Chapter 9

Getting Social with FaceTime, Twitter, and iMessage

Get ready to …

Understand Who Can Use FaceTime

Get an Overview of FaceTime

Make a FaceTime Call with Wi-Fi or 3G/4G

Accept and End a FaceTime Call

Switch Views

Experience Twitter on iPhone

Set Up an iMessage Account

Use Messages to Address, Create, and Send Messages

Read Messages

Clear a Conversation

Send and Receive Audio

Send a Photo or Video

Send a Map of Your Location

Understand Group Messaging

Activate the Do Not Disturb Feature

FaceTime is an excellent video-calling app that’s located on the second Home screen of iPhone out of the box. The app lets you call people who have FaceTime on their devices using either a phone number or an email address. You and your friend, colleague, or family member can see each other as you talk, which makes for a much more personal calling experience.

Twitter is a social networking service, referred to as a microblog because it involves only short, posted messages. Twitter is incorporated into the iOS n a way that allows you to tweet people from within Safari, Photos, Camera, Maps, and many other apps. You can also set up Twitter credentials in Settings and use them to post tweets whenever you like.

Finally, iMessage is a feature available through the preinstalled Messages app for instant messaging (IM). IM involves sending a text message to somebody’s iPhone, iPod touch, Mac running OS X 10.8 or later, or iPad (using the person’s phone number or email address to carry on an instant conversation). With iOS 8 comes several new features for Messages, including the capability to send audio and video via Messages.

In this chapter, I introduce you to FaceTime, Twitter, and the Messages app and review their simple controls. In no time, you’ll be socializing with all and sundry.

Understand Who Can Use FaceTime

Here’s a quick rundown of the device and information you need for using FaceTime’s various features:

You can use FaceTime to call people who have an iPhone 4 or later, an iPad 2 or a third-generation iPad or later, a fourth-generation iPod touch or later, or a Mac (running Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later).
You can use a phone number to connect with anybody with either an iOS device or Mac and an iCloud account.
The person you’re contacting has to have allowed FaceTime to be used in Settings.

Get an Overview of FaceTime

FaceTime works with the iPhone’s built-in cameras so that you can call other folks who have a device that supports FaceTime. You can use FaceTime to chat while sharing video images with another person. This preinstalled app is useful for seniors who want to keep up with distant family members and friends and see (as well as hear) the latest-and-greatest news.

You can make and receive calls with FaceTime using a phone number or an email account to those with an iCloud account and show the person on the other end what’s going on around you. Just remember that you can’t adjust audio volume from within the app or record a video call. Nevertheless, on the positive side, even though its features are limited, this app is straightforward to use.

You can use your Apple ID and iCloud account to access FaceTime, so it works pretty much right away. See Chapter 3 for more about getting an Apple ID.

If you’re having trouble using FaceTime, make sure that the FaceTime feature is turned on. That’s quick to do: Tap Settings on the Home screen, tap FaceTime, and then tap the On/Off switch to turn it on, if necessary. On this Settings screen, you can also select the phone number and/or email addresses that others can use to make FaceTime calls to you, as well as which one of those is displayed as your caller ID.

Make a FaceTime Call with Wi-Fi or 3G/4G

If you know that the person you’re calling has FaceTime on an iPhone 4 or later, an iPad 2 or later, an iPod touch, or a Mac, adding that person to your iPhone Contacts is a good idea. Tap Phone in the dock, tap Contacts, and then tap the plus sign (Add) button; see Chapter 5 for more details about adding contacts.
Tap the FaceTime button on the second Home page. Tap to choose a Video or Audio call at the top of the screen. Video includes your voice and image; Audio includes only your voice.
If your contact doesn’t appear in the Recents list, tap the Enter Name, Email, or Number field and begin to enter a contact’s name; a list of matching contacts appears. You can also tap the plus sign (+) to open your complete contacts list, scroll to locate a contact who has associated a device with FaceTime, and click the appropriate method to initiate a call (see Figure 9-1).
You’ll see a Camera button if that contact’s device supports FaceTime video and a Phone button if the contact’s device supports FaceTime audio.

(Note that if you haven’t recorded this person in your contacts and you know the phone number to call or email, you can just enter that information in the Enter Name, Email, or Number field).

When you call somebody using an email address, the person must be signed in to his Apple iCloud account and have verified that the address can be used for FaceTime calls. You can make this setting by tapping Settings and then FaceTime⇒Use Your Apple ID for FaceTime; FaceTime for Mac users make this setting by selecting FaceTime⇒Preferences.
When the person accepts the call, you see a large screen that displays the recipient’s image and a small screen referred to as a Picture in Picture (PiP) containing your image superimposed (see Figure 9-2).

