Those of you who have installed JailbreakMe on their iPhones might be running into some problems, specifically MMS and FaceTime completely disappearing from the device. Obviously this is not normal but Comex is working on it. I am sure he will fix this in the next few hours. In the meanwhile, sit back and enjoy your newly jailbroken iPhone.
I will keep you posted as soon as JailbreakMe is updated and fixes this issue with MMS and FaceTime.
UPDATE: This has been fixed. More info here.
I am currently at Tina’s dad, in Nowhere, Michigan. They don’t have cable internet here. They have MiFi, which I have to admit is pretty freaking cool.
Yesterday I had some FaceTime with my cousin back home in France. I took the Mifi in my pocket and went outside sit by the lake. The image and sound quality was as good as if I was on cable Internet. Very impressed.
When I see how well FaceTime works on MiFi, it gives me hopes that it will work ok on AT&T’s slower 3G network once there is a jailbreak for the iPhone 4. In the meanwhile, you can already use FaceTime on 3G with this trick.
FaceTime was recently introduced by Apple on the new iPhone 4. This new feature is only supposed to work on wifi, which can be quite inconvenient if you feel like having a FaceTime conversation while on the road.
In order to get the following trick to work and allow you to use FaceTime over 3G, you need to have the tethering option activated. If you’re in the US, the official tethering plan with AT&T costs an extra $20/month. As soon as the iPhone 4 is jailbroken, I’m sure apps such as MyWi will do the trick.
I haven’t tried this myself but Justin, the iDB reader who tipped me on this, assures me it works. Justin tipped me several times before and I trust him about this. These instructions to get FaceTime to work on 3G are for Mac. I’m sure you can do the same with a PC. If you know how, feel free to comment on it.
Step 1: On your iPhone 4, go to Settings > General > Network > Internet Tethering > Connect via USB. In System Preferences on your Mac, go to your Network preferences. A new “iPhone USB” connection should appear in the left pane.
Step 2: Still on your Mac, go to the Sharing preference pane and check the Internet Sharing box to share your USB connection over AirPort.
Step 3: On your iPhone 4, connect to the network you just started sharing. Done!
This basically lets you use your own 3G connection as if it was a “normal” wifi connection.
After that, you can use FaceTime on 3G all you want. Justin says it can be a little slow but it worked pretty well overall.
Try it on and tell us what you think.
FaceTime is a new feature introduced by Apple on the iPhone 4 that allows video calls, face to face from anywhere in the world, as long as you have an active internet connection. While not a breakthrough technology by itself, I think FaceTime will bring video calls to the masses.
I’ve tested FaceTime several times and I am completely in love with this new iPhone feature. Yesterday I had a 30 minute FaceTime conversation with my cousin in France. The image and sound were crystal clear.
FaceTime is a very simple feature to use but it seems many people have questions about it so let me quickly walk you through it.
You have to activate FaceTime
To do so, go to Settings > FaceTime > On. Depending on your country, it might take a few minutes to actually activate the feature. I suggest you reboot your iPhone after turning FaceTime on.
iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 only
FaceTime is only iPhone 4 to iPhone 4 for the time being. That means that your FaceTime buddy must have an iPhone 4 with FaceTime activated. FaceTime is opened to developers so it is very likely that some applications like Skype will use FaceTime in their apps, thus allowing you to FaceTime from an iPhone 4 to a desktop computer.
Wifi only
While I can only imagine that the jailbreak community will allow FaceTime to work over 3G, FaceTime can only work on wifi for the time being.
FaceTime is free
Because it works on wifi only, there is no cost associated with using FaceTime. No matter what, when, how, and where you use FaceTime it is completely free.
Making a FaceTime call
There are 2 ways you can initiate a FaceTime call.
Switch between the front and back camera
The front-facing camera is the one used by default when making a FaceTime call, but you can also use the back camera. Tap the camera icon at the lower right of the screen and you’ll activate the camera on the back of your iPhone. You’ll then be able to share what’s around you. To switch back to the front-facing camera, tap the button at the lower right again.
Use another app without leaving FaceTime
While on a FaceTime call, you may have to go do something in your iPhone. For example, you may need to look up a contact, or check emails, etc… Simply hit the home button during your FaceTime call and you will be taken to your home screen. From there, you can do whatever you want. The FaceTime image will be frozen on the other end of the line but the sound will still works. That means your friend won’t see you but you’ll still be able to talk to him. When you’re done and you want to go back to your FaceTime video chat, simply hit the green bar at the top of your screen.
Mute FaceTime
You can mute yourself during a FaceTime call. Simply tap the “mute” button and your friend won’t be able to hear what you’re saying although he’ll still be able to see you. You will still be able to see and hear what he says. Tap the button again to unmute yourself.
FaceTime in landscape mode
FaceTime doesn’t only work in portrait mode. You can turn your iPhone to a 90 degree angle and have your conversation in landscape mode.
Move yourself around
When on a FaceTime call, there is a little window on your screen showing you what your friend sees (usually it’s your face!). You can move this little window around by tapping it and moving it to another corner.
Try FaceTime
If you haven’t had the occasion to try FaceTime on, you can chat with an Apple rep who will go over the features of FaceTime. Click here for more info about that.
Any other tip you have about FaceTime? If so, please take the time to share it with us.
If you just got an iPhone 4 and non of your friends did, you probably couldn’t try the new FaceTime feature. Apple thought about you and now lets you try FaceTime with a few Apple reps.
Although I had tried FaceTime before, I wanted to give Apple a call and have some FaceTime with a random employee for a few minutes.
This is what you need to do if you want to try FaceTime with an Apple rep:
1. Call 1-888-32238463 from your iPhone
2. An Apple rep will pickup the phone and ask you a few questions about your iPhone setup (FaceTime ON, wifi ON, and caller ID ON)
3. The rep will transfer the call to his iPhone to start FaceTime and will go with you over the few features of FaceTime
The whole experience took about 5 minutes. I FaceTimed with a very fun and friendly girl. I asked her if she had already had some awkward ChatRoulette-style moments today and she confirmed that no one had showed her his penis yet… I guess it’s just a matter of time.
FaceTime works great. It takes a few seconds to connect but once you’re on, the sound is crystal clear and the video is of a very good quality.
Try it on!
