Things to Do on FaceTime Tonight, and What to Talk About

Bored on FaceTime? Tap Next idea above and you get one thing to do on your call right now, with three steps and a first round to try. Set how long you have, your mood, and whether a roommate is in the room. There are 136 games and activities, more than 160 questions in the Talk tab, and a Plan a call tab that turns them into a call with a timer. It is free, needs no sign-up, and works on FaceTime, WhatsApp, Discord or a plain phone call.

How does the FaceTime picker work?

1. Do deals one activity at a time. The first one each day is tonight's pick, and ideas you have not seen yet come first, so it stays fresh if you open it every night.
2. Filters narrow it down: partner or crush; 10 minutes, 30 minutes or a whole evening; sleepy, chatty, playful or flirty; and one tap for Roommate here, Voice only, On Discord or PC, $0, or Too tired.
3. Talk is a question deck with 10 moods, including We ran out of things to say and After class or work. The question of the day is picked by the date in UTC, so it is the same for both of you, even in different time zones.
4. Plan a call builds a 10 to 60 minute call: a warm up question, one or more games, and a wind down question. Start it and a round timer runs each part, or tap Start together and both phones start at the same moment.
5. Send any idea by link. Your partner opens the same thing on their phone. Nothing is stored on a server: the idea lives in the link.

What are the best things to do on FaceTime?

The ones that give you something to react to besides each other's faces. A few that work on almost any call:

• No-app games: 20 Questions, Two Truths and a Lie, Song Association and Never Have I Ever. All of them work on voice only too.
• Paper games: Pictionary, drawing each other without looking, and Tic Tac Toe called out loud.
• Doing the same thing at the same time: cooking one recipe, a movie started on 3, 2, 1, a daily puzzle, or a study session. Our Study Date Room keeps both timers in sync.
• Questions that go somewhere: pick a mood in the Talk tab, or try our longer list of questions to ask your partner.
• A slow ending: a goodnight ritual, or a sleep call. The Sleep Call Kit has wind down questions, rain sounds and a fade out timer.

For a full list with SharePlay and Android notes, see games to play on FaceTime, and for whole evenings, long distance video call ideas.

What to talk about on FaceTime when you run out of things to say

Every couple who calls every night hits this. It is not a sign that something is wrong. It usually means you already know the news. Three things that help:

• Say it out loud. "I like being on the phone with you even when it is quiet" takes the pressure off.
• Switch from news to stories. Ask about a memory, a plan or an opinion, not about the day. The Deep and Future decks are built for this.
• Do something side by side. A game or a shared task gives the call a shape. Relationship researchers at the Gottman Institute describe small, everyday bids for attention, and turning toward them, as part of what keeps couples close.

What are the limits?

• The picker gives ideas; it does not run games for you. You play them on your call with paper, your voice or apps you already have.
• Saved ideas, ideas you have seen and your filters stay in this browser only. Clear your browser data and they are gone.
• Some ideas mention other apps or sites, such as a streaming service or a map. Those have their own rules and may need an account.
• SharePlay needs FaceTime on Apple devices. If one of you is on Android, pick the games that need nothing but the call. More on that in games to play over the phone.