How to Use FaceTime to Call Other Apple Devices, Reach Out to Android and Windows Users

Of note:

• FaceTime automatically registers your phone number on an iPhone. This means someone can contact you using FaceTime via your phone number, just like a regular call.
• On an Apple device where you might not have a phone number, go to Settings ⚙️ | FaceTime | Use your Apple ID for FaceTime and sign in with your Apple ID.
• To start a FaceTime video call on an iPhone while on a regular call, tap the FaceTime icon in the Phone app to switch immediately to FaceTime. If the person on the other end declines, you’ll stay in the Phone app.
• If you make a FaceTime call that’s declined or not answered, click Message to send the person an iMessage. You also can leave someone a video voicemail message within the app.

Call on FaceTime with your Mac computer

1. Sign in with your Apple ID and enable FaceTime. You’ll only do this once. Your Mac laptop or desktop needs a camera and microphone for a FaceTime call.

2. Open the FaceTime app. At the top of the screen, click New FaceTime to place a call to another Apple user or Create Link to call someone on Windows or Android.

3. Enter the email address or phone number you want to reach. You may need to press the return key. If the recipient is in your contacts, enter the name. Click the video camera button or phone icon for an audio-only call.

Of note:

• You can make a FaceTime audio call or a regular phone call through your Mac if your iPhone is nearby and you’re connected to the same Wi-Fi network. If it doesn't work, on your iPhone, go to Settings ⚙️ | Phone | Calls on Other Devices | Allow Calls on Other Devices and make sure the toggle is green.
• When making a video call that’s not answered or declined, at the bottom of the screen, you can select one of these options: Call Back, Cancel or Leave a Message.
• To add other people to your FaceTime chat, you’ll need at least macOS Mojave 10.14.3, which was released in January 2019. During a FaceTime call, tap the plus sign + and enter the name or number of someone you want to add.
• If your laptop or desktop has at least Mac OS Ventura, you can use Handoff to switch seamlessly mid-call from one Apple device to another, such as from your iPhone to your MacBook. When you hand off a call, if you have a connected Bluetooth headset like AirPods, it will transition to the new device simultaneously.

How to add an Android or Windows user

1. Open the FaceTime app on your Apple device, and tap Create Link in the top left.

2. Tap Add Name, type a name, then tap OK. Send the link from Messages, Mail or any other supported app in the Share menu, such as Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp.

The recipient will receive a link for the FaceTime call along with the suggested text, “Join my FaceTime.” You can change or add a date or brief personal message to this text.

The recipient clicks the link to launch a web browser. A black FaceTime screen with the app icon appears. The participant types in a name, hits Continue | Join and can join you alone or in a Group FaceTime call.

3. The Apple user will see a message, Time Sensitive FaceTime Link, on the phone screen when an invitee clicks the link. You’ll see a message about one or more people waiting.

Join the call, click the “waiting” message, then the white check mark in a green circle. Clicking Done at the top right corner gets the Apple user out of Contacts and into the FaceTime call.

4. Anyone can leave by tapping the End or Leave button. The call won’t cut off until only one person is left.

Save some cash if your plan has a data cap

You will hit your mobile plan’s data limit sooner than you anticipated if you love to show your face on FaceTime and other video chat apps. The amount of data a person starting the call and all the others who are part of it each consumes can vary widely depending on the number of participants, signal strength, video quality and whether they’re on a 4G or a 5G network.

Video is a data hog, more than audio alone, still photos and definitely text. Data-usage estimates before 5G started at 60 megabytes (MB) for a 30-minute low-quality FaceTime video call, which you might not have wanted to tolerate for a half hour.

If you have 5G service, a strong signal and a high number of participants on camera, other estimates tilt data usage to more than 2 gigabytes (GB), i.e., 2,000MB, for the same 30-minute call. That might be almost half the data included in an inexpensive plan from an economical reseller such as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO). More than 1 in 5 respondents in the U.S. have a mobile data plan of 5GB or less, according to Statista Consumer Insights’ 2024 survey. 

The solution? Make sure that you’re hooked up to a strong Wi-Fi network all the time during a call. Apple users can ensure the app doesn’t skip over to their cell plan if the Wi-Fi has a hiccup by going to Settings ⚙️ | Cellular and scrolling past their app list to Wi-Fi Assist, which will make the switch to mobile data if it senses a poor Wi-Fi signal. Flip the toggle button to gray with the circle to the left; that signifies off.

If you don’t ever want to use FaceTime with your mobile plan, stay on that Cellular page but scroll up to the Apps by Usage section and find FaceTime. Turn its toggle button to gray. The caveat: You’ll be able to use FaceTime only on Wi-Fi and won’t catch any incoming FaceTime calls if you’re not logged into a Wi-Fi network. You’ll discover you missed an incoming call only when you reconnect to Wi-Fi. 

Go audio only. Or to save more data, you could strip out the video altogether and go with an audio FaceTime call, akin to a regular telephone call but over the internet. It’s an alternative when you’re running out of data for the month or know only a person’s email address but want to talk instead.

This story, originally published April 23, 2019, was updated to add new information.