7. Communicating with the Phone and FaceTime Apps

Although it’s also a lot of other great things, such as a music player, web browser, email tool, and such, there’s a reason the word phone is in iPhone. It’s a feature-rich cell phone that includes some amazing features, two of which are visual voicemail and FaceTime. Other useful features include a speakerphone, conference calling, and easy-to-use onscreen controls. Plus your iPhone’s phone functions are integrated with its other features. For example, when using the Maps application, you might find a location, such as a business, that you’re interested in contacting. You can call that location just by tapping the number you want to call directly on the Maps screen.

• Phone app—The iPhone can run many different kinds of apps that do all sorts of useful things. The iPhone’s cell phone functionality is provided by the Phone app. You use this app whenever you want to make calls, answer calls, or listen to voicemail.

• Visual Voicemail—The Phone app shows you information about your voicemails, such as the person who left each message, a time and date stamp, and the length of the message. The Phone app provides a lot more control over your messages, too; for example, you can easily fast forward to specific parts of a message that you want to hear. (This is particularly helpful for capturing information, such as phone numbers.) And if that wasn’t enough, you can also read transcripts of voicemails so you don’t have to listen to them at all.

• FaceTime—This app enables you to have videoconferences with other people (using iPhones or Mac computers) so that you can both see and hear them. Using FaceTime is intuitive so you won’t find it any more difficult than making a phone call.

• FaceTime Audio—You can make FaceTime calls using only audio; this is similar to making a phone call. One difference is that when you are using a Wi-Fi network to place a FaceTime audio call, there are no extra costs for the call, no matter if you are calling someone next-door or halfway around the world.

You can also have different ringtones and vibrations for specific people so you can know who is calling just by the sound and feel when a call comes in (configuring contacts is explained in Chapter 6, “Managing Contacts”).

And you’ll want to configure notifications for the Phone app. These include alerts, the app’s badge, sounds, and vibrations. Configuring notifications is explained in Chapter 4, “Customizing How Your iPhone Works.”

It is likely that you can use the Phone app with its default settings just fine. However, you might want to take advantage of some of its features by configuring the settings described in the following table. To access these settings, open the Settings app and tap Phone.

Phone Settings

Section	Setting	Description
N/A	My Number	Shows your phone number for reference purposes.
CALLS	Announce Calls	When you enable this setting, the name of the caller (when available) is announced when the phone rings. Tap Always to always have the name announced, Headphones & Car to have the caller announced only when you are using headphones or your car’s audio system, Headphones Only to have announcements only when you are using headphones, or Never if you don’t want these announcements.
CALLS	Call Blocking & Identification	Tap this to see a list of people who you are currently blocking. You can tap someone on the list to see more information or swipe to the left and tap Unblock to unblock someone. Tap Block Contact to block someone in your Contacts app.
CALLS	Wi-Fi Calling	When enabled, you can place and receive calls via a Wi-Fi network. This is particularly useful when you are in a location with poor cellular reception, but you have access to a Wi-Fi network. When you set the Wi-Fi Calling on This iPhone switch to on (green), you’re prompted to confirm your information. When you do, the service starts and you see the Update Emergency Address option; this is used to record your address so if you can place emergency calls via Wi-Fi, your location can be determined.
CALLS	Calls on Other Devices	When enabled, and your iPhone is on the same network as other iOS devices (such as iPads) or Macs configured with your information, you can take incoming calls and place calls from those devices. This can be useful when you aren’t near your phone or simply want to use a different device to have a phone conversation. It can also be annoying because when a call comes in, all the devices using this feature start “ringing.” When the Allow Calls on Other Devices switch is on (green), you can choose the specific devices calls are allowed on by setting their switches to on (green).
CALLS	Respond with Text	When calls come in, you have the option to respond with text. For example, you might want to say “Can’t talk now, will call later.” There are three default text responses or you can use this setting to create your own custom text responses.
CALLS	Call Forwarding	Enables you to forward incoming calls to a different phone number. Set the Call Forwarding switch to on (green) and enter the number to which you want calls forwarded. Set the switch to off (white) to stop your calls from being forwarded.
CALLS	Call Waiting	Enables or disables the call waiting feature.
CALLS	Show My Caller ID	Shows or hides your caller ID information when you place a call.
N/A	Change Voicemail Password	Use this option to change your voicemail password.
N/A	Dial Assist	Enable the Dial Assist feature if you want the correct country code to be added to numbers in your country when dialing those numbers from outside your country or if you want the correct area codes to be added when you dial a local number. For example, if you live in the United States and don’t want the correct prefixes added to U.S. phone numbers when you dial them from outside the United States, turn off Dial Assist (white). You then have to add any prefixes manually when dialing a U.S. number from outside the United States.
N/A	SIM PIN	Your iPhone uses a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card to store certain data about your phone; the SIM PIN setting enables you to associate a personal ID number (PIN) with the SIM card in an iPhone. To use your account with a different phone, you can remove the SIM card from your iPhone and install it in other phones that support these cards. If you set a PIN, that PIN is required to use the card in a different phone.
N/A	Provider Services, where Provider is the name of your provider	This area provides information about your account, such as the numbers you can dial for checking bill balances, paying bills, and other account management. You can also access your account by tapping the link at the bottom of the screen.

