How to use Apple’s Group FaceTime video chat like a pro

Everyone’s video chatting now! 

From Zoom, to Google Hangouts and even Snapchat, these group chat platforms are a substitute for the kind of social interaction we would be having with our friends, families, and coworkers if we weren’t all quarantined during this pandemic. 

And while video conferencing app Zoom has risen to the top of these services, you may want to exercise caution considering all of its various privacy and security issues. But, there is a more secure alternative: Group FaceTime!

Apple’s group video chat feature allows up to 32 participants at the same time. And, unlike Zoom and other competitors, Group FaceTime is currently the only app which offers end-to-end encryption on group calls that size.

Group FaceTime , though. For starters, all of the participants need an Apple device to join. It’s really more of an option for personal video calls than business-level teleconferences. 

Now that you’ve decided it’s the right video chat app for you, here are some tricks to make the most of it.

Don’t forget to enable these two things

The first thing you’ll want to do is open the Settings app on your iOS device to make sure you’ve enabled FaceTime. While there, turn on FaceTime Live Photos so you can use that feature later on in a call.

Here’s where you can start a Group FaceTime 

There are two apps on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac where you can start a Group FaceTime chat: FaceTime and Messages. If you’re already in a Group Message, just tap on the profile pictures at the top and hit FaceTime to launch the video feature.

To start a Group FaceTime in the FaceTime app, click the little “+” icon on the top right. From there, you can input names, numbers, or select people on your contact list who you want to call.

Not everyone can join the chat. Here’s what they need to do.

You may notice that some of the people you want to do a Group FaceTime with are highlighted in blue while others are greyed out. The folks in blue are good to go, you can Group FaceTime with them. If their name is in grey, however, they likely have an outdated version of iOS that’s incompatible with the feature and won’t be able to join the chat.

In order to use Group FaceTime, each user needs an Apple device using iOS 12.1.4 or later; iPadOS; or a Mac running macOS Mojave 10.14.3. However, if anyone on the call is using a device older than an iPhone 6s, iPad Pro, iPad Air 2, iPad mini 4, iPad (5th generation), iPod touch (7th generation), then they can only join the Group FaceTime chat via audio.

More floating heads!

Like I mentioned earlier, you can add up to 32 people to a Group FaceTime call. So it can definitely get busy on your screen and there’s only so much space available! Users who are speaking are shown more prominently on the screen, taking up larger space front-and-center on the app. However, you can tap any user to bring them to the front of the screen.

For especially large chats, there’s a scrollable row on the bottom of the screen where you can find all of the participants.

It’s very likely that all of the people who end up in your chat won’t start off at the beginning of the call. In order to add more people to a call that’s already started, tap the screen and swipe up at the top of the controls when they appear. From there, tap “Add Person” and input a name, number, or select a person from your contacts. Tap “Add Person” again and they’re invited.

If you’re invited to a Group FaceTime, you’ll receive an incoming call prompt. If you decline but wish to join the chat later, you can tap on the notification at any time as long as the Group FaceTime is still going on. 

Good times in the Group chat

Now that you have the chat going, here are some tips about what you can do in the Group FaceTime to make things more fun.

On the bottom of your Group FaceTime call, you’ll notice a little star icon. Click that to open a variety of different effects: filters, Animojis, Memojis, stickers, and labels. 

Now that you have a bunch of silly faces on your screen, you’ll probably want to take a pic, right?

Remember earlier when you turned Live Photos on in the settings? This enabled you to take a Live Photo of an individual in the chat, just as you would if you were taking a snapshot of them in person. Just tap on the specific person you want to take a Live Photo of and then tap the circular icon. Both you and the person you took a Live Photo of will receive a notification letting you both know the pic was taken.

You can also take a screen recording of the entire Group FaceTime. On the iPhone, you can open the Control Center by swiping down from the top right hand side of the screen and tapping the “Screen Recording” button. However, note that Apple doesn’t allow users to record the system audio on iOS. 

If you’d like to record the content of the call, the best option is to use a Mac. There are a slew of third-party apps that will record directly from the system audio, but Quicktime will also do the trick. Open Quicktime, select “New Screen Recording,” and click the drop down arrow next to the record button. Then select the Internal Microphone and make sure you use your speakers when listening to the call. Everyone on the call will be picked up by the mic.

Peace out

You can leave a call at any time by hitting “X.” However, be aware that a Group FaceTime chat will continue as long as there are still two active participants. The party doesn’t stop just because you’re not there!