Apple’s FaceTime is now available for almost every device – confusingly, but not for the entire hardware range of the group itself. Experimental users on Reddit have found that.
Xbox is now playing along
Since iOS 15, iPadOS 15 and macOS 12, the video and audio chat service can be used across platforms. Android and Windows users can also take part in communication via a browser link, which makes FaceTime a competitor of Zoom & Co. for the first time. As the Reddit user JavonTEvans has now shown, such sessions even work on Microsoft’s current console, the Xbox Series S.
A webcam, in this case the Logitech C930, was connected to the Xbox, and the FaceTime link reached the console via email. Participation in the conversation took place via Edge – Apple’s communication service supports the Chromium browser below. What is particularly interesting is that Apple’s in-house multimedia box, Apple TV, still has no way of using FaceTime – although this, too, is usually attached to a television like an Xbox Series S.
Apple TV has to stay outside
For Apple TV there is so far neither a specific FaceTime client nor an Apple-approved browser through which one could participate. The receipt of e-mails has not yet been officially planned. Furthermore, Apple would have to allow a camera to be coupled with the multimedia box. The latest version, Apple TV 4K 2021, lacks a USB port – this was only available in earlier versions of the box for maintenance purposes.
Accordingly, Apple would have to allow a connection to an iPhone or iPad in order to use the camera there. iPhones are already used for color calibration of the multimedia box and are also coupled to the device for other purposes such as entering passwords. Only the company itself knows whether Apple will actually support FaceTime on Apple TV devices one day. So far there has been no announcement.
(bsc)