Download FaceTime for macOS 10.6.6 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. FaceTime for Mac makes it easy to talk, smile and laugh with friends and family on their iPhone 4, iPad 2, iPod touch or Mac. Getting started is quick and easy — simply enter your Apple ID and you're ready to go. FaceTime comes pre-installed with recent versions of the macOS, so if your software is up to date, you should already have the program. If not, you can download FaceTime from the Mac App Store. To use the Mac App Store, you must be running Mac OS X 10.6 or higher.
Calling an iPad or iPhone is easy, once your contacts are added via your Apple ID. Image quality is excellent, and the display is pleasantly free of distractions. If the iPhone is rotated, the image also changes on FaceTime for Mac, from landscape to portrait and back. All round, it's a very smooth, simple and comfortable video call experience. Although much will depend on your internet connection, the quality of calling on Facetime is generally better than Skype.
FaceTime is not perfect though. While integration with your contacts on the iPhone makes perfect sense, on the Mac it's less useful and some users may find contacts get duplicated or confused on their Mac.
This is complicated by the fact that you can't add contacts to FaceTime directly, but have to do it via Address Book so if you don't use Address Book, you'll have to start. It would also be nice to have FaceTime open without constantly seeing video of yourself!
By Anonymous FaceTime is the best video chat application. FaceTime is by far the best way to video call somebody owning an iDevice.
It offers a far greater quality and stability than competitors like Skype, especially in low-speed networks, FaceTime remains clear while Skype gets all pixels and the sound gets delayed. Given a medium network strength and a FAST internet connection, FaceTime offers the much clearer image and sound experience.
I have now been using and testing FaceTime for more than 1-and-a-half years for several hours daily (my girlfriend lives in Australia whilst I am from Germany), thus am honest calling FaceTime clearly superior to Skype. Pros: Audio Quality. Video Image Quality. Echo suppression.
System integration and notification, if called. Adaption to network strength and speed. Says 'paused' when minimised, image doesn't just freeze like Skype. Cons: Calls between more than 2 people are not implemented.
Should show more than the last 100 calls in the log reviewed on December 27, 2012.