Video call apps like Apple iOS' FaceTime have become incredibly important in today's world when seeing our friends and family is tough, fearing the spread of an unseen enemy: COVID-19.
Through these video call apps, people can at least talk to the people they love in real-time and catch up with them.
FaceTime and Its Moving Faces
However, since these apps have become more popular over the past few months, their flaws are more pronounced, and in the case of the FaceTime app, it's often the moving faces in Group FaceTime that users find annoying.
Thankfully, Apple has rolled out an easy fix for this problem.
According to 9to5Mac, the solution can be found when users download and install the iOS update 13.5 software, which provides an option for people to stop the moving faces.
iPad and iPhone users should be able to download iOS 13.5 software now and fix the annoying moving and bouncing faces that happen when more people are joining the call, and this is actually quite easy to do.
How to Remove this Feature
Again, make sure you download the latest iOS software update since the option will not be available unless you're already running it.
These instructions are also applicable to iPhones and iPads. To fix the issue, do the following:
- Go to your device's Settings.
- Swipe down until you find FaceTime, then tap on it.
- Swipe down. Near the bottom, under the "Automatic Prominence," you should be able to find a toggle beside Speaking. Tap and turn on the toggle. This should fix the floating, jumping faces next time you try Group FaceTime.
Nevertheless, even if you turn the moving faces off, you still need to double-tap on a face that you want to make as the prominent tile when you're using the app.
iOS 13.5 is COVID-19 Ready
Besides this easy fix for FaceTime, iOS 13.5 software also turns your phone into a useful contact tracing device that can work with local health authority' apps as they become available, which would help in the fight against the novel coronavirus pandemic.
As we all know, contact tracing is extremely important in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
The whereabouts of the user, as well as their contacts with other people using the same apps and tools, would be automatically recorded through contact tracing apps and tools.
If one person using a contact tracing app is tested positive for the viral infection, local authorities can use the device to trace all the people that the person has come in contact with and they will be able to mass test them, making it possible to pinpoint who might have been infected.
This technology is now being widely used in nursing facilities across the US, such as in Texas, where one nursing facility is currently using a smartwatch equipped with a contact tracing tool.
One of their nurses was suspected of having COVID-19, but with their contact tracing tool, they were able to get a list of all the people she was in contact with within five minutes.
Through the iOS update, your phone could then turn into a helpful device in the face of this pandemic.