You can tell you are able to make a call or receive calls using your cellular network when you see your provider’s information at the top of the screen along with the strength of the signal your phone is receiving. As long as you see at least one bar shaded in, you should be able to place and receive calls via the cellular network. More shaded bars are better because they mean you have a stronger signal, meaning the call quality will be better.

If the Wi-Fi calling feature is enabled and your phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network, you see the Wi-Fi calling icon for your provider at the top of the screen.

With a reasonably strong cellular signal or connection to a Wi-Fi network with Wi-Fi calling enabled, you are ready to make calls.

On the Home screen, tap Phone. The Phone app opens.

If you don’t see the keypad on the screen, tap Keypad.

Tap numbers on the keypad to dial the number you want to call. If you dial a number associated with one or more contacts, you see the contact’s name and the type of number you’ve dialed just under the number. (If you make a mistake in the number you are dialing, tap the Delete icon located to the right of the Call icon to delete the most recent digit you entered.)

Tap the Call icon. The app dials the number, and the Call screen appears.

Use the Call screen to manage the call (not shown in the figure); see “Managing In-Process Voice Calls” later in this chapter for the details.

On the Home screen, tap Phone.

Tap Contacts.

Browse the list, search it, or use the index to find the contact you want to call. (Refer to Chapter 6 for information about using the Contacts app.)

Tap the contact you want to call.

Tap the number you want to dial; or tap the Call icon that is labeled with the type of number under the contact’s name (if the person has more than one phone number, you are then prompted to tap the number you want to call). The app dials the number, and the Call screen appears.

Use the Call screen to manage the call (not shown in the figure); see “Managing In-Process Voice Calls” later in this chapter for the details.

On the Home screen, tap Phone.

Tap the Favorites icon.

Browse the list until you see the favorite you want to call. Under the contact’s name, you see the type of favorite, such as a phone number (identified by the label in the Contacts app, for example, iPhone or mobile) or FaceTime.

Tap the favorite you want to call; to place a voice call, tap a phone number (if you tap a FaceTime contact, a FaceTime call is placed instead). The app dials the number, and the Call screen appears.

Use the Call screen to manage the call (not shown in the figure); see “Managing In-Process Voice Calls” later in this chapter for the details.

On the Home screen, tap Phone.

Tap Recents.

Tap All to see all calls.

Tap Missed to see only calls you missed.

If necessary, browse the list of calls.

To call the number associated with a recent call, tap the title of the call, such as a person’s name, or the number if no contact is associated with it. The app dials the number, and the Call screen appears. Skip to step 10.

To get more information about a recent call, for example, to see exactly what time yesterday they called, tap its Info (i) icon. The Info screen appears.

Read the information about the call or calls. For example, if the call is related to someone in your Contacts list, you see detailed information for that contact. If there are multiple recent calls, you see information for each call, such as its status (Missed Call, Canceled Call, or Outgoing Call, for example) and time.

