"Face Time": what is it? How to set up and use?

The Internet gives people unprecedented opportunities. Today, like never before, we can turn to the Web for any information and instantly get it: in the hands of humanity, the world's largest collection of music, films and books. We are always up to date with the latest developments and keep the documents in the form of computer files. But, most importantly, the Internet erases the boundaries and distances between people, allowing to communicate online, regardless of location, so the Internet is so popular messengers and VoIP calling services, such as "Skype" or "Face Time".

Face Time: what is it?

"Face Time" is a technology that allows you to establish video or audio communication between electronic devices that support it (we mean Apple gadgets).

The technology was first demonstrated by Steve Jobs during the presentation of the fourth generation iPhone. Right on the stage he showed how video chat works with the front and main camera of the phone. At the same time Steve said about "Face Time" that this is the most high-quality and safe way to communicate with family and friends. Later this technology migrated to other devices of the company, including the iPad of the second generation and older, Mac computers with the installed FaceTime camera and iPod touch players .

The peculiarity of this service is the unprecedented quality of video and audio.

Initially, this service allowed making calls only with the use of Wi-Fi, which was extremely negatively perceived by the public, given the fact that during the launch the 3G coverage was developed. Later, in 2012, at the presentation of the fifth generation iPhone, Apple announced that Face Time will work through the mobile Internet.

Another important point in the development of technology was the appearance of audio calls, presented in 2013 together with iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks.

How to set up Face Time?

For this service to work, you must have an account iCloud. To create it, just register an Apple ID, which all users, without exception, do to activate the device. You can create an account in iTunes or the first time you turn on the gadget.

On Mac computers, creating an account is enough to enable FaceTime later. On iOS, the configuration process includes one more step. How to set "Face Time" on an iPhone? On the phone, this service needs to be activated. To do this, proceed to Settings> FaceTime and activate the power switch.

To establish communication with a specific subscriber, you need to know his phone number (if one is attached) or Apple ID. Also, "Face Time" pulls up data from your address book: those users who already use "Face Time" will appear in the corresponding application and will be available for the call.

Capabilities

At the moment, the service allows you to establish a connection between two devices using Wi-Fi, as well as 3G and LTE networks.

Face Time uses H264 and AAC (Apple Audio Codec) standards to provide better quality of communication, and RTP and SRTP are data encryption methods that provide maximum security for users.

The service operates on a free basis, and customers pay only for Internet traffic.

Restrictions

Unfortunately, as often happens in Apple, this technology has a number of limitations. These include:

• In conversation, no more than two devices can participate.
• Long connection time (planned to be eliminated in 2016).
• It is not possible to switch from video to audio.
• Prohibition of use in a number of countries (Russia is not among them).

Because of these shortcomings, you can often hear criticism of the "Face Time", that this is only a miserable tracing "Skype". However, many users do not take into account the high quality of communication and full encryption, not available in most other services.

Instead of concluding

Now the reader has learned about another useful and convenient service from Apple. After reading this material there should be no questions regarding Face Time: what it is, how to set up the service and how to use it. So, it's time to move from theory to practice and call someone from loved ones right now, because it's completely free.