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Apple iOS warning message suggests 3G FaceTime coming

Could Apple's FaceTime video-chatting service show up in the next version of iOS? There is a hint that it might be on the way.

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Roger Cheng
Roger_Cheng.jpg
Roger Cheng Former Executive Editor / Head of News
Roger Cheng (he/him/his) was the executive editor in charge of CNET News, managing everything from daily breaking news to in-depth investigative packages. Prior to this, he was on the telecommunications beat and wrote for Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal for nearly a decade and got his start writing and laying out pages at a local paper in Southern California. He's a devoted Trojan alum and thinks sleep is the perfect -- if unattainable -- hobby for a parent.
Expertise Mobile, 5G, Big Tech, Social Media Credentials SABEW Best in Business 2011 Award for Breaking News Coverage, Eddie Award in 2020 for 5G coverage, runner-up National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Award for culture analysis.
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James Martin/CNET

Apple's FaceTime video-chat service may be freed from its Wi-Fi-only restrictions soon.

At least, that's according to a warning message that pops up on current iOS devices when a user shuts off 3G during a FaceTime call. The message: "Disabling 3G may end FaceTime. Are you sure you want to disable 3G?"

There's really no reason why the message should pop up since FaceTime runs only on Wi-Fi, and that has prompted some to believe that FaceTime over 3G may be coming to the next version of iOS. The message was first discovered by Romanian Web site iDevice, and picked up by Gizmodo.

AppleInsider also discovered that an additional message popped up when trying to enable 3G: "Enabling 3G will end your phone call. Are you sure you want to enable 3G?" The site noted that changing the 3G settings didn't interrupt the call.

CNET has contacted Apple for comment. We'll update the story once we get a response.

FaceTime has grown in popularity as Apple has pushed the feature first on the iPhone 4 two years ago, and then expanded it to MacBooks and iPads. The service has always been restricted to Wi-Fi at the request of the wireless carriers.

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