Take Control of FaceTime and Messages, Second Edition

Master Apple's video, audio, and text messaging tools!

Version 2.0, updated December 13, 2023

Dig into FaceTime, Messages, and Phone from the basics through the most advanced and interesting features available, including screen sharing, group calls, and sending rich messages in Take Control of FaceTime and Messages. This comprehensive book will answer every question and reveal useful features you never knew existed.

FaceTime, Messages, and Phone form the core of Apple’s video, texting, and calling tools for owners of iPhones, iPads, Macs, and Apple Watches. As FaceTime and Messages have expanded features, they’ve become more complicated to master and use exactly the way you want. How they interact with the phone network and the Phone app can be a blurry line, too. In this book, Glenn Fleishman lays out your options to best understand, use, and customize FaceTime and Messages for your needs and conversations. Start by mastering (or reviewing) the basics of each app, then move into group calls and texts, using rich media, maintaining your privacy, and adding whimsy to conversations. Covers iOS, iPadOS, macOS, tvOS, and watchOS.

The book covers all three apps (and the many ways in which they interact) extensively, showing you:

• What's new in the FaceTime, Messages, and Phone apps (updated for macOS Sonoma14.2, iOS 17.2, iPadOS 17.2, watchOS 10.2, and tvOS 10.2)

• How to master the basics of the FaceTime, Messages, and Phone apps

• Essential settings and preferences for these apps, including how to pick your primary address or phone number and manage location sharing, and maintain your privacy

• Ways to share your screen (or let someone share theirs with you) in both FaceTime and Messages, and when to use which

• How to insert the text of a sign or other printed material in a message, or even dial a phone number by pointing your iPhone at a printed number

• How to have fun and get creative with Message Effects, Camera Effects, stickers, and hashtag images

• How Apple secures live audio, video, and texting

• Strategies and tools to identify and block unwanted phone calls and messages

You’ll learn about FaceTime capabilities such as:

• How to use FaceTime for audio or video calls with one person or a group of up to 32 people

• Why you might want to use a FaceTime Link, and how it can extend FaceTime to Windows and Android users

• How to work with audio input and output devices in FaceTime

• How to use enhanced audio (Mic Mode) and video (Portrait Mode) effects in FaceTime calls on supported devices

• How to use the Eye Contact feature on iPhones and iPads, which simulates eye-to-eye contact even when you’re not looking at the camera

• How to place and receive FaceTime calls on an Apple TV using Continuity Camera

• How to use SharePlay, which lets parties carry on a FaceTime conversation while enjoying synchronized video, audio, or screen sharing (and even how to transfer SharePlay to an Apple TV)

• How to convert a FaceTime audio call to a video call

• How to use gestures to create animated video effects

Find out things you never knew about Messages, including:

• Why some conversations in Messages use iMessage (blue bubbles for individuals, gray bubbles for businesses) while others use SMS/MMS (green bubbles), and the differences between them

• All about advanced Messages features, such as nested replies and person-to-person Apple Pay

• Why Messages isn’t just for text, but also for audio messages, Digital Touch effects, animations, and more

• Ways to keep track of shared links and media across apps with Shared for You

• The privacy tradeoffs of Messages in iCloud

• Simple ways to create events and reminders from Messages conversations

• What to do when group chats get out of control—managing notifications, using mentions, and understanding the differences between SMS and MMS chats

• How to view transcriptions of audio messages

Make better use of the Phone app:

• How to make phone calls (including emergency calls) from your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch

• What the “verified” label on incoming phone calls means