Whatever happened to Facetime over 3G in iOS5?

Massie

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Feb 9, 2010
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I would have loved to see this come with iOS 5...my wife just got a new MBP and it would be great to use FaceTime when I'm on the road and away from a wifi signal.

I used to use Facebreak when I was on 4.1; does anyone know if that still works with 4.3.3? Or if one of the other 3G Unrestrictor-type apps works with 4.3.3?
 

Fausty82

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Jun 23, 2010
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Yeah, but when I skype its basically with people on their computer's. Facetime is iPhone to iPhone/iPad (3G) So, Facetime would use up more of the providers 3G

FaceTime is NOT just iPhone to iPhone/iPad/iPod. I have have FaceTime on my MacBook Pro for about a year.

It's very similar to Skype in terms of video calling.
 

wittc

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Longtime fan, firsttime poster... be gentle! :)

According to the comparison page between iPhone models over at apple.com, Facetime is mentioned as a feature on both iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S under iOS5, but it also says that Facetime requires WiFi.

Didn't Steve tout Facetime over 3G as one of the features added in iOS5 back in June? It seems to be absent from any product descriptions right now.

Or is it just like tethering - up to the operators whether they want to implement it in the contract?

I thought Facetime was always just a Wi-FI feature only. I think it has something to do about using to much data traffic if Facetime was used over 3G. I do admit that it would be super cool if Facetime did work over 3G.
 

Fausty82

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I thought Facetime was always just a Wi-FI feature only. I think it has something to do about using to much data traffic if Facetime was used over 3G. I do admit that it would be super cool if Facetime did work over 3G.

If you jailbreak, you CAN run it over 3G. Apple left the decision up to the wireless carriers. Because of the reasons you cite (and others), all have opted to kill it over 3G. It is currently wifi only, but it's because that's how the carriers want it.
 

johndhynes

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Now that my wife and I both have phones with front-facing cameras I was hoping to FaceTime with her from the road. For some reason she can never turn on Skype, etc.

That answers the question of whether I'll jailbreak.