FaceTime on Android: It’s True

Time to Face FaceTime

It’s been announced that FaceTime — previously an iOS exclusive messenger — will migrate to Windows and Android. The exodus will begin as soon as iOS 15 premieres globally.

The radical move was revealed during the Worldwide Developers Conference. At the same event, multiple iOS 15 features were revealed, including music-sharing via FaceTime, digital Wallet keys that can interact with the physical objects, and so on.

It was mentioned that FaceTime will be cross-platform. Apple, Android and Windows users will be able to call each other and have group chats. Although no file exchange is allowed still.

It seems the unexpected move was dictated by the recent popularity of communication apps: Zoom, GoToMeeting, Circuit, StarLeaf, MS Teams, and others.

It’s probably also the reason why FaceTime gets a new, sleeker interface and features. To survive, it must live up to standards set by Zoom.

For instance, now during a group call, all the callers will be separated by a visual grid — their faces won’t be blended into one huge mosaic of talking heads.

Then we have spatial audio feature. This thingy is based on neural acoustics and how we perceive sound in context of space and direction. 

So now, when somebody who’s on the top of the visual grid will speak during a group call, you ‘ll hear their voice as if it was coming from the above. They expect to make conversation even more satisfying.

Then, we have SharePlay. This feature will allow you to have a real disco party while in the app. You can share your favorite jams form the personal collection with other call participants. What’s even better, you don’t need to leave the chat to play it.