Video Chatting Platforms To Stay In Touch With Family & Friends
Technology has made our life easier than ever before. It doesn’t matter what corner of the world you live in, you can still connect with your friends & family through technology. You can sit down at any given time and chat face to face with your best friend even with social distancing protocols in place.
When it comes to video calling, there are so many platforms out there. Using these platforms, you can have voice and video group calls with your loved ones. This way, multiple people from different locations can chat with each other at the same time.
With the increase in importance of social distancing, various video platforms are gaining more popularity. People have started giving less importance to face to face meetings and started switching to virtual meetings.
Selecting the right video chatting platform can be a bit difficult because there are tons of options out there in the market. Each platform will have different features, functionalities, user limit, etc. When choosing the video chatting platform, user limit is the crucial factor to consider. Depending on the platform you choose, it will vary.
To help you find the best video chatting platform, we did the research and prepared the list. Here are best free video chatting platforms to keep in touch with family members:
FaceTime
When you are looking for simple & Easy, FaceTime wins with ease. The only draw back being that it is an Apple exclusive app, so if you only have a windows computer or a android smartphone, you will be out of luck. Since the release of iOS 12.1.4, FaceTime now allows for group video chat with up to 32 people.
FaceTime is easy to use, comes installed on all iPhones, iPads & Mac products. I use FaceTime more than any other video chatting platform, but most of my friends & family have some type of Apple device that will allow this!
Zoom
When it comes to video calling and video conferencing, Zoom is the most popular platform in the market. This app is popular mainly for conducting formal video meetings and conducting webinars, however, it can be used for video chats with family & friends as well.
Depending on your requirements, you can choose between free and paid plans of Zoom. The free version of Zoom can host up to 100 participants for unlimited one-on-one meetings of up to 40 minutes.
Facebook Messenger
When it comes to social media, Facebook is the popular social networking site in the market. With Facebook, social networking isn’t limited to texting and audio calls. Facebook has the feature for making video calls with friends and family.
For making a group video call with your family members or friends, make sure all the members are in the group. Facebook Messenger supports up to 6 people for video chat. The fun part is, it also has live video filters. You can use those filters while video chatting.
Google Duo
As we have seen, FaceTime is for iOS users. To provide the same experience to Android users, Google has launched Duo. If you are an iOS user, you can still use Google Duo. It will allow you to make high quality video calls with your family members.
Google Duo supports group calls of up to 32 people. If you are using a desktop or laptop, you can still use Google Duo. You can use it via Google Chrome browser.
Google Hangouts
Google Hangouts is another platform by Google through which you can keep in touch with your family and friends. The number of supported users with Hangouts will differ based on whether you are using Gmail, G suite Basic, Business, or Education for making calls. This video chatting platform supports desktop, laptop, Android, iPhone, and iPad devices.
Skype
Skype is another platform for connecting with family. The platform is perfect for having one-on-one conversations and group conversations. Whether you want to make a video call with one person or a group, Skype can be used for both.
Exciting features of Skype are HD voice calling and video calling. HD voice and video calls will provide you with an amazing experience. The software is supported with the majority of devices, be it Android, iOS, smartphone, computer, or laptop. It allows group video calling for up to 100 people for completely free.
No matter whether you are an Android or iOS user, WhatsApp must be in your device. If you don’t want to download and install other apps, you can make video chats with WhatsApp itself. Although this is a go-to platform when you want to make video calls via mobile device, the main problem is it supports only four users.
If WhatsApp isn’t installed on your mobile device, you will need to download & install it first. After that, you need to register it with your phone number. If you want to make video calls with more than 4 users, WhatsApp isn’t for you.
Whether you are trying to catch up with family & friends, or you are trying to have a business meeting there are a ton of different apps & softwares that will get the job done.
In a year that has changed our day to day life, it is important to stay connected to the ones we love. You might not be able to go out and have a drink with your best friend in person, you can most certainly still have a great time virtually together.