Jobs On FaceTime Replacing Hold Button: "Hold Doesn't Do Anything More Than Mute"

As you’ve undoubtedly heard, one of the big new features of the iPhone 4 is FaceTime, the video chatting functionality. If you’re on a call with another iPhone 4 user (and both of you are connected to WiFi), you’ll see a new FaceTime button in the bottom row of the call options. But as some people have noticed, this new button replaces the “Hold” button found on all other iPhones. So how do you put a call on hold now? One reader, Jonathan Cowperthwait, emailed Steve Jobs today to find out.

Less than two hours later, he got a response. (Apparently, Jobs is on top of his emails even on days when he’s launching a massive new product.) In typical Jobs fashion, here’s his answer:

Hold doesn’t do anything more than Mute.

There you go.

Of course, that begs the question: than why is there a hold option on any iPhone? That may be the subject of another email.