Tap a number on the Info screen. The app dials the number, and the Call screen appears.

Use the Call screen to manage the call (not shown in the figure); see “Managing In-Process Voice Calls” later in this chapter for the details.

From the Home or Lock screen, swipe to the right to open your widgets.

Swipe up or down until you see the FAVORITES widget.

Tap Show More to see the full list of favorites. The list expands.

Tap the person you want to call.

Use the Call screen to manage the call (not shown in the figure); see the next section for the details.

When you are on a call, press the Volume buttons on the left side of the iPhone to increase (top button) or decrease (bottom button) its volume. Some of the other things you can do while on a call might not be so obvious, as you learn in the next few tasks.

Following are some of the icons on the Call screen that you can use to manage an active call:

• Mute your side of the call by tapping mute. You can hear the person on the other side of the call, but he can’t hear anything on your side.

• Tap speaker to use the iPhone’s speakers to hear the call. You can speak with the phone held away from your face, too.

• Tap FaceTime to convert the voice call into a FaceTime call (read more on FaceTime later in this chapter).

• When you’re done with the call, tap the Receiver icon to end it.

Place a call using any of the methods you’ve learned so far.

Tap keypad.

Tap the numbers you want to enter.

When you’re done, tap Hide. You return to the Call screen.

Place a call using any of the methods you’ve learned so far.

Tap add call.

Tap the icon you want to use to place the next call. Tap Favorites to call a favorite, tap Recents to use the Recents list, tap Contacts to place the call using the Contacts app, or tap Keypad to dial the number. These work just as they do when you start a new call.

Place the call using the option you selected in step 3. Doing so places the first call on hold and moves you back to the Call screen while the Phone app makes the second call. The first call’s information appears at the top of the screen, including the word hold so you know the first call is on HOLD. The app displays the second call just below that, and it is currently the active call.

Talk to the second person you called; the first remains on hold.

To switch to the first call, tap it on the list or tap swap. This places the second call on hold and moves it to the top of the call list, while the first call becomes active again.

Tap merge calls to join the calls so all parties can hear you and each other. The iPhone combines the two calls, and you see a single entry at the top of the screen to reflect this.

To add another call, repeat steps 2−7. Each time you merge calls, the second line becomes free so you can add more calls.

To manage a conference call, tap the Info (i) icon at the top of the screen.

To speak with one of the callers privately, tap Private (if the Private icons are disabled, you can’t do this with the current calls). Doing so places the conference call on hold and returns you to the Call screen showing information about the active call. You can merge the calls again by tapping merge calls.

Tap End to remove a caller from the call. The app disconnects that caller from the conference call. When you have only one person left on the call, you return to the Call screen and see information about the active call.

Tap Back to move back to the Call screen. You move to the Call screen and can continue working with the call, such as adding more people to it.

To end the call for all callers, tap the Receiver icon.

If your provider’s technology supports it, you can use your iPhone for other tasks while you are on a call. When you are on a call, press the Touch ID/Home button (all models except iPhone X) or swipe up from the bottom of the screen (iPhone X) to move to a Home screen and then tap a different app (placing the call in speaker mode before you switch to a different app or using headphones are best for this). Or, you can press the Touch ID/Home button twice (all models except iPhone X) or swipe up from the bottom of the screen and pause toward the middle of the screen (iPhone X) to open the App Switcher to move into a different app. The call remains active and you see the active call information in a green bar at the top of the screen. You can perform other tasks, such as looking up information, sending emails, and visiting websites. You can continue to talk to the other person just like when the Call screen is showing. To return to the call, tap the green bar.

When your iPhone rings, it’s time to answer the call—or not. If you configured the ringer to ring, you hear your default ringtone or the one associated with the caller’s contact information when a call comes in. If vibrate is turned on, your iPhone vibrates whether the ringer is on or not. If you enabled the announce feature, the name of the caller is announced (if available). And if those ways aren’t enough, a message appears on your iPhone’s screen to show you information about the incoming call. If the number is in your Contacts app, you see the contact with which the number is associated, the label for the number, and the contact’s image if there is one. If the number isn’t in your contacts, you see the number only.

