Whether this is a permanent change or a brief reprieve isn't clear.

But you might also want to wait to update to iOS 15 , especially if you are using an older iPhone, just to make sure there aren't any surprises when you do decide to install it. In the meantime, here's how to use six particularly noteworthy iOS 15 features that you should test when you get it.

When Apple first unveiled FaceTime, its video and audio calling platform, Steve Jobs infamously said the service would soon be open source and available to everyone. Well, that didn't happen. Apple kept the feature to itself, adding it to every piece of hardware it sells. However, after most of us spent a year during the pandemic lockdown using Zoom on a regular basis, Apple is finally expanding FaceTime to include Android and Windows owners.

Instead of releasing an app for either platform, you'll send a FaceTime link via your preferred non-iMessage platform to your Android or PC using contacts who can then use a browser for the video call.

Create Link will automatically generate a FaceTime link and open the Share Sheet for you to pick how you want to send the link to someone else, while New FaceTime will ask you to enter a contact's name and then send the link through Messages and open the FaceTime call on your iPhone or iPad. The person who receives the FaceTime link will need to open it, enter their name when prompted and then tap Join after previewing their video. Google Lens has been around for a while now, using your phone's camera to identify text in a photo, translate foreign languages or identify real-world items like animals or plants.

And now, your iPhone is getting its own version of Lens called Live Text. There are multiple ways to use Live Text. You can use it before taking a photo in the viewfinder by tapping on the Live Text button that shows up, or you can go into the Photos app and open any picture in your library. Whether you enabled Live Text before taking the photo or opened an old picture, you should be able to highlight any text, including items like phone numbers, email addresses or street addresses, and then share, call or use that information however you want.

Learn more about using FaceTime on the web. Creating a link to a FaceTime call isn't supported on iPhone models purchased in China mainland. FaceTime links aren't supported in China mainland.

You can share your screen with others in a FaceTime call to look at photos, browse the web, or help each other out. Learn how to share your screen in a FaceTime call. With SharePlay, you can watch video together , listen to music together , or work out together in a FaceTime call by sharing content through supported apps.

Spatial Audio in FaceTime makes it sound like your friends and family are in the room with you. Their voices are spread out and sound like they're coming from the direction in which each person is positioned on the screen, helping conversations flow more naturally. When you want your voice to be heard clearly in a FaceTime call and other sounds to be blocked out, you can turn on Voice Isolation. Voice Isolation prioritizes your voice in a FaceTime call and blocks out the ambient noise.

When you want your voice and all the sounds around you to be heard in a FaceTime call, you can turn on Wide Spectrum to leave ambient noises unfiltered. With iOS 15 and iPadOS 15, you can turn on Portrait mode to automatically blur the background and put the visual focus on you, the same way Portrait mode does in the Camera app. To turn Portrait mode off, tap the Portrait mode button again. You can use FaceTime on any of these devices on Wi-Fi: iPhone 4 or later, iPad Pro all models , iPad 2 or later, iPad mini all models , and iPod touch 4th generation or later only iPod touch 5th generation or later support FaceTime audio calling.

With a cellular data plan, you can also use FaceTime without Wi-Fi on any of these devices: iPhone 4s or later, iPad Pro all models , and iPad 3rd generation or later. If you're using an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, open the Settings application on your device and tap "FaceTime" to check its current settings. The toggle button at the top of the screen should be set to "On," signifying that FaceTime is enabled on your device. If it's enabled and you see a message below the toggle button saying "Waiting for Activation," that could be another cause why FaceTime is unavailable.

To resolve the issue, turn FaceTime off and on again so the feature can reload. If you continue to have trouble, turn your device off and on again. Either the camera function on your Apple device or the webcam on your Mac computer must be functioning properly for FaceTime to work.

Make sure FaceTime is able to access your computer's webcam, which could be being blocked by a firewall.