FaceTime will add new features, including the ability to work on non-Apple devices, to compete with cross-platform video chat apps like Zoom and Google Meet.

The most notable new feature of FaceTime announced at WWDC2021 is that owners of Android smartphones will be able to join FaceTime calls. However, since they will need to join via a web interface rather than a standalone app, it will be less attractive than, for example, Zoom, which has dedicated apps for both Android and iOS devices.

To join a FaceTime call, a meeting invitation is sent as a web link, and participants simply tap it.

But this is not the only new feature coming to FaceTime. Here are some other new features.

Like many other video conferencing apps, FaceTime users will be able to share links, videos, and more during a FaceTime chat, but with an added twist: SharePlay allows everyone in a video chat to see and hear the same thing at once and listen to the same thing at the same time.

Examples shown at WWDC include streaming services such as Disney+, Twitch, NBA, HBO Max, and ESPN+. Apple said the API will allow non-Apple apps to use this functionality as well.

So, for example, you can watch Cruella with a friend; via AirPlay, FaceTime calls will be able to appear on your TV as a picture-in-picture window.

In addition, SharePlay allows users to share music playlists and create shared cues. Of all the features, it is most interesting to see how SharePlay works.

To make group calls sound more realistic, FaceTime enables spatial audio. This feature will likely work better with iPads and larger displays.

Other audio improvements include voice isolation, which adjusts ambient sound so that others can hear you clearly.

FaceTime will allow you to see the other person better. For starters, the new grid view places the windows of everyone on the call in a Brady Bunch-style grid, rather than floating freely.

Apple will also introduce a portrait mode to FaceTime. Like the camera feature, this mode will blur your background so that other FaceTime callers will not be distracted by, say, a pile of laundry behind you. This is a feature found in most good video chat apps, so it's good that Apple is adding this.