If your iPhone is locked when a call comes in, swipe the slider to the right to answer it or use the Remind Me and Message icons, which work just like they do when a call comes in when the iPhone isn’t locked.

When you receive a call, you have the following options:

• Answer—Tap Accept (if the iPhone is unlocked) or swipe the slider to the right (if the iPhone is locked) to take the call (you don’t have to unlock the phone to answer a call). You move to the Call screen and can work with the call just like calls you place. For example, you can add a call, merge calls, place the call on hold, or end the call.

• Decline—If you tap Decline (when the iPhone is unlocked), the Phone app immediately routes the call to voicemail. You can also decline a call by quickly pressing the Side button twice.

• Silence the ringer—To silence the ringer without sending the call directly to voicemail, press the Side button once or press either volume button once. The call continues to come in, and you can answer it even though you shut off the ringer.

• Respond with a message—Tap Message to send the call to voicemail and send a message back in response. You can tap one of the default messages, or you can tap Custom to create a unique message (the table at the beginning of the chapter explains where to find the setting to create custom messages). Of course, the device the caller is using to make the call must be capable of receiving messages for this to be useful.

• Decline the call but be reminded later—Tap Remind Me and the call is sent to voicemail. Tap When I leave, When I get home, When I get to work, or In 1 hour to set the timeframe in which you want to be reminded. A reminder is created in the Reminders app to call back the person who called you, and it is set to alert you at the time you select.

• Decline incoming call—Tap Send to Voicemail to send the incoming call directly to voicemail.

• Place the first call on hold and answer the incoming call—Tap Hold & Accept to place the current call on hold and answer the incoming one. After you do this, you can manage the two calls just as when you call two numbers from your iPhone. For example, you can place the second call on hold and move back to the first one, merge the calls, and add more calls.

• End the first call and answer the incoming call—Tap End & Accept to terminate the active call and answer the incoming call.

• Respond with message or get reminded later—These options work just as they do when you are dealing with any incoming phone call.

Over time, you’ll build a large Recents list, which you can easily clear.

Tap Phone.

Tap Recents.

Tap Edit.

Tap Clear to clear the entire list; to delete a specific recent call, skip to step 6.

Tap Clear All Recents. The Recents list is reset and you can skip to the rest of these steps.

Tap a recent item’s Unlock (−) icon.

Tap Delete. The recent item is deleted.

When you are done managing your recent calls, tap Done.

Move to the Recents list.

Tap the Info (i) icon for the person you want to add to your favorites list. The Info screen appears. If the number is associated with a contact, you see that contact’s information.

Swipe up to move to the bottom of the screen.

Tap Add to Favorites. If the person has multiple types of contact information, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and so on, you see each type of information available.

Tap the type of information you want to add as a favorite, such as Call to make a phone number a favorite.

Tap the number or email address you want to add as a favorite.

Repeat steps 5 and 6 if you want to add the contact’s other numbers or addresses to the favorites list. (If all the numbers and email addresses are assigned as favorites, Add to Favorites doesn’t appear on the contact’s screen.)

• Answer—Press the mic button once to answer a call.

• End a call—Press the mic button while you are on a call to end it.

• Decline a call—Press and hold the mic button for about two seconds. Two beeps sound when you release the button to let you know that your iPhone sent the call to voicemail.

• Put a current call on hold and switch to an incoming call—Press the mic button once and then press again.

• End a current call on hold and switch to an incoming call—Press the mic button once and hold for about two seconds. Release the button and you hear two beeps to let you know you ended the first call. The incoming call is ready for you.

• Activate Siri—Press and hold the mic button until you hear the Siri chime. This is useful when you want to make a call to someone without looking at or touching your phone.

The Phone app can access your voicemails directly so don’t need to log in to hear them.

You can also record a new greeting at any time.

