iPad for the Older and Wiser: Get Up and Running with Your Apple iPad, iPad Air and iPad Mini, 4th Edition

7

Using FaceTime for video calls

 Equipment needed: An iPad with built-in cameras and a Wi-Fi connection (a 3G or 4G connection can be used in some circumstances); a friend with a FaceTime-compatible device and the FaceTime app.

 Skills needed: Familiarity with the Contacts app (see Chapter 5) is helpful.

If you have a first-generation iPad, which doesn't have built-in cameras, we're afraid that you can't use FaceTime. Skip ahead to the next chapter!

When Apple launched the second generation of the iPad (known as the iPad 2), it added a fantastic new video calling feature called FaceTime. For many years, technology like this – the ability to see who you're phoning as you speak to them – was the stuff of science fiction. In recent years, you might have used a webcam with your computer to have a video chat with people over the Internet, but that meant you only ever got to see people sitting in front of their computers. The iPad, with its two built-in cameras, makes this kind of technology much more portable, so you can chat to people from all over your house, as well as many other places.

You can chat anywhere there's a Wi-Fi connection. If you've got a third-generation iPad or later, ...