How to use the new FaceTime features in macOS Monterey
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Apple has officially released macOS Monterey to the public, and one of the apps receiving a major update this year is FaceTime. For the first time, Apple is adding new features like Portrait Mode, Grid View, and more to FaceTime on Mac. See you below for all the details.
What's new in FaceTime in macOS Monterey?
One of the most popular camera features on the iPhone is portrait mode, which blurs the background with a bokeh effect and emphasizes the subject. Apple is now bringing this to the Mac for the first time. Portrait mode in FaceTime blurs your background and emphasizes you while you're on a FaceTime video call.
To manage this setting, in the FaceTime app on Mac during a video call, do one of the following:
- Click Control Center in the menu bar, click Video Effects, then select Portrait under FaceTime
- Click on your thumbnail, then click on the Video Effects button
Similar to other video communication apps like Zoom and Skype, FaceTime has also added a new grid view interface with macOS Monterey. This new design lets you see the people in your group FaceTime calls in same-sized thumbnails and highlights the current speaker so it's easy to know who is speaking. You can see up to 18 faces at a time in the grid.
To manage the view of your Group FaceTime call, move your mouse over the call window, and click Grid at the top right of the window.
Apple has also added a handful of new audio features to the FaceTime app. These include spatial audio, voice isolation mode, and broad spectrum mode.
- Spatial Audio - Creates a sound field that allows conversations to go as smoothly as they do face to face. Your friends' voices are scattered to sound as if they are coming from the direction they are positioned during the call.
- Voice Isolation Mode - This microphone mode highlights your voice using machine learning to identify ambient noise and block it out. So a leaf blower outside or a barking dog in the next room won't interrupt your call.
- Broad Spectrum Mode - This microphone mode brings every sound in your call. It is ideal when you are taking music lessons or want your friend to hear everything that is going on in the space you are in.
To manage the audio settings for a FaceTime call, during a FaceTime call, click Control Center on the menu bar, and then click "Microphone Mode." Here you can choose between Wide Spectrum and Voice Isolation mode.
Finally, one of the biggest changes to FaceTime with this year's updates for Mac, iPhone, and iPad: support for FaceTime links. This allows you to invite people to a FaceTime call using a web link that can be shared anywhere, including with people using Android and Windows.
Yes, for the first time, Android and Windows users can join FaceTime calls through the web, including group calls and individual calls. To create a FaceTime link, simply search for the "Create Link" button in the FaceTime app on your Mac.
Still to come ...
One of the main features of macOS Monterey is not yet available: SharePlay. Apple describes SharePlay as a "new way to share synchronized experiences in FaceTime," and while it was originally supposed to be included in the first version of macOS Monterey, Apple has delayed it so it can continue to refine the functionality.
A new version of macOS Monterey with SharePlay enabled is currently in beta testing - macOS 12.1 - and we expect it to be released to the public sooner rather than later.
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