Apple announced FaceTime upgrades that will make it like Zoom
Apple’s FaceTime will soon look like Microsoft Teams and Zoom. On Monday, the iPhone maker announced that it’s adding new features to its videoconferencing software. The company said it would let people schedule calls and access them via a browser on Microsoft Windows and Google Android devices. This announcement came at Apple’s WWDC 2021 keynote.
Apple’s head of software, Craig Federighi, said during the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference keynote address that a person could generate a link for a FaceTime call and share it.
Apple also created new features for improving the audio in FaceTime. In FaceTime, the addition of spatial audio will make it sound as if people are in the same room. Also, the voice isolation on the microphone will eliminate background noise and prioritize speakers’ voices.
Federighi said that this new feature aimed to make FaceTime comfortable, even more natural, and lifelike.
Details on the feature
In FaceTime, the portrait will blur the background, and the focus will be on people. Also, SharePlay will let its users watch TikTok videos, TV shows, and other media resources with friends on FaceTime. Its initial partners are Disney Plus, Hulu, ESPN Plus, HBO Max, TikTok MasterClass, Paramount Plus, NBA, Pluto TV, and Twitch. In addition, a new API will allow developers to make their apps more compatible with SharePlay.
Apple’s software will become better after adding new features to its FaceTime. Later it can compete with Teams, Zoom, Google Hangouts, and other video calling services. As the pandemic situation forced people to work from home for more than a year and kept friends and families apart, videoconferencing has become an essential tool to help people get work done and stay connected. Opening FaceTime to Windows and Android users via the web, instead of dedicated apps, is a sign of realizing by Apple that by doing this, it will reach more users while expanding beyond iPad, iPhone, and Mac owners.
