FaceTime is a famous application installed “standard” on all Apple devices, which allows you to make calls and video calls over the Internet (even with users who have a Windows or Android device). Not everyone knows, however, that the service in question also allows you to share your screen during a call while offering the possibility of playing videos and music to be enjoyed together with the other participants.
How do you say? Weren’t you aware of this feature and, now that you know it, would you like some more information about it? If so, let me tell you that today is your lucky day! In the next paragraphs of this guide, in fact, I will explain how to share the screen on FaceTime by providing you with all the information you need to start a new call and show everything that happens on the screen of your iPhone, iPad or Mac.
If you agree, let’s not waste any more time chatting and get to the heart of this tutorial. Make yourself comfortable, take all the time you see fit and dedicate yourself to reading the next lines. By carefully following my instructions and trying to put them into practice, I assure you that you will be able to activate the sharing of the screen of your device during a call on FaceTime. Happy reading and good luck for everything!
Index
- Preliminary information
- How to share screen on FaceTime iPhone and iPad
- How to share screen on FaceTime Mac
Preliminary information
Before I explain in detail how to share screen on FaceTime , let me give you some preliminary information in this regard.
First, you should know that screen sharing during a call on FaceTime is a feature introduced starting with iOS 15.1 and macOS Monterey 12.1 (at the time of writing this guide is only available in the beta version), which allows all participants to share your screen and everything you watch or hear.
As a result, on FaceTime it is possible to view photos, browse the web and perform many other activities together with the other participants in the call, including the ability to play videos (e.g. from YouTube , RaiPlay, etc.) and listen to music by sharing content via apps. supported, such as Spotify .
Keep in mind, however, that screen sharing on FaceTime does not allow you to show other people content that requires a subscription: for example, by starting playback on any paid video streaming service (eg. Netflix , Prime Video , DAZN etc.), only the audio is played while the video is locked automatically.
In addition, I would like to point out that you can only share one screen at a time: in a call on FaceTime in which several people participate, only one of them can share their screen and the other participants will be able to watch what is being reproduced without any possibility of controlling the shared device. . This means that if audio or video content is shared, only those who started sharing their screen will be able to control its playback.
However, through a feature called SharePlay , it is also allowed to play content synchronously with all participants of a FaceTime call. There are already many services and applications that support SharePlay (eg Apple TV , TikTok , MUBI , Paramount + ) and that allow complete sharing, thus allowing you to watch movies together from a distance or listen to music in the best way, with all participants. that will be able to start playback, pause it, rewind or forward and much more. Here you can find the complete list of apps that support SharePlay .
Finally, it will be useful to know that screen sharing during a FaceTime call can be started and stopped by any participant. As a result, if a person starts sharing their screen while another participant is sharing, the current one will automatically end to start the new one. Is everything clear so far? Well, then let’s take action.
How to share screen on FaceTime iPhone and iPad
After the necessary initial premise, you are ready to share the screen on FaceTime on iPhone and iPad . All you have to do is start a new call, even a group call and then press the button to activate sharing.
To proceed, take your iPhone or iPad, start FaceTime by tapping its icon (the white camera on a green background ) and select the New FaceTime call option . In the new screen displayed, click on the contact of your interest among those visible in the Recommended section or enter their name, telephone number or email address in the To: field . Alternatively, tap the + button and choose the people you want to include in the call from the list of your contacts.
When you’re ready to start the video call, press the FaceTime button and wait for the people you included in the call to answer. If, on the other hand, you want to answer a call on FaceTime, press the camera icon that appears on the screen twice in a row or, if you haven’t unlocked your iPhone / iPad, swipe on the Answer option .
At this point you are ready to activate your screen sharing. To do this, press the little man icon and a rectangle in the command box, visible at the top on the iPhone and at the bottom left on the iPad (if you don’t see it, press anywhere on your device screen) and select the Share my screen option from the opened menu to start sharing your screen.
From now on, everything that “passes” from your iPhone / iPad screen (excluding any notifications) is shown in the FaceTime call and will be visible to all participants.
By starting one of the applications that support SharePlay, you can also start playing content in sync with other people, as long as the latter have in turn installed the app used on their device.
Otherwise, those who have not yet downloaded the app in question will see the message App not installed and, by pressing the View button , they will be able to access the relevant screen of the App Store and start the download.
For example, if you want to start playing a movie or episode of a TV series on Apple TV +, after starting the FaceTime call and activating screen sharing, launch the TV app on your iPhone / iPad, press the content you intend to watch and select the Replace existing option , in order to switch between screen sharing and playback with SharePlay.
I point out that it is possible to activate SharePlay even without necessarily activating screen sharing. In fact, after starting the call on FaceTime, you can directly open the TV app and start playing the content you intend to watch which, automatically, will also be visible to the other participants.
Playback controls are shared by the whole group, so everyone can start playback, pause it, and rewind or forward. Changing settings like subtitles and volume, on the other hand, only affect your device.
If, on the other hand, your intention is to stop sharing with SharePlay, you can simply press the X button, at the top left and choose one of the available options: End for all , to stop sharing for all participants, or Only for me , to quit sharing without interrupting it for others. In both cases, the FaceTime call will remain active and you can decide to access the view again via SharePlay by pressing on the green bar at the top and selecting the Open option .
If, on the other hand, you’re wondering how to stop “normal” screen sharing, open FaceTime. and press on the icon of the little man and a rectangle (the same that allows you to start a new sharing).
Please note that screen sharing is automatically stopped by locking your iPhone / iPad, if a new sharing is initiated by another participant of the FaceTime call or by ending the call by pressing the End button .
How to share screen on FaceTime Mac
If you are wondering if it is possible to share screen on FaceTime Mac , you will be glad to know that the answer is yes. In fact, as mentioned in the opening lines of this guide, screen sharing and SharePlay are also available on macOS Monterey .
At the time of writing this guide, however, both features are not yet available to all users as they will be officially released with macOS 12.1, which is currently only available in beta.
Having said that, you should know that the operation is almost identical to what I indicated above to share the screen on FaceTime on iPhone and iPad. Even in this case, in fact, it is sufficient to start a new call and then press the button to activate screen sharing .
The big difference is in the possibility to choose whether to show the whole screen or to share only the window of a specific application . In the latter case, it is also possible to quickly change the window to be shared and switch to sharing the whole screen at any time.
As for sharing content with SharePlay, first you need to start FaceTime, press the FaceTime option in the menu bar at the top, choose the Preferences item from the menu that opens and select the SharePlay tab , in order to choose the applications that can be used with SharePlay (eg Music and TV ).
Once this is done, simply start a new call on FaceTime, open one of the applications that support SharePlay and play any content. Automatically, the participants of the call will see a warning to participate in sharing with SharePlay and, by clicking on the Open button , they will be able to access and also control the playback.