Group FaceTime is here, but does exclusivity prevent it from being the King of Video Conferencing?

It has finally arrived: group FaceTime. What could go wrong with 32 people all on the same call, and what are the chances that all 32 people have iOS?

Group FaceTime is finally here with iOS 12

Yes, announced at WWDC, group FaceTime will allow up to 32 people exist on one call; the days of only one-to-one video calling is gone. As shown on the demo during the WWDC keynote, it will actually be quite simple to use and manage during calls.

As has always been the case with FaceTime, your face will still exist in its own little bubble at the bottom of the screen. The people you are speaking to will appear in floating bubbles on the screen with a capacity of what appeared to be four people. If you have more than that many people on the call, you can find the rest in a menu at the bottom that you simply swipe left and right on to find others. I would say the best part of this feature is the automatic presence assigned to a speaking member as their face will instantly jump to the main screen in a larger bubble when they begin speaking.

Now, is this feature useful? Absolutely. For those that work in an office that allows telecommuting, conference calls will be even easier (provided you use iOS that is). Rather than set up a conference call time and have them dial in with a password, FaceTime can now create a collaborative calling experience allowing idea sharing and status updates with ease. For those who don't want it for professional purposes, it can easily be used for friends and family to stay in touch in one setting. For a little bit of fun, it even integrates all of the features available for the camera including filters and new memojis.

Now, you may be thinking, "are there any downsides to this?" and the answer would be yes. Although this is no fault of Apple, think about what typically happens when you try three-way calling or even group messaging. Yes, this wonderful feature will just as easily turn in to 32 people all trying to speak at the same time with very little getting accomplished. Remember when Peter tried to speak to his Aunt (see above)? Yeah, that is what happens when people try to speak at the same time on the phone; imagine what would happen with 32 people trying to speak at the same time on a video call.

What about if someone only throws in a comment or two before multiple people start yelling again? They would even have enough time for their "bubble' to come up before they were pushed to the back again; this could be a good idea lost. Even better, imagine your phone as 8 people try talking at once; those bubbles would be going crazy.

Houseparty remains the most widely used, cross-platform multi-user video chat app

Sometimes, there are downsides to providing features that people ask for without building in tools to help manage the things they did not think of when they asked for it. Should there be tools allowing one voice to speak at a time so that others are muted? This could be the ability of the call "leader" or "administrator". In addition, does Apple's closed system prevent this from being the conference call of the future? Could some compatibility with Duo or Skype help Apple make FaceTime the default video calling app of home and work? If not, do apps like Houseparty still have the edge in terms of multi-user video conferencing?