Best Thing Since Sliced Bread? FaceTime Audio Calling!

FaceTime has always been more of a cool, Dick Tracy trick in these quarters, than an actual useful service. I mean who wants to clean up their office, brush their hair, or hey… put on a shirt, just to talk on the phone? That and the unflattering camera angle that gives even Kate Moss a double chin has relegated FaceTime to the land of the absent parent/infant lullaby and the party trick.

But no more! Not with FaceTime Audio calling.

How can it be that this is not the lead in every single review of iOS7?

In terms of call quality, iOS 7 has taken the iPhone from worst to first. We're talking Hi-Def. HQ! This is crystal clear, CD-quality audio so clean it is, at first, disturbing. You'll be so amazed at the clarity and realism that you'll lose track of the content of your conversation.

As recently as yesterday, when someone has asked, "How do you like that iPhone?" my stock reply has been, "It's the worst phone I've ever had, and you can have it when you pry it from my cold dead hand." As all iPhone users acknowledge, the rest of the iPhone user experience makes up for the up-til-now hideous telephone service. I've tried the handset, the speakerphone and well reviewed Jawbone and Plantronics bluetooth earpieces to no avail. Maybe it's AT&T but it seems that my Verizon friends all have similar complaints. It seems it may really be in the nature of cellular calls on the iPhone, because with the introduction of FaceTime Audio Calls there are no hardware limitations; this handset, this speakerphone, this earpiece… all sound great!

FaceTime Audio Calling only works between iPhones on iOS7 and on wi-fi at both ends of the call UPDATE 10/21: It seems to work over 4G as well! Give it a try. You'll stop talking about Siri's new voice, the "Control Center" and the weird new colors.

And whatever you are talking about? It will sound amazing!

Time to update to iOS7?

iPhone 4S or 5?

Definitely go for it.

But:

• Do a full, encrypted backup by wired connection to your computer.
• Do the upgrade through iTunes on your computer
• Be ready to not be able to use the phone for +-30 minutes
• Expect to have to spend a couple hours getting used to how things look and how some things are different or relocated.

My advice... start it going before dinner. Get it to the point where the software is downloaded, unpacked and you can see that it is starting to grind away on the install. After dinner, keep it plugged in to power, and mess around with it during evening.

If you have an iPhone 4 you should probably still update; your phone may be a little slower, but most people are still happy with the changes.

If you have a 5 and a non-Apple charger, the charger will not work after the update. take it to the Apple Store, give them the charger and $10 and get an official, won't fry you, Apple brand charger!