Handoff Lets You Swap FaceTime Calls Between Devices in iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura - MacRumors
Skip to Content

Handoff Lets You Swap FaceTime Calls Between Devices in iOS 16, iPadOS 16 and macOS Ventura

In iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, the FaceTime app finally supports Handoff, which means ‌FaceTime‌ calls can be swapped from one device to another.

facetime handoff
If you get a ‌FaceTime‌ call on your iPhone while you're out of the house, you can answer it on the go and then swap over to the larger screen of a Mac when you return home. Or you can answer a call on your Mac and transfer over to an iPhone or iPad for a more portable ‌FaceTime‌ experience.

When a ‌FaceTime‌ call is handed off, connected Bluetooth headphones will transition to the new device too, so your call is not interrupted by the transfer.

Apple in ‌FaceTime‌ is also adding support for Live Captions, which let you see automatically transcribed dialogue during ‌FaceTime‌ calls. Live captions are available in English and are limited to the iPhone 11 and later, ‌iPad‌ with A12 Bionic and later, and Macs with Apple silicon.

Along with these new features, Apple is adding a "Collaboration" option that can be activated during a ‌FaceTime‌ call. Collaboration can be started during an active ‌FaceTime‌ call and it can be used with apps that include Files, Keynote, Numbers, Pages, Notes, Reminders, and Safari. Third-party apps will also be able to support Collaboration.

Related Forums: iOS 16, macOS Ventura

Popular Stories

Apple Logo Gradient 16x9 1

Apple Just Made an Extremely Rare Product Announcement

Thursday August 27, 2026 7:58 am PDT by
The new Mac mini and Mac Studio models unveiled by Apple this week are the company's first new Macs announced in August since 2020. It is extremely rare for Apple to announce new products of any kind in August, excluding smaller things like new color options and accessories. As mentioned, Apple's last notable August product announcement was in 2020, when it updated the 27-inch iMac and a...
Apple Surprise Shine

Apple Event: Six New Products to Expect on September 9

Thursday August 27, 2026 8:00 am PDT by
Apple has announced that it will be holding an event on Wednesday, September 9 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time, with the company widely expected to unveil the iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 18 Pro Max, its first-ever foldable iPhone, and more. Other products expected to be announced at the event include an Apple Watch Series 12 with a ceramic case option, an Apple Watch Ultra 4, AirPods 5 with and without...
iPhone 18 Pro Dark Cherry Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Pre-Orders May Start at an Unusual Time

Friday August 28, 2026 8:17 am PDT by
Pre-orders of Apple's iPhone 18 Pro may not open until Saturday, September 12, a day later than the company's usual schedule, according to a new report. Apple is set to hold its annual iPhone event on Wednesday, September 9, where the iPhone 18 Pro models, its first-ever foldable iPhone, and the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 are all expected to be announced. Under Apple's typical...

Top Rated Comments

55 months ago
Does this work for normal phone calls and FaceTime Audio calls?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
HobeSoundDarryl Avatar
55 months ago

I think the bigger thing if I have this right is that you can use your iPhone camera for a FaceTime call on the Mac for those with a Mac Mini / Studio / Pro who don't have a webcam but want to use their display as their screen.

Am I correct that the phone will be the camera and the connected monitor will be the FaceTime screen interface?
It appeared so. iDevice will be equivalent to a built-in camera, presumably microphone too and you'll see the other person(s) on your Mac screen. This seems like a fantastic feature because it can use a much superior camera than any built-in ones and basically bring easy FaceTime to many monitors without a camera at all.

The big surprise to me is that this wasn't also announced as a tvOS feature. I can't begin to count how many wishes I've read to get FaceTime working with the TV screen. Since the Belkin hook will have to be pretty flexible to work with any screen and TVs are just one big monitor screen, this seems like an obvious feature to work into tvOS too. If so, I'd buy one Belkin hook to just leave on the TV and another for the desktop monitor.

It's wireless, presumably working via airplay or something pretty similar. Why NOT make AppleTV work just like the Mac will work for this?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
55 months ago
Continuity Camera for the AppleTV is what I want to see. It’s about time we could do FaceTime on the big screen. At the moment I (Grudgingly) use Facebook Portal TV to connect to loved ones who live a long way away and it works great. But I’d much rather do it using FaceTime.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
55 months ago
This sounds like it will be very useful.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
55 months ago
Great addition. Live caption is also very welcome.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SenorWhyMe Avatar
55 months ago
hopes it’s better improved than phone calls cause on ios15 mac os 12 always swapping phone to mac during calls never damn worked
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)