If your recipient or recipients are on a device with older software, they should still be able to see the effects you send but won't be able to send any themselves. You can send FaceTime Reactions on an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple TV as long as you're running updated software on a newer model device.
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You can trigger them using on-screen buttons in FaceTime or hand gestures in FaceTime and other apps. There are eight reactions - hearts, thumbs up, thumbs down, balloons, rain, confetti, laser burst, and fireworks - available for FaceTime video calls, and they also work in FaceTime video messages, Group FaceTime video calls, and third-party video conferencing apps. FaceTime's latest update also gives you some full-screen effects to play around with during video calls, but the triggers are an entirely different concept - hand gestures. Apple's Messages app has long had visual effects you could apply manually after long-pressing the send button, and there are even hidden keywords you could use to trigger full-screen effects automatically.
