BEST APPS FOR VIDEO CALLS ACROSS
PLATFORMS
The
Bar Is Set: Skype
As the leader in this area, Microsoft’s Skype is
the app by which we compare all others. With versions for all three major
desktop platforms, and for the main three mobile platforms, Skype is the big
player. It’s easy to pickup your mobile and make a video call to a friend on
their PC, phone or tablet. With the ability to share files as well as talk to
people, Skype has become a major collaboration tool over the past few years,
its main rival in this space being Google Hangouts. As a cross-platform solution,
Skype is unmatched (and probably the most secure of all video chat solutions),
but the various alternatives come very close.
IMO
Should you have no need to video chat with a
friend, relative or col league while you (or they) are using a computer, IMO
messenger and video calling app is useful for chatting with your contacts as
long as you're all using iOS or Android.
This limitation is a bit of a pain, but IMO does
offer encrypted chats and calls, photo and video sharing, and stickers
(obviously not actual stickers). As you might have guessed, IMO is pitched at a
young, vibrant market of smartphone users rather than the more universal
approach of the other apps. Video call quality is as expected, but if you're
going to opt for IMO, look out for unsolicited messages, which are a real
problem on the service, certainly as far as Android users are concerned.
Google
Hangouts
Via the Chrome browser, Google Hangouts can be
used on any com puter OS. Mobile users on iOS can take advantage of its messaging, voice, and video chat service, but if you're using Windows Phone, Google
Hangouts isn't an option. Android users, of course, enjoy Hangouts as a
pre-installed bonus. As video chatting goes, the standard is just as high as
Skype's, if not better. Naturally, quality depends on the connection strength
and bandwidth of the participants. You can also use the Hangouts on Air feature
to webcast the call on YouTube. Google Hangouts also supports the sharing of
files for collaboration, by utilising Google Drive. The lack of support for
Windows Phone is the only shortcoming with this service, which we reckon is the
best messaging and calling app for Android.
ooVoo
Attempting to outdo the competition, ooVoo
claims that it is “everywhere“ and offers apps for Amazon Fire devices, Android
phones and tablets, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac OS X, Windows Phone, and
Windows desktop.
As many as 12 people can engage in a single
video call, making ooVoo ideal for getting together with friends or family, or
holding an online meeting. OoVoo also features a built in video call recording
tool for PC users, as well as the ability to watch YouTube as a group.
But ooVoo isn't perfect: there's no Linux
version, which comes as a bit of a surprise given the increasing popularity of
Ubuntu and other distros. Having support for the Amazon Fire Phone isn't
exactly exciting -most people have never even seen that device in real life -so
ignoring Linux seems unusual.
Tango
Sadly, Tango can't really claim any sort of
cross platform reputation as it supports only iOS, Android, Blackberry, Kindle,
Windows Phone (7.5 and later) and Windows. Linux and Mac OS X are of course
conspicuous by their absence, especially when Blackberry and Kindle apps are
available.
It isn't all bad news though. First and
foremost, crossplatform video calling is available, along with voice and
instant messaging. One-to-one video calls with Tango have the same strengths
and weaknesses as Skype. As with all of these apps, the best results come if
both users are connected to WiFi rather than mobile Internet.
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Christian Cawley
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ARTICLE ORIGINALLY POSTED AT MAKEUSEOF.COM
MM9JUL15
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