FaceTime Over Cellular Expands to More AT&T iPhones, Check if Yours Works Too

AT&T appears to be rolling out FaceTime over cellular connections to more iPhone users on their network. MacRumors was first to discover the quiet change in AT&T policy, and the potentially eligible devices include iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPad 3, and iPad 4, with at least a 3G HSPA+ (AT&T’s so-called 4G) connection. Typically, FaceTime over cellular requires LTE on AT&T’s network, but some users have reported they are finding the feature working on their devices even without LTE service.

Devices with cellular FaceTime enabled seem to be completely random at the moment, though you can attempt the following procedure to see if your iOS device has it working on AT&T’s network:

• Reboot the iPhone or iPad
• Open Settings, go to FaceTime, and scroll down to see if “Use Cellular Data” is enabled

If “Use Cellular Data” is OFF, try flipping it to ON. Devices with the feature allowed will let the feature be enabled without a blue popup warning that the data plan is not compatible. If it doesn’t work, you’ll see the blue popup message and a message to contact AT&T.

None of our iPhones have the feature enabled (yet) in testing, but many around the web and in MacRumors Forums have reported success. If this is a gradual rollout, it may be worth trying again periodically over the next few days and weeks.

Even if you’re not interested in the video chatting aspect, FaceTime has a variety of other uses, including using the feature as a home security camera.