Unlimited data plans are a thing of the past, and while some users have been grandfathered into these plans, most of us now have capped data plans, forcing us to be a little more conservative with our data, or at least be more aware of our usage. For the data-conscious people out there, we have a simple tip that will show you a quick and easy way to see how much data specific FaceTime calls use.
I use FaceTime on a daily basis and have always hated it wouldn't let me save calls to my Mac in the form of a media file. Surely Apple could have implemented such a feature if they wanted, but they didn't and I think privacy is a big part of that.
If for whatever reason you need to record FaceTime calls to a Mac, Call Recorder by Ken and Glen Aspeslagh, twin brothers from Massachusetts, has you covered.
The app creates a QuickTime movie file containing an audio track for audio-only calls and a video track for FaceTime video calls. QuickTime is an industry-standard multimedia container, meaning you can play your saved video and audio chats pretty much anywhere, convert the files to other formats in software like iMovie or Adobe After Effects, upload them to YouTube and more.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (or EFF) has posted a new Secure Messaging Scorecard, which ranks popular messaging offerings based on their security measures. The Scorecard uses a variety of metrics, such as methods of encryption and user privacy, and Apple's messaging options faired rather well.
While dedicated secure messaging apps like ChatSecure and CryptoCat scored the highest, the EFF found Apple's iMessage and FaceTime systems to be "the best of the mass-market options." The two services were found more secure than several high profile apps, including BlackBerry Messenger and Skype.
HandsFree is a recently released jailbreak tweak that works in conjunction with iOS 7's Phone and FaceTime apps and introduces the ability to answer incoming calls straight to speaker with a simple wave of your hand. The key phrase here is "straight to speaker," as this tweak eliminates the two-step process previously required to answer a call and enable speakerphone.
HandsFree works with FaceTime Video and Audio in addition to cellular calls, so answering an incoming call is seamless across the board...
After some folks on iOS 6 and older versions of OS X started complaining about being unable to make or receive FaceTime calls on their devices, Apple has responded by releasing an emergency fix for the FaceTime app on OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. Getting to the root of the problem, the company on Thursday published a support document that casts more light on the issue.
People have apparently been experiencing FaceTime connection problems due to a bug resulting from a device certificate that expired on April 16, 2014. Luckily, there's a simple resolution for the problem, one which you may not necessarily like. Hit the jump for the full reveal...
When Apple was unveiling a new video-calling capability on the then new iPhone 4 at the WWDC 2010 keynote, Steve Jobs presented the feature as one of his famous 'one more thing' moments.
FaceTime debuted as a hassle-free video calling service between iPhone 4 devices and was initially Wi-Fi-only, but Apple eventually rolled it out across the lineup so it's available across Mac, iPhone, iPod touch and iPad devices on both Wi-Fi and cellular.
The engineer behind the feature, Roberto Garcia, was forced to spill the beans on how FaceTime came out of work done for Game Center in his testimony during the fourth week of the second Apple vs. Samsung trial in California, here are the juiciest bits...
Apple has released a fix for the FaceTime app on older versions of OS X, specifically OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
Users of older software, as we reported last week, have been seeing issues with FaceTime, unable to connect and complete calls, for unknown reasons. Apple released version 1.0.5 of the $0.99 app to address the issue:
Users on iOS 6, iOS 7, and Macs are having issues connecting FaceTime video calls on Thursday.
Many complaints have rung across Twitter and Apple Support communities. Even some of our devices here at iDownloadBlog are unable to connect for unknown reasons.
I’m fairly certain that many of our readers have heard of, if not actually participated in the Internet phenomenon of Chatroulette. A quick summary of the activity is that people visit the website, click on a link and are able to chat with perfect strangers via webcam.
FaceTime Plus is very similar to Chatroulette, except you connect through your iPhone or iPad and it uses FaceTime for video. While the explicit content may be at a minimum right now, don’t worry. Human nature will kick in soon and you will be seeing more skin than you’ve ever wanted in no time at all…
VirnetX announced today that it will attempt to add Apple's most recent slate of products—including the iPhone 5s and iPad Air—to its ongoing patent infringement suit against the company. It filed the motion this morning in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.
For those unfamiliar with VirnetX, it's a well-known patent holding firm that won in upwards of $400 million in damages from Apple in a case involving the FaceTime feature last year. Apple has since changed the feature to avoid further infringement, but apparently not enough...
Hackers have long had the ability to infiltrate a person's personal computer, and enable their webcam without their knowledge. We've been hearing horror stories about this for years, where users were covertly spied on through their PC's camera.
But Mac owners have always been led to believe that this can't happen with the iSight camera, because it's designed to always illuminate the adjacent green light every time it's active. Researchers have found a way, though, to get around this behavior...
With the growing number of handsets - including the iPhone - which include both front and rear-facing cameras, there is that decision during FaceTime calls and videoconferencing on where the focus should be: the caller or the subject? Now comes word Apple wants to automate that question, using cues to switch between the two video streams.
In a just-published patent application, the iPhone maker proposes software that can select the front or rear camera by watching for moving lips or listening for speech. The invention could come in handy for the growing denizens of news people becoming their own photographers, as well as creating better family vacation flicks...