While Apple is set to roll out its next major iOS release, iOS 12, in couple of months, however it will not include group FaceTime video chat, the company said.
Apple first talked group FaceTime during its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, where the company discussed all of the new features landing to iOS 12. Group FaceTime allows up to 32 people to video chat at the same time and also includes support for Apple's Animoji, allowing users to create digital masks that look, sound and acts like them.
"Group FaceTime has been removed from the initial release of iOS 12 and will ship in a future software update later this fall," Apple said in its latest developer release of the software.
While the feature has been available to test for some users in the earlier development versions of the software, but the Apple has decided it isn't ready for everyone to use.
Apple typically launches the new versions of iOS in September with the introduction of new iPhone models.
“Our deepest focus this year is optimising the system when it's under load; that's when you need performance the most and where iOS 12 really shines," said Craig Federighi, Apple's Senior Vice President of Software Engineering, at the WWDC's opening keynote in June.
"For iOS 12, we are doubling down on performance. We're working top to bottom making improvements to make your device faster and more responsive. We're focusing our efforts especially on the oldest devices,” added Federighi.
Apple further announced new tools into iOS 12 including Activity Reports, App Limits and new Do Not Disturb and Notifications controls designed to help customers reduce interruptions and manage screen time for themselves and their families.
Do Not Disturb during Bedtime mode dims the display and hides all notifications on the lock screen until prompted in the morning. Do Not Disturb now has new options from Control Centre where it can be set to automatically end based on a specified time or location.
iOS 12 will also come with Grouped Notifications, to view and manage multiple notifications at once. Siri can intelligently make suggestions for notifications settings, such as to quietly deliver or turn alerts off, based on which alerts are acted upon.
And as we all at times gets drooled in apps such as Instagram and Snapchat and lose count of the time, iOS 12 will now with a App Limits feature that allows people to set a specific amount of time to be in an app, wherein a notification will display when a time limit is about to expire.
The Apps Limits feature will also be helpful to parents as they can access their child’s Activity Report right from their own iOS devices to understand where their child spends their time and can manage and set App Limits for them.