Best Video Calling Apps For Family & Friends

Video Call

In the last article, we discussed the best video conferencing apps that you need for official purposes. Now, I am back with the best video calling apps for connecting your family and friends.

In case you have missed that article and searching for a good video conferencing app with a screen sharing feature then check this out.

[Best Video Conferencing Apps with screen sharing features]

Coming back to our main topic of this post – perfect apps for video calls. Of course you can use your paid and premium office apps to chat on video calls.

Do you know the best part about these video calling apps that I am gonna mention? They all are totally free and available on mobile devices.

C’mon, we need such apps to chat on the go without spending a buck. I don’t think people would pay for that.

So, here are some amazing video chatting apps for your virtual meetups.

Top 5 Video Calling Apps For Personal Usage

As I said, such platforms need to be free for making it available for the masses.

Business conferencing apps are used when the company purchases the plan and employees are kinda forced to use that.

However, people use casual video apps only if a significant friend or relative is also using the same service.

1] Whatsapp

The biggest advantage of Whatsapp is that it is present in literally everyone’s smartphone. 1.5 Billion people use Whatsapp. That’s huge!

Moreover, is is way too user friendly. You merely need to click a button on your friend’s chat window and there you go!

Whatsapp currently allows you to video chat with 4 people only.

I am sure this is the most convenient way for all the senior citizens there to connect their friends and relatives.

I won’t really comment on the security because it is a part of Facebook now. But we still have some hopes from end-to-end encryption.

Another con about Whatsapp is that it is not present for laptops and PCs. So, you only have an advantage if you are using Android or iPhone.

Advantages of Whatsapp Messenger = Almost all of your contacts are present.

2] Google Duo

When the name of Google gets associated with any platform, I personally feel it safe.

No, it’s not that Google doesn’t take your data. But at least it takes care of the security of that data. Data breaches are rare and it has not been caught in data selling yet.

The biggest positive side that you will find among the reviews of the users is that Google Duo seems to be the clearest with audio and video.

It might surely get aggressive on data consumption. But it is currently the best in quality.

[Recommended: 10 Data Saving Tips]

Another great feature that I found for Google Duo is that it shows you the preview of the incoming calls. I don’t know the need of this but it is fun to see the caller in advance.

The limit of participants for Google Duo is currently 12 but again, it is only limited to Android, iOS, Chrome OS, etc. No mercy for Windows and Mac users.

Advantages of Google Duo = Highest video and audio quality.

3] Skype

Again, Skype was the verb for video calling in my childhood. Even today, it is an important player in professional atmospheres.

However, I find it a bit complicated if we look from the point of not-so-tech-savvy people.

Sure, the greatest advantage of Skype is that it does not require your personal mobile number. Just create an ID and you are good to go.

This means that you will still be able to connect people without compromising your personal details.

However, this proves to be the biggest confusion as well. Is the phone number the primary credential? Or is the login ID? The same phone number cannot be used for two logins! So, login ID is not irrelevant?

Skype supports a group video call with 50 members.

I personally feel that Skype could do much better in this segment. For example, it was already known as a medium to connect people who don’t live in the same country. Yes, it was well-known for its international calls.

It could have added a feature of live translation. But it didn’t.

Instead, a random app implemented this feature and became the titleholder of ‘Best App of 2019’ as per Google Play Store.

Don’t believe me? Check this out:

[Winners of Google Play Awards]

Advantages of Skype = No need to share personal contact number.

4] Google Hangouts

Google Hangouts is an unprofessional messenger for professional people. Didn’t get me?

Imagine that you have a bunch of buddies in your office and you want to have some quick chitchat while working.

You won’t use video conferencing services because it is a lengthy process to set the meeting. Plus you don’t want to switch to Whatsapp or mobile app. So what now?

Here comes the Google Hangouts. It allows you to chat and video call right from your office Gmail. No additional setup required.

Not only 2 but Google Hangouts hosts 25 people at the same time. So all your buddies can reunite together.

And yes, Hangouts is available on Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, and even web version. It’s present right in your Gmail. Check it out.

Advantages of Google Hangouts = Integrated with Gmail setup.

5] Facebook Messenger

Okay, so we got 2 apps for extremely close people and then 2 apps for some professional purposes. But what should we use if we are merely building a network and need something between these apps?

Facebook Messenger comes in the play.

It lets you connect people who are not even in contact list. True, Facebook is the best place to connect people and Messenger is the best place to video call them if you are not comfortable in sharing your contact number.

However, there are some issues with Facebook Messenger. Firstly it displays the ads and it is irritating. Secondly, it is an extremely heavy app.

Moreover, I am not a very big fan of Facebook Family’s privacy issues but we really don’t have any option.

It allows to join 50 members at a time.

Now, Facebook Messenger even supports Windows and Mac. So, it is available everywhere now.

Advantages of Facebook Messenger = Lets you connect to the largest network without the requirement of sharing personal number.


Summary: Deciding the Video Calling Apps

Damn! I just realized that 2 of the best apps belong to Facebook and the other 2 belong to Google. Meanwhile, Microsoft is stuck in between.

Thankfully, it’s not another Chinese application.

[You might like: Why Can’t We Manufacture Mobile Phones in India?]

So how will you decide amid the confusion? I’ll make it simpler.

  • Whatsapp & Google Duo = For closest and dearest people
  • Skype & Google Hangouts = For semi-professional contacts
  • Facebook Messenger = For networking purpose

There are some honorable mentions like Instagram, IMO, Viber, Line Facetime, etc. You might try them as well.

Also, in the age of VOLTE and Jio, you can directly use your network provider to video call your buddies.

Then why did I not mention it earlier? Because it would make my whole post pointless! 😀

So which application do you use the most? Let me know! 😛

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