Apple FaceTime availability bug
Photo credit: mathieuthouvenin (Flickr)
Like many new iPhone 4 users I’ve been keen to make use of the FaceTime feature. I was impressed when I trialled it with Sam, however I’ve stumbled across a rather annoying bug. Before we get to that, lets remind ourselves of how FaceTime works.
Whilst on a regular phone call with a fellow iPhone 4 user you can opt to change your call to a FaceTime call by pressing the FaceTime button on your handset. When the other person accepts your call is transferred to a data connection and the cellular network link dropped – seamless, and impressive.
If you now look in your call history amongst the regular calls you’ve made to mobile and landlines you can see FaceTime calls listed. Fantastic, I thought, I can now call Sam directly with a FaceTime call rather than having to undertake the above described process each time. This works, but ONLY if he’s on a Wifi link at the time I call him. This is expected behaviour since FaceTime is currently a WiFi only service; the bug I’ve discovered is that when Sam isn’t on WiFi, if I attempt to call him via FaceTime, my handset thinks his handset is available and gives me a ringing tone. I’ve checked with Sam and he isn’t even notified that I’m attempting to call him, nor does his answering service ever kick in.
This is disappointing behaviour. I would have expected the iPhone to attempt to contact the device I’m trying to reach before responding back with a ringing tone; if the recipient of my call wasn’t capable of taking a FaceTime call I’d have presumed something telling me the connection wasn’t possible would be presented rather than a misleading ring tone that makes you believe your recipient just isn’t picking up!
What are your experiences of FaceTime? Any other bugs or issues to report?
