tvOS FaceTime forced square image

Question

Level 1

11 points

tvOS FaceTime forced square image

Hi, when I try to use FaceTime on my AppleTV 4K with tvOS 17 and my iPhone XS with iOS 17 I’m forced into a square image.

Not a group call just a regular person to person call switches from full screen to square as soon as the call is on the AppleTV. So the image on my TV is suddenly square and the image of me shown on the other persons iPhone switches to square as well. As soon as I transfer the call back to the phone it’s full screen again.

Is that a bug or a limitation with older phones? Can’t find any settings regarding this.

Anybody got any ideas?

Thanks

Posted on Oct 7, 2023 12:16 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

ewingjb

Level 1

8 points

Nov 5, 2023 06:26 AM in response to halbstill

Same for me. Forced Square format.

Apple, please fix. We have these beautiful displays on our iPhone, TV’s and iPad’s that all show full 16:9 ratio, please let’s use this screen real estate for FaceTime on AppleTV.

Let us know when software is fixed.

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Answer 2

halbstill Author

Level 1

11 points

Oct 8, 2023 01:15 PM in response to hc1111

Hi,

thanks for your reply!

I followed those steps when I set it up in the first place and just did so again to double check .. no luck.

I start FaceTime on the AppleTV.
I click on my profile in the list to connect to my iPhone
I accept on my iPhone
I position the phone to act as the camera for AppleTV/FaceTime
It connects and shows me FULL SCREEN on my TV
I click on a contact in the list to start a FaceTime video call
It connects and then the screen is forced into the square format for myself on the TV and for the other person on their iPhone.

Thanks

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Answer 3

halbstill Author

Level 1

11 points

Nov 25, 2023 08:37 PM in response to AnakinFoxe

That update fixed it for me as well.

That is for calls to an iPhone, if I call a person that is using a webcam in combination with a MacMini I'm still getting the forced square image.

Hoping to have that fixed in a future iOS/tvOS update.

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Answer 4

hc1111

Community Specialist

Oct 8, 2023 12:21 PM in response to halbstill

Hey there halbstill,

Thanks for reaching out.

You might be seeing this if your devices have not been set up properly to allow FaceTime on your Apple TV. Use the steps in the link below to double check your devices and settings, then try using it again:

Use FaceTime on Apple TV 4K (2nd generation or later) - Apple Support

Take care!

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