Patent US 10,285,035

A communication unit communicates with another apparatus through a network. A communication control unit uses the communication unit to transmit information indicating a role of the communication apparatus to another apparatus, receives information indicating a role of another apparatus from the other apparatus, and searches for another apparatus capable of communication. The role of the communication apparatus is set based on a role of a partner device selected as a communication partner from at least one apparatus capable of communication detected by the communication control unit so as to control transmission and reception of an image between the communication apparatus and the partner device.