FaceTime Video

When is Apple going to pay FaceTime the attention it deserves?

The other day I overheard a woman at the coffee shop spiritedly conversing on FaceTime with what I can only presume was her mother. The topic of discussion had been the daughter’s holiday trip, and her mom said something that struck a chord with me: why can’t you show me the photos on here? This got me thinking (at which point I stopped listening in, promised). Since its inception, FaceTime has received dreadfully little attention from Apple. The introduction of FaceTime Audio aside, the service practically makes for an absolute freeze-up in an otherwise constantly forward moving software environment.

As consumers, we have become used to companies spending more resources and time on pet projects of theirs and conversely less on comparably idle services, but what is astonishing is that this analogy does not explain the ongoing neglect of FaceTime. Because for all its faults and plainness, FaceTime is tremendously popular. For reasons only known to the Cupertino giant however, it does barely show in the application’s development. To add insult to injury, the lackluster state is likely to persist for yet another year until the next big software update for iOS rolls in. Never mind the fact this means forever in industry years, but it’s even worse because FaceTime is already adrift of the competition.

With that said, it is time for Apple to start play catch-up and resuscitate the service. Since the coffee shop encounter, I have been mulling over how Apple could ramp up the offering realistically in the near future. Here is what I believe is feasible and crucial for FaceTime to implement within the next year:

LiveRinging brings video ringtones to your jailbroken iPhone

For deeper customization of the incoming call screen from iOS that goes deeper than just blurring your wallpaper background or showing the contact picture of the person who is calling you, you may want to check out a new jailbreak tweak called LiveRinging.

This tweak replaces the background of the incoming call screen with a video of your choice and gives iOS a feature Android users know and love known as video ringtones.

In this review, we’ll show you how LiveRinging works and demonstrate its capabilities.

How to transition to FaceTime on your iPhone during phone call

From the onset, the iPhone has supported common features such as mid-call switching to an incoming phone call, creating a conference call between multiple parties and more. These features extend to FaceTime, Apple’s solution for making audio and video calls over the Internet that bypass a carrier’s voice network.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to make a quick transition to a FaceTime call on your iPhone without hanging up on the current call.