Making a video call from television through FaceTime is possible. And although an Apple TV improves things, the truth is that you don’t need to have this player to use Apple’s video call app. Now, you should know that despite the existence of this possibility, there are a series of limitations that you must take into account.
How to make these types of calls
We know that neither Apple TVs nor much less televisions have the native FaceTime app. The way to make video calls from these devices is by sharing the screen from the iPhone, iPad or Mac. And it is that, opening the control center on these devices you will find the option to duplicate the screen and you will be able to choose the Smart TV or Apple TV, thus showing the content in it.
Therefore, when making a FaceTime, you will not only be able to see it from your iPhone, iPad or Mac, but you will also see it through the television screen. Of course, you must meet a series of requirements to be able to duplicate the screen on TV. If you have an Apple TV HD or Apple TV 4K you will have no problem, but if not, you should check that your Smart TV is compatible with AirPlay 2.
The drawbacks you will find
Once you find yourself already doing FaceTime from TV, you will find a series of inconveniences that begin with the fact that you cannot look at the camera at the same time as your interlocutor. Think that the camera will be on the iPhone, iPad or Mac, so if you want to be looking directly you will have to do it on these devices and therefore it makes no sense to do it from the TV, since you will not be looking at it. And while it is true that the latter can be compensated by placing the device near the TV, it is not always the most comfortable.
Other problems that you can usually find and make it difficult for this to be a recommended method is the lag with which the video call is shown on television, causing there to be a certain latency between the screen of the iPhone/iPad/Mac and that of the television. This, added to a possible poor WiFi connection, could even make it look pixelated or have sound problems.
On the other hand, and this is already a recent problem and is probably due to a software bug, there are some sudden disconnections during the screen sharing action if a FaceTime is taking place. This was something that did not happen before, but since iOS 15 and company it occurs frequently as we have been able to verify.
In any case, it never hurts to try making a FaceTime on the big screen. At the end of the day, the inconveniences can be alleviated by improving the connection and keeping the device close to the television. Of course, if you find the last mentioned problem, you will only have to wait for Apple to solve it in a future update.
