FaceTime
Video calling app in Phones & tablets
Free, built-in video and audio calling that people find smooth and low-latency, especially internationally. Main caveat: it is closed to non-Apple platforms.
Free, built-in video and audio calling that people find smooth and low-latency, especially internationally. Main caveat: it is closed to non-Apple platforms.
37 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 22
- criticize it
- 15
- approval share
- 59%
Recommended in 9 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 22 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 1.4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, not met.
- Recommended in 9 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Smooth, low-latency calls, especially internationally
“I am always amazed how low latency and high quality Facetime between Europe Australia is.”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “Digital Sovereignty Becomes an Imperative as the US Reads Dutch Emails” “Facetime does feel much smoother than other videocalling apps for Aus<>Europe.”
Comment from 12 Jun 2026 in “Digital Sovereignty Becomes an Imperative as the US Reads Dutch Emails” Keeps family and distant relatives connected
“it's been amazing being able to see, talk to, and sing with my kid while I'm gone”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “Screen time can damage under-twos' development, landmark study suggests” “FaceTime for calling distant relatives”
Comment from 2 Mar 2026 in “Motorola announces a partnership with GrapheneOS Foundation” Works over data when cellular fails
“facetime voice calls, etc... all seem to work fine even when the cellular calls aren't going through”
Comment from 24 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: Hypothesis: Cellular providers are deprioritizing voice calls?” “Facetime / Signal will work fine over just data.”
Comment from 26 Oct 2026 in “New iPad mini” Used daily, preferred over alternatives
“I like them better than alternatives.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “All of Apple's services are abysmal” “I use Facetime almost every day.”
Comment from 20 Feb 2026 in “Micropayments as a reality check for news sites”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Closed to other platforms, no open standard
“no 3rd party story for FaceTime, Zoom, Google... was a real problem for most folks”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Apple HomeView” “antithetical to the premise of being open”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Resurrecting iChat audio and video conferencing” “promised to publish interoperable specs for iMessage/FaceTime and never did”
Comment from 12 Dec 2025 in “Epic celebrates "the end of the Apple Tax" after court win in iOS payments case” - Comment from 5 Oct 2026 in “Pixel 11 doesn't yet meet the GrapheneOS security standards and may be skipped”
Call handling glitches and freezes
“answering a video call freezes the app. It recovers 10s later but video is not transmitted out”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Resurrecting iChat audio and video conferencing” “I'm talking about FaceTime actually switching when I click the button.”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “Apple routed a graphite pipe through the iPhone Duo's hinge to dissipate heat” “FaceTime putting me in a call with "testing" when I switch devices”
Comment from 16 Oct 2026 in “Apple routed a graphite pipe through the iPhone Duo's hinge to dissipate heat” - Comment from 3 Mar 2026 in “Welcome (back) to Macintosh”
- Comment from 27 Mar 2026 in “Apple says no one using Lockdown Mode has been hacked with spyware”
Confusing UI and unread badges
“if somebody leaves me a FaceTime video-message, I get an "unread"-badge that doesn't get away after I watch the video.”
Comment from 27 Apr 2026 in “Tim Cook Is Leaving. Good” “the UI being increasingly impossible to use for both technical and non-technical users”
Comment from 6 Oct 2026 in “Resurrecting iChat audio and video conferencing” “The facetime and messages icons are almost completely indistinguishable.”
Comment from 18 Jan 2026 in “If you put Apple icons in reverse it looks like someone getting good at design”
What people said
36 of the 40 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Facetime / Signal will work fine over just data.”
“FaceTime putting me in a call with "testing" when I switch devices”
“I'm talking about FaceTime actually switching when I click the button.”
“no 3rd party story for FaceTime, Zoom, Google... was a real problem for most folks”
“answering a video call freezes the app. It recovers 10s later but video is not transmitted out”
“antithetical to the premise of being open”
“Apple itself created the scourge of public Facetime calls.”
“the UI being increasingly impossible to use for both technical and non-technical users”
“That was their intention but that changed after they lost a patent troll lawsuit.”
“Except when Steve Jobs lied saying FaceTime would be an open standard.”
“facetime voice calls, etc... all seem to work fine even when the cellular calls aren't going through”
“It wasn't until Apple FaceTime Audio that calls started to sound good again”
“it's been amazing being able to see, talk to, and sing with my kid while I'm gone”
“we have better alternatives (WebRTC, FaceTime et al) that we should push”
“Facetime does feel much smoother than other videocalling apps for Aus<>Europe.”
“I am always amazed how low latency and high quality Facetime between Europe Australia is.”
“having a way to use a device in my pocket to talk to them is nice”
“it sometimes appears to significantly duck audio in order to avoid echoes”
“Facetime does alright in the consumer segment.”
“it's sad to see them breaking a fundamental phone function”
“if somebody leaves me a FaceTime video-message, I get an "unread"-badge that doesn't get away after I watch the video.”
“iMessage and FaceTime not working normally”
“QuickTime and FaceTime are useful but I never thought of them as especially innovative.”
“And no, don’t even joke that Messages and FaceTime are Slack and Zoom killers.”
“using face time on PC to answer calls from iphone being glitchy”
“it was an ok experience, but we noticed those little things”
“FaceTime for calling distant relatives”
“I use Facetime almost every day.”
“The facetime and messages icons are almost completely indistinguishable.”
“there are still a couple of things I just can't quite get over leaving behind like FaceTime for my non-technical family”
“I like them better than alternatives.”
“You should've thought of that before trying to "well akshually" me about which versions of FaceTime support multi-user video calling.”
“Facetime doesn't support Firefox”
“with video calling via FaceTime”
“promised to publish interoperable specs for iMessage/FaceTime and never did”
“iMessage and FaceTime have a stranglehold on, uh, everyone in America”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.