“Apple today removed Group FaceTime from the latest iOS 12 and macOS Mojave betas, which were released this morning, and has instead decided to release the feature at a later date,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors.
“One of the key features of iOS 12 and macOS Mojave, Group FaceTime is designed to allow up to 32 people to chat together at one time via FaceTime audio or FaceTime video,” Clover reports. “The feature has been available in iOS 12 and macOS Mojave since the first betas became available in June, and it’s not clear why Apple has decided to push the feature back to a later date.”
Clover reports, “In release notes for both macOS Mojave and iOS 12, Apple says the feature has been removed from the initial releases of macOS Mojave and iOS 12 and ‘will ship in a future software update later this fall.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: If something’s wonky with it, it’s certainly best to get it right first.
The MDN Headline makes it sound to me like iOS 12 itself is being delayed. Phew.
Annoying given group video calls were available in iChat AV more than a decade ago.
But not E2E encrypted. I guess that is the holdup. Everyone can do group calls without encryption.
Yeah, it’s an E2E issue. I’ve noticed in the betas that there’s a tendency to have crosstalk with more than 12 people on a call. So it’s possible that the ‘tunneling’ is wonky somewhere.
Annoying, particularly since group video calls were possible with iChat AV more than a decade ago.
Annoying repeat post, since I just read it ten seconds ago!
Over promise…Under deliver. The new Apple
Well said. No one overpromises more and delivers less than Pipeline. We have seen this for YEARS now. Pipeline always fails to deliver.
Where’s the new Mac Pro? MIA.
Where is the new wireless charger for iPhone X? MIA.
Where were the AirPods for the first 8 months of their release? MIA.
Pipeline continues to fail in leadership delivering new products and smooth product launches.
It’s beyond Pipeline’s abilities to bring new products to market. That much is clear. Apple now has a pitiful reputation, all thanks to Pipeline.
This will never, EVER change as long as Pipeline is the CEO. He does nothing but surround himself by feckless sycophants.
Apple promises they just needs to finish those last half dozen emojis & then they’ll be right back on FaceTime. Chill people!
Isn’t this how Microsoft used to sell the future…?
Man, the posters on this site just won’t be satisfied.
If they released Mojave, and there was a bug when more than, say, 30 people tried to chat at once, you’d all crucify Apple for releasing shoddy software.
So when the company pulls the one feature that’s still got some bugs so they can release the rest of the OS on time, you all complain they can’t deliver.
Features get pulled from software releases ALL THE TIME. And yes, I’m sure Apple did it even did it when Jobs was still around (does no one remember Mobile Me?).
Sheesh, you just can’t please some people.
Re: all the comments above
If the DID release Mojave, and the feature didn’t work perfectly
Please Ignore the last two lines. Damn, I wish there was an edit button on here!
Bunch o’ darn whiners on this site nowadays. Selective memories. Wildly egotistical regarding their ability to dissect the actions of the most successful company in modern history.
Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. Back in the 90’s Sony was thought of as an unstoppable company. Then they stopped seeing the future and creativity plummeted. Since Jobs, Apple has not blazed new trails. They have simply made existing products more efficient and streamlined. in the modern economy, where information flow is beyond comprehension, success does not ensure longetivity.
The posters on this site have had enough of this. Nobody here is asking Apple to release crap that doesn’t work. But the Apple of old didn’t seem to have this many issues doing what it said it would do.
That’s what people are upset about. How many more people do they need so things “just work”? How many more billions of dollars do they need so things are released on time with quality?
You obviously never used OS X betas through the 2000’s…. there were features demoed in the orignal Beta preview that never made it into system software until OS X Leopard. This is the entire point of beta testing… you find things that may not work properly and you pull them so they can be fixed.
Oh, almost two decades ago in the “before times”? Yeah…things had gotten a lot better since then…only to start shifting back that way. That’s the point.
If I were to hazard a guess the issue is not technical but rather legal. There may be some new claim on patented technology that Apple is negotiating.
“later this year” means June 2019 according to Apple. I say this based on recent observation.
June 2019!?! Wow, so early!
I like it when they say “in 2018” and then you can order it end of November but only in the top configuration, only shipping in US, arriving in December, only limited quantities and with some bugs waiting for you to discover.
I think that will be the Mac Pro next year. Ah well.
Maybe the recent Samsung Ingenious ads triggered them to rethink this feature.
Guess Cook is busy counting Apple’s trillion bucks or hanging out at another LGBT event to concern himself with the ‘quality’ of Apple software….
You know, it actually use to ‘just work’….