Apple’s FaceTime to get group chat feature in iOS 11

Since launching in 2010, FaceTime has been an important part of the iOS ecosystem. The thing is, it hasn’t changed much since it was made available (first for the iPhone 4).

Other chat clients, such as Skype, far outclass Apple’s service with superior features, but not for long. According to a new rumor, Apple is gearing up to introduce a group chat feature to FaceTime, which will reportedly be available with the launch of iOS 11.

FaceTime has only supported one-to-one communication since launch, making it a pretty limited service compared to other competitors. However, Apple will soon allow FaceTime users to talk to multiple people at once, which you can do via Skype and Google Hangouts.

There’s nothing special about FaceTime anymore

As for how group FaceTime would work, the rumor doesn’t say. It’s not difficult to imagine the feature working like House Party or something similar. However Apple decides to execute the feature, it’s about damn time. Let’s just hope the feature isn’t an exclusive to the newest iPhones, because that would be a very Apple thing to do.

Apple typically talks about the next version of its mobile OS at its World Wide Developers Conference over the summer, so we should learn more then. It’s not the most groundbreaking feature to ever hit iOS, but it would still be very welcome.