Move to the Phone screen and tap Voicemail. If badge notifications are enabled for the Phone app, you see the number of voicemails you haven’t listened to yet in the badge on the Voicemail icon.

Tap Greeting.

To use a default greeting that provides only the iPhone’s phone number, tap Default and skip to step 10.

Tap Custom to record a personalized greeting. If you have previously used a custom greeting, it is loaded into the editor. You can replace it by continuing with these steps.

Tap Record. Recording begins.

Speak your greeting. As you record your message, the red area of the timeline indicates (relatively) how long your message is.

When you’re done recording, tap Stop.

Tap Play to hear your greeting.

If you aren’t satisfied, drag the Playhead to the beginning and repeat steps 5−8 to record a new message.

When you are happy with your greeting, tap Save. The Phone app saves the default or custom greeting as the active greeting and returns you to the Voicemail screen.

If you receive a voicemail while your iPhone is locked, you see a message on the screen alerting you that your iPhone received a voicemail (unless you have disabled these notifications from appearing on the Lock screen). (It also indicates a missed call, which is always the case when a call ends up in voicemail.) Press (3D Touch iPhones) or swipe to the right (non-3D Touch models) on the notification to jump to the Voicemail screen so that you can work with your messages.

And in yet another scenario, if you are using your iPhone when a message is left, you see a notification (unless you have turned off notifications for the Phone app) that enables you to deal with the new message.

Move into the Phone app and tap Voicemail (if you pressed or swiped on a new message notification, you jump directly to the Voicemail screen).

Swipe up and down the screen to browse the list of voicemails. Voicemails you haven’t listened to are marked with a blue circle.

To listen to or read a voicemail, tap it. You see the timeline bar and controls and the message plays.

Read the message if you don’t want to listen to it.

Tap the Pause icon to pause a message.

Tap Speaker to hear the message on your iPhone’s speaker.

To move to a specific point in a message, drag the Playhead to the point at which you want to listen.

Tap Call Back to call back the person who left the message.

Tap Delete to delete the message.

Tap the Share icon to share the message, and then tap how you want to share it, such as Message or Mail. For example, when you tap Mail, you send the voicemail to someone else using the Mail app, so he can listen to the message.

Tap the Info (i) icon to get more information about a message. The Info screen appears. If the person who left the message is on your contacts list, you see her contact information. The number associated with the message is highlighted in blue.

Swipe up or down the screen to review the caller’s information.

Tap Voicemail.

To listen to a message you have listened to before (one that doesn’t have a blue dot), tap the message and then tap the Play icon. It begins to play. You can also read its transcript (if available).

Move to the Voicemail screen.

If necessary, swipe up the screen until you see the Deleted Messages option.

Tap Deleted Messages.

Swipe up or down the screen to browse all the deleted messages.

Tap a message to listen to it or to read its transcript.

Tap the Play icon to hear the message. You can use the other playback tools just like you can with undeleted messages.

Tap Undelete to restore the deleted message. The iPhone restores the message to the Voicemail screen.

Tap Clear All to remove all deleted messages permanently. (If this is disabled, close the open message by tapping it.)

Tap Clear All at the prompt. The deleted messages are erased and you return to the Deleted screen.

Tap Voicemail to return to the Voicemail screen.

In addition to making video FaceTime calls, you can also make audio-only FaceTime calls. These work similarly to making a voice call except the minutes don’t count against your voice plan when you use a Wi-Fi network (if you are making the call over the cellular network, the data does count against your data plan, so be careful about this).

Assuming you are in a place where you don’t have to pay for the data you use, such as when you use a Wi-Fi network, you don’t have to pay for a FaceTime call (video or audio-only) either.

Move to the Settings screen.

Tap FaceTime.

If the FaceTime switch is off (white), tap the FaceTime switch to turn it on (green). If the FaceTime switch is on and you see an Apple ID, you are already signed into an account; in this case, you see the current FaceTime settings and can follow along starting with step 7 to change these settings. You can sign out of the current account by tapping it, and then tapping Sign Out; proceed to step 4 to sign in with a different account.

