Facetime is a popular app that is automatically installed on to all iOS devices which allows users to video call other iOS users completely free of charge.
All that is required to use Facetime is an Apple ID, a good internet connection, a working camera and the Apple ID/phone number of the person you want to video call – if you have a bad connection, you may find that you can’t Facetime.
There are many different features within Facetime which make video calling more fun and immersive via the platform and one of these features is the ability to take still photographs within the call.
This can be useful if someone is showing you something via their camera or if you simply want to capture an unflattering angle of a friend or family member.
One thing that confuses some people on facetime is the issue of where these photographs are stored on your device once you’ve taken one.
In this article, we are going to explain where exactly they end up and also how to use the photograph feature within the Facetime app.
Where do Facetime photos go? In a nutshell
The answer to this questions is actually pretty straightforward – the photographs you take while on a Facetime call are stored in the same place as all of your other photographs.
Head to the photos app on your iOS device and make sure ‘all photos’ is selected so that nothing is being filtered out and your Facetime photos should be waiting for you there.
To simplify matters further, and to see these types of photos only, you can use the filter functionality on the photos app. To do this, select the albums tab and then look for an album titled ‘live photos’.
This album is created automatically by your device once live images have been taken. Photographs taken on Facetime are classed as live photos and will appear here.
How to use the photograph function on Facetime
In order to take a photo during a Facetime call, you can use what is known as the ‘shutter’ button.
This is a circular button which will appear if you tap the screen on your iPhone or tablet during a Facetime call.
If you are using a Mac to Facetime, then it will appear if you hover your mouse over the Facetime window during a call. Simply select the shutter button when it appears and a live photo will take place.
If you are on a call with multiple different people at the same time then process is slightly different. In this instance, select the person who you want to take a photo off and then the ‘full screen’ button and the shutter button will appear for you.
On a Mac, you will need to double click on the name of the person you want to photograph and then the shutter button once it appears.
Alter your settings
If you are finding that tapping your device while on a call isn’t bringing up the shutter button then you may have to go in to your FaceTime settings and make a few changes.
Both you and the person you’re taking a photo of need to enable Live Photos in your FaceTime Settings. To do this, follow these steps:
- Navigate to settings on your iOS device.
- Select facetime.
- Make sure that the toggle next to ‘facetime live photos’ is slid over to green.
If you aren’t comfortable with others taking photos of you while you’re on a call then you should disable this option. This will stop others using the Facetime live photos feature.
However, there is unfortunately nothing to stop them from taking screenshots, something that you won’t even be alerted to.


So, although you can disable the ability to take Facetime live photos for both you and the other user, they may still be able to record your call in other ways.
The screenshot option
Speaking of screenshots, you may be thinking that simply screenshotting your screen is a quicker and better way of taking a photo while on Facetime.
While that is always going to be an option to you, it isn’t as good as using the shutter button, and it’s usually not the best way to save live photos when Facetiming a friend.
The reason for this is because a live photo doesn’t capture the entire Facetime interface and instead just the designated person’s camera screen.
Another benefit of the live photo on Facetime is the fact that it also saves a couple of seconds of video and audio from right before you take the photo and also right after.
This adds more context to your photograph and potentially makes for a funny watch or listen back, so your live album will have short snippets of your Facetime video calls.
Conclusion
Going back to the main question of this piece – finding your facetime photos is really easy and accessible via the photos app on your iOS device.
Remember, though, there are a few things that you need to do and/or consider before you even get to this point. We hope that this article has helped to understand more about taking photographs while on a Facetime call.
However, if you have any more technical questions then we would suggest getting in touch with the Apple support team.