Join the gang: How to make a group call on Facetime with up to 32 people?

With the COVID-19 pandemic, video calls have taken on a much greater importance than in other times, as with social isolation, this is one of the best ways to communicate with friends and family. In addition, Facetime will allow you to bring the whole gang together, as its group video call feature allows up to 32 people simultaneously.

In this article we will explain how to group up to 32 people on FaceTime, including you. It's time to join your family and friends in a FaceTime group call to kill the longing. Know how.

First of all, it is important to remember that to participate in this video call, the user must have an Apple device.

Requirements for participating in group FaceTime video calls

All participants must use Apple devices:

• An iPhone 6s or later, iPad Pro or later, iPad Air 2 or iPad Mini 4 running iOS 12.1.4 or later.
• A Mac running Mojave 10.14.3 or later.

Also, participants need to have FaceTime set up on their devices. To do this, just go to Settings > FaceTime > and make sure the slider next to FaceTime is green.

Also, conversation participants need to set up their iPhone to receive FaceTime calls over 4G if they are not connected to Wi-Fi. If this is the case for one of the people who will be joining your conversation, recommend that the person go to Settings > Cellular. Scroll down to FaceTime and make sure the slide is green.

It is crucial that your participants are actually actively using their device before you can FaceTime them, otherwise they will appear to be unavailable and you will not be able to add them to the call.

For this reason, we suggest that you alert people to the call and make sure they are ready and waiting! This doesn't mean that if you don't have one of the above, you can't join a FaceTime call, you can't connect with this person.

What Happens in a Group FaceTime Call

For conversations with many participants, the interface is divided into two sections. At the top are the attendees who, during WWDC's presentation on the new feature, Apple's Craig Federighi, known as "Leaders." The other participants are relegated to the "list" at the bottom. (For smaller groups, there will be no list - everyone will have a bigger tile even more.) The tile is in the lower right corner.

Tiles vary in size and prominence depending on how recently that person spoke. When someone starts talking, your block automatically increases; it will remain that way until someone else starts talking, even if the first person stops. Similarly, someone on the list can be promoted to the top section if they start talking.

If you want to give one of the participants more prominence even when they are not speaking, double tap the tile and they will be presented. This effect doesn't apply to what everyone else is seeing, of course.

How to Make a FaceTime Group Video Call on iPhone and iPad

1. Open FaceTime on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap the + button in the upper right corner.
3. Enter the name or number of the person you want to call.
4. Enter the name of additional contacts.
5. Tap Video or Audio to make your FaceTime call.

How to Join a Group FaceTime Call in Messages on iPhone and iPad

You can also join an ongoing group FaceTime call from a group iMessage thread if you are among the people in that thread.

1. Open messages on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Tap a group conversation with an open FaceTime call.
3. Tap the green Join button in the FaceTime message bubble.

on a Mac

1. Once you've connected with at least one other person on FaceTime, you can add more people to the call by clicking the rectangular icon on the left of the screen.
2. A column will open on the left of the window.
3. Add more contacts here and add them to the ongoing call.

How to leave a FaceTime group call

If you want to leave a FaceTime group, just tap the big red X.

How to find someone on Facetime

While a call is in progress, you will see different tiles for different participants. If they are participants in the video, you will see their face.

The tiles will be larger depending on whether the person is speaking or has spoken recently. So it's easy to find someone who is leading the call, but it's harder to find someone who isn't talking.

However, you can scroll through the different blocks and look for a specific participant. Once you find it, double tap their icon to maximize it. No one else will be aware that you did this. People who have not joined the call will have different colored icons at the bottom of the screen with their initials.