To use your Apple ID for FaceTime calls, tap Use your Apple ID for FaceTime (if you haven’t signed into an Apple ID account, see Chapter 3, “Setting Up and Using an Apple ID, iCloud, and Other Online Accounts” to do so and then come back here to enable FaceTime). If you don’t sign in to an Apple ID, you can still use FaceTime, but it is always via your cellular connection, which isn’t ideal because then FaceTime counts under your voice minutes on your calling plan or as data on your data plan.

Configure the email addresses you want people to be able to use to contact you for FaceTime sessions by tapping them to enable each address (enabled addresses are marked with a check mark) or to disable addresses (these don’t have a check mark). (If you don’t have any email addresses configured on your iPhone, you are prompted to enter email addresses.)

Tap the phone number or email address by which you will be identified to the other caller during a FaceTime call.

If you want to allow Live Photos to be captured while you are in a FaceTime session, set the FaceTime Live Photos switch to on (green); if you disable this, photos you take during FaceTime calls are static images instead. (To learn more about Live Photos, see Chapter 13, “Taking Photos and Video with Your iPhone.”)

To start a FaceTime call from the Contacts app, do the following:

Use the Contacts app to open the contact with whom you want to chat (refer to Chapter 6 for information about using the Contacts app).

To place an audio-only FaceTime call, tap the FaceTime audio icon. (The rest of these steps show a FaceTime video call, but a FaceTime audio-only is very similar to voice calls described earlier in this chapter.)

Tap the contact’s FaceTime icon. The iPhone attempts to make a FaceTime connection. You hear the FaceTime “chirping” and see status information on the screen while the call is attempted. When the connection is complete, you hear a different tone and see the other person in the large window and a preview of what she is seeing (whatever your iPhone’s front-side camera is pointing at—most likely your face) in the small window. If the person you are trying to FaceTime with isn’t available for FaceTime for some reason (perhaps she doesn’t have a FaceTime-capable device or is not connected to the Internet), you see a message saying that the person you are calling is unavailable for FaceTime, and the call terminates.

After the call is accepted, manage the call as described in the “Managing FaceTime Calls” task later in this chapter.

When someone tries to FaceTime with you, you see the incoming FaceTime request screen message showing who is trying to connect with you and the image you are currently broadcasting. Tap Accept to accept the request and start the FaceTime session. Manage the FaceTime call as described in the “Managing FaceTime Calls” task.

Tap Remind Me to decline the FaceTime request and create a reminder or Message to decline the request and send a message. These options work just as they do for a voice call (you have the same custom message options). You can also press the Side button to decline the request.

When a FaceTime request comes in while your iPhone is locked, you swipe to the right on the slider to accept the call or use the Remind Me or Message options if you don’t want to take the call (this is the same as when you receive a voice call via the Phone app).

If you decline the FaceTime request, the person trying to call you receives a message that you’re not available (and a message if you choose that option). She can’t tell whether there is a technical issue or if you simply declined to accept the request.

During a FaceTime call (regardless of who placed the call initially), you can do the following:

• Drag the preview window, which shows the image that the other person is seeing, around the screen to change its location. It “snaps” into place in the closest corner when you lift your finger up.

• Move your iPhone and change the angle you are holding it to change the images you are broadcasting to the other person. Use the preview window to see what the other person is seeing.

• Tap Mute to mute your side of the conversation. Your audio is muted and you see the Mute icon in the preview window. Video continues to be broadcast so the other person can still see you.

  

• To use the camera on the backside of the iPhone, tap the Change Camera icon. The other person now sees whatever you have the camera on the back of the iPhone pointed at. If the other person changes her camera, you see what her backside camera is pointing at.

• Tap the Shutter icon to take a Live Photo (if that setting is enabled) or a static photo of the image you are seeing in the FaceTime window.

  

• After a few moments, the controls disappear. Tap the screen to make them reappear.

  

• Rotate your iPhone to change the orientation to horizontal. This affects what the other person sees (as reflected in your preview), but you continue to see the other person in her iPhone’s current orientation.

• Tap the Receiver icon to end the FaceTime session.