No audio in FaceTime?

Hi edlucas, i have checked my devices and they are already set at this and i have the issue.

I have a mac book air (latest software OS X Mavericks 10.9.3), iphone 5s (software 7.1) and an ipad mini (software 7.1) and it does it with all of them. When i try and speak to my brother in California, my mum and dad in europe and friends in europe no matter which device i use they say that my sound cuts in and out but the video continues. I can here them at all times.

I have recently moved to a new building and got Comcast Xfinity triple play but my brother has the same service and it doesnt do it for him so I cant see how it is Comcast. However if i am in my building and i use LTE on my iphone then i have no issue at all. Facetime works perfectly.

Has anyone had an actual fix from apple or are all the suggestions things people think have worked?

Hi,

Make random speed tests

http://speedof.me/

You need to try to grab a range of test results as you describe what is an intermittent problem.

Your speed may vary as it will measure what is left after your computer currently using. So if you are downloading it will be lower.

The same happens if other devices are using the same connection.

For me this includes 4 iPhones, 1 XBox one, three Satellite TV boxes that can do "On Demand" via the internet, 2 Apple TVs, 2 iPads and a PC laptop not to mention my own three Macs that are on during my posting session.

If you use cable or ADSL then contention rates (the amount your connection higher up the line is "shared") may also play a part.

8:21 pm Tuesday; May 27, 2014

Hi Ralph, I will check tonight with a few speed tests whilst I am on FaceTime to see if there is any spikes or drops. It might help answer the drop in audio.

However if it was a general issue would the video not stop as well? The funny thing is that the people on the other end can still see me. They say they can see my mouth moving but there is no sound. At all times I can still see and hear them. The weirdest thing is if I use my data plan on my phone then all is ok. Its like there is something wrong with the service or the hardware that comcast are supplying (I'm based in the US).

Has anyone else said what services they are using? Are people having these issues in the UK as well as the US?

Hi,

In Messages and iChat the answer is, eventually, yes.

My experiences is with iChat 2 through iChat 6 to Messages 8.

These can video using the AIM and Jabber services to other Mac users.

Whilst the video feed is based on what the processor can do, tied in with what internet speed the App "read" at the App start up and what settings the computer and the app have.

The app will try for a pic in iChat/Messages of 640 X 480 pixels. (about 0.3 Megapixels) (irrespective of the camera's abilities)

It will then try to aim for 30fps id the Processor can manage it.

It will drop the pic size and the frame rate to try an match not using more that 80% of the bandwidth you have.

In Messages (and iChat) you can call down the Connection Doctor during a Chat and see the current Frame rate and Data rates.

These can be effected by the setting in the Preferences > Video section about the Bandwidth.

As your ISP service varies the app will try an balance that against keep the video smooth (Video has the priority).

It accomplishes this by dropping frames. (at less than 10 fps the pic is too jerky).

There comes a limit to how much audio will go out of sync when you do this and at that point the audio gets dropped.

It seems FaceTime will do something similar although you don't have the equivalent Connection Doctor to check.

Technically FaceTime's Video is even more compressed as it may have to be managed by an iPhone at the other end.

I haven't run the same tests on FaceTime as I have with iChat on this.

There is also no adjustment to cope with really extreme fluctuations in the ISP service in FaceTime.

As an example:-

iChat and Messages needs just 256kbps up and down to have a 1-1 Video chat.

A 5% variance at these sorts of speeds is relatively small.

However if you have a 10Mbps download service and it varies by 5% this could be as much as 1500kbps (which is the effective top limit of iChat and Messages)

9:46 pm Tuesday; May 27, 2014

Hey, I just experienced this now for the first time & found this forum to be the most concentrated on the problem I was having. Now I noticed something, but I haven't yet tested this theory as it was with my grandma that I experienced this problem with, but perhaps what I noticed may help in resolving it once and for all:

- Scenario:

I try and make a Facetime call to my nan. Unfortunately my regular facetiming preference is currently MIA, safe - but none the less, my iphone is not unavailable to use, I have no other choice but to use my mac to call her recently new mini ipad. I open Facetime and I see a previous call from Nan in my Recents and an unusual email "[I'm guessing apple username?]@me.com". I ring but the call just rings out & she doesn't receive any sign of a call coming through. We are conversing on Facebook book at the time so I suggested her to call me (by clicking the camera button under my phone number in my entry into your phone book called contacts 😉) But she was prompted to link an email address to her facetime, she registers an email that I am familiar with, and the rest of the story is that we encounter the problem mentioned since 2011 previously in this thread time after time.

