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    FaceTime Reactions and Effects During a Call

    FaceTime lets you send fun visual reactions — confetti, hearts, fireworks, and more — during calls. Here's how to trigger them with just a hand gesture.

    3 min read · 4 steps · Checked April 2026

    1. Step 1. Start a FaceTime call

      Open the FaceTime app and call a family member or friend. Make sure you're on an iPhone 12 or newer running iOS 17 or later for reactions to work.

    2. Step 2. Use hand gestures to trigger reactions

      During the call, hold up your hand and make one of these gestures in view of the camera: single thumb up = thumbs up effect, double thumbs up = confetti, single thumb down = thumbs down, peace sign (two fingers up) = balloons, rock on sign (pinky and index up) = laser beams. Hold the gesture for about one second and the effect will fire.

      Quick Tip

      Make sure your hand is clearly visible and well-lit. If it's not detecting your gesture, try moving a little closer to the camera or improving the lighting in the room.

    3. Step 3. Manually send a reaction from the effects button

      Tap your own video tile during the call to bring up the toolbar. Tap the star-like icon (Effects) and you'll see a grid of all available reactions. Tap any one to send it right away.

    4. Step 4. Turn off gesture detection if you don't want it

      If you keep accidentally triggering reactions, go to Settings > FaceTime and look for "Reactions." You can turn off gesture-based triggering while still keeping the manual effects button available.

      Warning

      Reactions only work on iPhone 12 and later with iOS 17+. Older iPhones will not see the gesture option.

    FaceTime Reactions are a fun feature Apple added in iOS 17 that let you send expressive visual effects during video calls without tapping any buttons. When you make certain hand gestures in front of your iPhone's camera, FaceTime automatically plays a 3D animation that the other person can see — hearts, thumbs up, balloons, fireworks, and more.

    This feature works during FaceTime calls and also in third-party apps like Zoom or Microsoft Teams when you're on a supported iPhone.

    The reactions are triggered by hand gestures. For example, hold up a single thumb for a thumbs-up emoji effect, or make a double thumbs-up for confetti. A single heart gesture (index finger and thumb making a shape) triggers heart animations. These don't require you to press any buttons — hold the gesture steady for a moment and FaceTime does the rest.

    You can also tap the effects button during a call to manually choose from a list of reactions rather than using gestures. Some effects include laser beams, fireworks, rain, and confetti.

    Reactions add a personal, playful touch to video calls with family or friends. If you find yourself accidentally triggering them, you can turn the gesture-detection feature off entirely in your camera settings or just avoid those specific hand positions.

    The feature requires an iPhone 12 or newer running iOS 17 or later. And it works best in good lighting where your hands are clearly visible.

    Official sources

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