Apple’s latest iOS will let you disable the FaceTime asymmetric grid

Hallelujah, FaceTime sanity is coming.

Apple released the beta version of iOS 13.5 to registered developers Wednesday, and it reportedly comes with some very timely coronavirus-era features. 

People whose social lives revolve around FaceTime might want to listen up. 

If you’ve used Group FaceTime recently, you’ve probably noticed the windows that show your friends’ faces swell and shrink, depending on who’s talking. It kind of mimics the effect of speech bubbles, but with literal talking heads. I happen to like the feature, but others (including my partner and many Mashable colleagues), find it extremely annoying. 

There has been no option to turn the bubbles’ grooviness on or off — until now. According to The Verge, the latest release will let you turn off the balloon heads feature (which the Verge calls the asymmetric grid), and opt into a static, more Zoom-like grid image. Apparently, you’ll be able to tap on a person’s face to make it larger in the grid with this new feature.

Wow, boring! But useful, I guess.

The beta also reportedly contains other coronavirus-inspired features, including the ability to more easily unlock your phone with Face ID if you’re wearing a face mask, and to opt in to contact tracing notifications. 

New versions of iOS historically come out in June, so this version may be available to the public soon. For now, your FaceTimes will just have to be bubbly.