- Supposed Theory:

The multiple emails may be the conflict in audio.

- Scenario continued: The Swapping of the Devices

After a few calls of us seeing each other and only me hearing her saying that she can not hear me, I gesture in an improvised sign language for her to get her iphone and call me the way she normally does. Grandma, being much more equipped and tech savvy than I remembered grabbed her old ipad from next to her on the couch and proceeded to call me as she did with her mini ipad. I receive the call and - We have audio!! but, no video. The call after I answered opened up to a window no larger than the accept call window, showing our mic levels & an option to turn on video, we both press it and we only get a picture of ourselves talking to one another.

She finally gets up from her couch to find her phone. She calls me from her phone and we encounter the same video with no audio. We opt for problem we were having with the ipad.

Hi,

Your grandmother can have several devices using the same Apple ID including the iPhone if she wishes.

Obviously the iPhone can also be called to it's number in FaceTime (as well and iMessages chats) if you set it up that way.

IF you had an Apple ID before iCloud came into being you could join iCloud and at that point you were also given an @me.com ID.

If it is linked to iCloud then it will work in Messages and the iMessages account and FaceTime.

On the other hand if she has had an Apple ID for a long time and this was and @me.com (from MobileMe) and was NOT connected/linked to iCloud it will not work.

There situations whereby old emails including Apple ones have been registered as Apple IDs and still work as such but cannot be expanded into app that need iCloud valid IDs.

The Messages app can do Facebook Chat (you have to set your Facebook settings to allow Chat and you get a new ID based on the @facebook.chat.com server name.

This is a Jabber ID rather than an email (although many Messaging IDS look like emails).

FaceTime has changed several times (updates) since this thread started.

Many things have changed and I am not sure anything from above applies any more.

Messages can use iMessages, AIM, Jabber and Yahoo IDs over the internet for Text Chatting.

Only the AIM and Jabber ones will do Video and Audio chats (Although there is a known issue on that front at the moment). (They should be AIM to AIM and Jabber to Jabber).

There is not an issue with iMessages Text chatting.

It invokes FaceTime to Audio or Video chat so you may run into the same problems if FaceTime is causing your problems.

It sounds like you need to check which Apple ID she is using in the apps you want to connect to her with.

9:12 p.m. Friday; August 21, 2015

Hello, just got my 27 in 5k iMac. Same problem, but I remembered when I hooked up my TV and Stereo through air play that the sound wouldn't play and that in System Preferences->Sound->Output you will get options to where the computer sends should. Turn on internal speakers and adjust the sound and viola, you should have sound. Hope this helps if you haven't found a solution yet.

Rick

I have exactly same problem , but i can't hear my friends voice in my facetime but he got my voice

Hi,

What have you tried so far ?

8:22 p.m. Wednesday; September 9, 2015

I had the problem which no one could hear me when connected via FaceTime. I went to Face Time's Video tab. The internal Speakers selection was not highlighted. I selected Internal Speakers and the problem was solved. You gave good advice.

Thanks

I Had same problem 1 hour ago. Nothing worked for FaceTime. Phone or IPad. They could here me but I could not hear them. I had her turn her phone off then back on and the audio started to work again. Works now on both my phone and on IPad.

SShe had recently did the IOS 10 update, I think we have a new bug.....

HHave the person your trying to talk to turn off device and restart. Must be an IOS 10 bug. I had same exact problem 1 hour ago. Reboot on her side only, from Singapore, and it started to work normally.

for the Points

8:16 pm Friday; December 9, 2016

Tried this and it didn't fix it for me!