Can't they just make an app like whatsapp or instagram or any other messaging app does? They talk so much about diversity and treating everyone the same but Apple is responsible for one of the biggest class division these days. Kids who don't have iphone are marginalised because the iphone kids use the internal apple products rather than messaging/video that works cross platform. It is not a problem where whatapp is the leading app but in the US it seems like peole just use whatever in the iphone ecosystem. They do it delierately and intentionally to lock more and more people into their products while marginalising people who can't afford it. This is a vicious policy that stand against everything they seem to preach for.
FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
141–150 of 352 posts
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#142Wow. That is unexpected. I have to say that FaceTime in a browser sandbox is one of the few Apple products I would consider using. I wonder what made them take this path? I also wonder if someone could build a Matrix bridge if it is available via web, that would be fairly cool. Some questions: - Is it phone-number based IDs? Or can I pick a username or get a random ID? - Is spam going to be a problem? Previous Apple…
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?
Zoom is more like Webex, FaceTime is more like WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger with less creepyness.
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#143Its only 1 way which means an Apple user can send a link to a non ios user to join in. I as an Android user cant do that. Cross platform like whatsapp, duo or signal still win here
My guess is if they want to roll out wider competitive support for FaceTime, they just need to take their web version, which is probably a PWA, and wrap it in Electron for Windows and whatever the heck Android does with PWAs to put on the Play Store, and add the ability to log in. This is a good first step though, and given I know people who only have Duo to video chat with their non-iOS contacts, this is going to be…
I think the main use case is participating in facetime via link rather than adopt facetime as your video solution. They would rather you buy into the apple ecosystem
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#144"FaceTime on Android(browser) is such a brilliant way of guaranteeing your Android friends will always have a lesser experience without completing excluding them. The video chat version of green bubbles."[1] 1. https://twitter.com/russellholly/status/1401950208133632004
I don't think it's productive to equate the green/blue color thing with the accessibility or parity of experience between web apps and native apps. The green/blue distinction is very meaningful. It tells you whether your chats are encrypted, which is not a default to SMS technology. In fact it would be more honest or accurate for Apple to display a padlock to inform you that you're secure; instead we have colors.
The colours are definitely there to indicate who doesn’t have an iDevice.
They predate iMessage being end-to-end encrypted, and predates Apples current privacy push. Additionally Apple senior leaders have got up on stage and joked about how people with green bubbles are second class friends.
All of that together makes me think the bubble colours are primarily there to gently nudge people into getting their friends and family to buy iPhones. Which is also the reason why iMessage doesn’t have an Android app, as stated in an internal Apple email made public in the Epic games lawsuit.
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#145As is, or will it be made good? The UX of the current version is poor on iPad / OSX. That was fine in the past - Skype was the only competition and that was horrible - but with Jitsi, Zoom and Discord killing it they've fallen miles behind.
iOS 15 will have a lot of new Zoom-similar features. (e.g. Grid View and Backgrounds)
I hope it would let you choose whether or not the video feeds are cropped in or not, but I haven't seen anything to support this.
One issue I have with group FaceTime that I noticed during the pandemic is that it crops off the sides of the video to make it square, so when you're video chatting with a bunch of people (like, say, your family all sitting in front of an iPad) you can't see everyone in frame even though the camera is capturing them. With group FaceTime portrait/landscape mode doesn't make any difference to even attempt to address this, like it can for 1-1 FaceTime calls.
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
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.
Duo and WhatsApp have significantly better video quality (especially off of Wi-Fi) than FaceTime
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#147A lot of Apple's previous attempts at "web apps" have been pretty half-arsed. Including Apple Music currently. Let's see if this is any different. I'm currently using Signal on Windows/Android/iOS and apart from two annoyances it is fine. - No gif support on Windows (Android/iOS only) - Cannot add a second phone but can add a tablet. As soon as it detects a SIM card slot (with or without SIM in it) it only allows you…
You want half assed? FaceTime when it was announced by Steve Jobs, he himself up on stage said it would be open source. The developers in the front rows looked at each other and said, “did we say it would be open sourced?” It’s still not open sourced to this day.
TBF he said it would be an open protocol, not open-source.
That being said, obviously Apple still never followed through...
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
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?
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.
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.
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#149Apple is trailing behind Google, Samsung, and Microsoft - all their "new" features are a catching up with the market leaders.
Re: FaceTime is coming to Android and Windows via the web
#150Death to FB messenger and WhatsApp ?