To view recent calls, tap the FaceTime app on the second Home screen and then tap the Information button on a recent call, and iPhone displays that person’s information. You can tap the contact to call the person back.

If you have iOS 6 or later, you can use FaceTime over both a Wi-Fi network and your iPhone 3G or 4G connection. However, remember that if you use FaceTime over a phone connection, you may incur costly data usage fees. To avoid this, in Settings under FaceTime, set the iPhone Cellular Calls switch to Off.

Accept and End a FaceTime Call

If you’re on the receiving end of a FaceTime call, accepting the call is about as easy as it gets. When the call comes in, tap the Accept button to take the call or tap the Decline button to reject it (see Figure 9-3).
Chat away with your friend, swapping video images. To end the call, tap the End button (see Figure 9-4).

To mute sound during a call, tap the Mute button, which looks like a microphone with a line through it (refer to Figure 9-4). Tap the button again to unmute your iPhone.

If you’d rather not be available for calls, you can go to Settings and turn on the Do Not Disturb feature. This stops any incoming calls or notifications other than for the people you’ve designated as exceptions to Do Not Disturb. After you turn on Do Not Disturb, you can schedule when it’s active, allow calls from certain people, or allow a second call from the same person in a three-minute interval to go through by using the Do Not Disturb settings.

Switch Views

When you’re on a FaceTime call, you might want to use iPhone’s built-in, rear-facing camera to show the person you’re talking to what’s going on around you. Tap the Switch Camera button (refer to Figure 9-4) to switch from the front-facing camera that’s displaying your image to the back-facing camera that captures whatever you’re looking at (see Figure 9-5).
Tap the Switch Camera button again to switch back to the front camera displaying your image.

Experience Twitter on iPhone

Twitter is a social networking service for microblogging, which involves posting very short messages (limited to 140 characters) online so that your friends can see what you’re up to. You can go to your Settings from the Home screen and install the app from the Twitter settings. After you have an account, you can post tweets for all to see, have people follow your tweets, and follow the tweets that other people post.

The ability to tweet is integrated into several apps. You can post tweets using the Share button within Safari, Voice Memos, Photos, Camera, Maps and many third-party apps. First, using your computer or the Safari browser on your iPhone, sign up for a Twitter account at https://twitter.com. Go to Settings and tap Twitter. Then click Install and sign in to the iTunes Store. iPhone installs the Twitter app automatically.

Now when you’re using Safari, Photos, Voice Memos, Camera, or Maps, you can choose Twitter in the screen that appears when you tap the Share button (see Figure 9-6). You’ll see a tweet form. Just type your brief message in the form and then tap Send.

See Chapters 10 and 16 for more about tweeting in the Safari and Photos apps.

Set Up an iMessage Account

iMessage is a feature available through the preinstalled Messages app that allows you to send and receive instant messages (IMs) to others using an Apple iOS device or suitably configured Macs. Instant messaging differs from email or tweeting in an important way. Whereas you might email somebody and wait for days or weeks before that person responds, or you might post a tweet that could sit there awhile before anybody views it, with instant messaging, communication happens almost immediately. You send an IM, and it appears on somebody’s Apple device right away. Assuming that the person wants to participate in a live conversation, the chat begins immediately, allowing a back-and-forth dialogue in real time. To set up Messages, tap Settings on the Home screen.
Tap Messages, and the settings shown in Figure 9-7 appear.

Figure 9-7:
If iMessage isn’t set to On (refer to Figure 9-7), tap the On/Off switch to turn it on.
Check to be sure that the phone number and/or email account associated with your iPhone under the Send & Receive setting is correct. (This should be set up automatically based on your iCloud settings.) If it’s not, tap the Send & Receive field, add an email or phone, and then tap Messages to return to the previous screen.
To allow a notice to be sent to the sender when you’ve read a message, tap the On/Off switch for Send Read Receipts. You can also choose to show a subject field in your messages.
Press the Home button to leave Settings.

To change the email account used by Messages, tap Send & Receive, tap the Information button to the right of an email address, and then tap Remove This Email and then confirm the deletion; next, follow the preceding steps to add another account.

