How to FaceTime on Android: join with a link from an Apple device

Joining: Apple’s steps

Apple’s support article, published on 29 May 2026, says that with FaceTime links in iOS 15, macOS Monterey and later, anyone can join a FaceTime call from their web browser. The steps are four. If you receive a link to a FaceTime call, open it. Enter your name, then select Continue; you might need to allow FaceTime to use your microphone and camera. Select Join, then wait for the call’s host to let you in. Select Leave to leave the call. Apple’s page asks for a strong Wi-Fi or cellular connection and the latest version of Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge. ZDNet describes the host side as being prompted to accept or decline the entry request, much like hosting a Zoom meeting.

Once you are in, Apple lists what the web version offers: a Microphone button to mute, a Camera button, a Full Screen button where it appears, a Flip Camera button to switch between the front and rear cameras where it appears, and a Grid Layout button in the Participant List and Settings menu for group calls. The More button copies or shares the link. That is the whole answer to how to FaceTime on Android: there is no Android app to install, and the browser does it.

The other end: making the link

The link has to come from an Apple device. Apple’s iPhone guide says to go to the FaceTime app, tap New Call, then tap the link icon, and choose how to send it, such as Messages or Mail. On a Mac the guide says to click New Call, then the link icon; during a call, click the call information at the top of the window and then Share Link. Apple adds that in Calendar you can schedule a remote video meeting by inserting a FaceTime link as the location. Apple’s iPhone guide also says the guest needs a browser that supports WebRTC, such as the latest Chrome or Edge, and that sending video requires H.264 video encoding support.

The guides do not word the button the same way. CNET, in an article dated 18 August 2025, says to tap Create Link. WhistleOut, updated on 28 January 2026, says to tap Create Link, then Add Name to give the link a name, and tells the Android user to ask the friend to start it. ZDNet, dated 31 March 2026, says to tap the green button on the bottom left, and Engadget, dated 20 September 2026, says to tap New Call and then the green link button in the lower-left corner. Apple’s page shows an icon and does not name the button, and a WhistleOut image caption places the Create Link option in iOS 18.

What the browser does not do

Apple says SharePlay and screen sharing aren’t available in FaceTime on the web. Engadget says the same and adds that it does not work quite as seamlessly as on an Apple device. Apple also says FaceTime links aren’t supported in China mainland and that creating a link isn’t supported on iPhone models purchased there. The four guides we read do not mention the H.264 requirement or the China limit. All four say the Android side cannot start a call: CNET says Android and PC users can’t start a FaceTime call on their own, and ZDNet says they can’t download the FaceTime app. WhistleOut says there is no native FaceTime app for Android.

Calls between Android and iPhone without FaceTime

Engadget says there are plenty of other cross-platform options for video calls, naming WhatsApp, Telegram, Zoom and Google Meet, and that most are easy to set up, with a native app usually better than relying on a web browser. It adds that if FaceTime is your only option, you can use it on Android through a link. The pages we read describe no single Android equivalent of FaceTime. For turning on messages between an iPhone and other phones, see enabling iMessage.