Jun 21, 2010 6:46 AM

Surprise: Wi-Fi Only FaceTime Doesn't Use Cellular Minutes

Lord knows why this was ever in question, but if you were wondering whether making video calls on the iPhone 4 with FaceTime would eat up your call-minutes, the answer is a non-surprising “no”. The answer would seem obvious given that the most talked about “feature” of FaceTime is that it only works on Wi-Fi, […]

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Lord knows why this was ever in question, but if you were wondering whether making video calls on the iPhone 4 with FaceTime would eat up your call-minutes, the answer is a non-surprising "no".

The answer would seem obvious given that the most talked about "feature" of FaceTime is that it only works on Wi-Fi, and therefore cannot use up your carrier minutes. Silicon Alley Insider wasn't so sure. After postulating that a FaceTime session initiated from a voice-call ("Hey, wanna get some FaceTime?") could "keep the voice call running in the background", the blog got in touch with Apple. The answer:

The voice call ends as soon as the FaceTime call connects. The FaceTime call is over Wi-Fi so does not use carrier minutes. [emphasis added]

So there you have it. Using Wi-Fi doesn't get you billed for cellular minutes or data. Who knew?

Apple: FaceTime Video Calls Won't Use Your Carrier Minutes [SAI]

Photo: Jonathan Snyder / Wired.com

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