Use Messages to Address, Create, and Send Messages

Now you’re ready to use Messages. From the Home screen, tap the Messages button. Tap the New Message button in the top-right corner to begin a conversation.
In the form that appears (see Figure 9-8), you can address a message in a couple of ways:
- Begin to type a name in the To field, and a list of matching contacts appears.
- Tap the Dictation key on the onscreen keyboard and speak the address.
- Tap the plus (+) button on the right side of the address field, and the All Contacts list is displayed.
Tap a contact on the list you chose from in Step 2. If the contact has both an email address and a phone number stored, the Info dialog appears, allowing you to tap one or the other, which addresses the message.
To create a message, simply tap in the message field near the bottom of the screen (see Figure 9-9) and type your message.

Figure 9-8:

Figure 9-9:
To send the message, tap the Send button (refer to Figure 9-9). When your recipient (or recipients) responds, you’ll see the conversation displayed on the screen. Tap in the message field again to respond to the last comment.

You can address a message to more than one person by simply choosing more recipients in Step 2 of the preceding list.

Read Messages

Tap Messages on the Home screen.
When the app opens, you see a list of all text messages and all attachments that have appeared in your Message app.
Tap a message to see the message string, including all attachments, as shown in Figure 9-10.

Figure 9-10:
To view all attachments of a message, tap Details and scroll down.

Clear a Conversation

When you’re done chatting, you might want to delete a conversation to remove the clutter before you start a new chat. With Messages open and your conversations displayed, swipe to the right on the message you want to delete.
Tap the Delete button next to the conversation you want to get rid of (see Figure 9-11).

Figure 9-11:
Tap Delete.

You can tap the Contact button in the top-right corner of a conversation screen and choose to place a call or a FaceTime call, or to get more information about a participant at any time. You can text contacts who don’t have an iCloud account but who do have cell numbers in your contacts list. Just be aware that the message may have limited characters and may not support photo, video, or audio attachments.

Send and Receive Audio

When you’re creating a message, you can also create an audio message. With Messages open, tap the New Message button in the top-right corner.
Enter an addressee’s name in the To field.
Tap and hold the Audio button (the microphone symbol to the right of the screen).
Speak your message or record a sound or music near you.
Tap the Send button (an upward-pointing arrow at the top of the recording circle). The message appears as an audio track in the recipient’s Messages inbox (see Figure 9-12). To play the track, she just holds the phone up to her ear or taps the Play button.

Send a Photo or Video

When you’re creating a message, you can also create a short video message. With Messages open, tap the New Message button in the top-right corner.
Press and hold the Camera button. In the tool palette that appears (see Figure 9-13), tap the Camera button to take a picture and then return to the message.
If you prefer to capture a video, with the palette in Figure 9-13 displayed, move the phone around to take a video and tap the red Stop button when you’ve recorded what you want to record. Tap the Send button (an upward-pointing arrow). Your video is attached to your message.
To send multiple photos or videos, repeat these steps and then tap Send to send your message and attachments.

Send a Map of Your Location

When sending a message, you can also send a map showing your current location. Tap a message and then tap Details.

Tap Send My Current Location (see Figure 9-14), and a map will be inserted as a message attachment.

You can also share your location in the middle of a conversation rather than send a map attachment with your message. In the screen shown in Figure 9-14, tap Share My Location and then tap Share for One Hour, Share Until End of Day, or Share Indefinitely. A map showing your location appears above your conversation until you stop sharing.

Understand Group Messaging

If you want to start a conversation with a group of people, you can use group messaging. Group messaging is great for keeping several people in the conversational loop.

With iOS 8 comes a lot of group messaging functionality, including the following features:

When you participate in a group message, you see all participants in the Details for the message (see Figure 9-15). With iOS 8, you can drop people whom you don’t want to include any longer and leave the conversation yourself when you want to by simply tapping Details and then tapping Leave This Conversation.
When you turn on Do Not Disturb by tapping Details in a message (see Figure 9-15), you won’t get notifications of messages from this group, but you can still read the group’s messages at a later time (this also works for individuals).

Taking you further into the workings of group messages is beyond the scope of this book, but if you’re intrigued, go to www.apple.com/ios/ios8/messages/ for more information.

Activate the Do Not Disturb Feature

If you don’t want to get notifications of new messages from an individual or group for a while, you can use the Do Not Disturb feature. With a message open, tap Details.
Tap the Do Not Disturb switch to turn the feature on (refer to Figure 9-15).
Later, return to Details and tap the Do Not Disturb switch again to turn the feature off.

You can turn on the Do Not Disturb feature for everyone in the Control Center (drag up from the bottom edge of the screen to display it). You can also allow selected callers to get through in the Do Not Disturb settings by choosing everyone, no one, people you’ve tagged as favorites, or people in one or more groups.