FacePlant, a new app for the iPhone 4, shows users which contacts are capable of receiving video calls, and who is available.FaceTime, the video calling application for the iPhone 4, aims to revolutionize the way we communicate on our cellphones.
The trouble is that it’s exceedingly difficult to use. And the hurdle is not a technical one. It’s a social one.
“How do you know whether or not someone is available to speak with you on FaceTime?” asked Sol Lipman, an entrepreneur in Santa Cruz, Calif. “That’s a big barrier to using it. We want to remove that barrier.”
Mr. Lipman created an application called FacePlant that shows users which of their contacts can receive video calls — those who have an iPhone 4 and are on a Wi-Fi network. (FaceTime does not yet work over cellular networks.)
The application, which will be available for free once it is approved by Apple, monitors the Wi-Fi status of contacts with iPhone 4s and also using FacePlant, and flashes a green light next to their names when they
are available to video chat. Users can then call available friends from within the application.
FacePlant offers a privacy mode to indicate when a user is connected to Wi-Fi but, say, watching a screening of “Inception” and unable to chat. It also allows people to leave each other video voice mail.
Eventually, Apple is likely to allow FaceTime to run over cellular networks. But Mr. Lipman doesn’t see that as removing the need for his application.
“Just like on I.M., status is really important,” he said. “Only whether or not you are available to take a video call is more important than starting an instant messaging chat.”
Mr. Lipman, who previously co-founded two other start-ups, a mobile social network called RallyUp and 12seconds, which lets users send brief video tweets, said he thought FacePlant could be useful beyond the iPhone 4.
In addition to the rumors that the next versions of the iPad and iPod Touch will come equipped with front-facing cameras to facilitate video chatting, Apple has outlined plans to make FaceTime an open standard, allowing it to work on other devices.
“We’re expecting it to appear elsewhere, on Android devices and PCs,” Mr. Lipman said. “As soon as those releases are available, we will build applications for it.”
“Our goal is to become the main application for FaceTime,” he said.