The top 5 video chat apps to get you through coronavirus lockdown. Using these apps during the era of social distancing can help you to stay connected with family and friend. Find out more:
1. Google Meet
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.meetings&hl=en_US
With Google Meet, join high-quality video meetings up to 250 people.
Meet is fully integrated with G Suite, so you can join meetings directly from a Calendar event or email invite. All of the important event details are right there when you need them, whether you’re joining from a computer, phone, or conference room.
With Meet’s specially designed iOS and Android apps, you can see your meetings for the day with all the important information from Calendar, then join with a tap. G Suite’s Enterprise edition also creates a dial-in phone number for each meeting, so every guest has a great experience – even on the road without wifi or data.
Key features:
• Host unlimited high-definition video meetings
• Meet safely – video meetings are encrypted in transit and proactive anti-abuse measures help keep your meetings safe
• Easy access − just share a link and invited guests can join with one click from a desktop web browser or the Google Meet mobile app
• Share your screen to present documents, slides, and more
• Follow along with real-time captions powered by Google speech-to-text technology
Teams using Skype for Business or meeting systems based on SIP and H.323 standards (e.g. Polycom and Cisco) can seamlessly join a Meet meeting through the Pexip Infinity Platform.
2. WhatsApp
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whatsapp
WhatsApp Messenger is a FREE messaging app available for Android and other smartphones. WhatsApp uses your phone’s Internet connection (4G/3G/2G/EDGE or Wi*Fi, as available) to let you message and call friends and family. Switch from SMS to WhatsApp to send and receive messages, calls, photos, videos, documents, and Voice Messages.
Features:
- NO FEES: WhatsApp uses your phone’s Internet connection (4G/3G/2G/EDGE or WiFi, as available) to let you message and call friends and family, so you don’t have to pay for every message or call. There are no subscription fees to use WhatsApp.
- MULTIMEDIA: Send and receive photos, videos, documents, and Voice Messages.
- FREE CALLS: Call your friends and family for free with WhatsApp Calling, even if they’re in another country.* WhatsApp calls use your phone’s Internet connection rather than your cellular plan’s voice minutes. (Note: Data charges may apply. Contact your provider for details. Also, you can’t access 911 and other emergency service numbers through WhatsApp).
- GROUP CHAT: Enjoy group chats with your contacts so you can easily stay in touch with your friends or family.
- WHATSAPP WEB: You can also send and receive WhatsApp messages right from your computer’s browser.
- NO INTERNATIONAL CHARGES: There’s no extra charge to send WhatsApp messages internationally. Chat with your friends around the world and avoid international SMS charges.
3. Telegram
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.telegram.messenger
Pure instant messaging — simple, fast, secure, and synced across all your devices. Over 200 million active users in four years. For those interested in maximum privacy, Telegram offers Secret Chats. Secret Chat messages can be programmed to selfdestruct automatically from both participating devices. This way you can send all types of disappearing content — messages, photos, videos, and even files. Secret Chats use endto*end encryption to ensure that a message can only be read by its intended recipient.
Features:
- FAST: Telegram is the fastest messaging app on the market, connecting people via a unique, distributed network of data centers around the globe.
- SYNCED: You can access your messages from all your devices at once. Start typing on your phone and finish the message from your tablet or laptop. Never lose your data again.
- UNLIMITED: You can send media and files, without any limits on their type and size. Your entire chat history will require no disk space on your device, and will be securely stored in the Telegram cloud for as long as you need it.
- SECURE: We made it our mission to provide the best security combined with ease of use. Everything on Telegram, including chats, groups, media, etc. is encrypted using a combination of 256bit symmetric AES encryption, 2048bit RSA encryption, and Diffie–Hellman secure key exchange.
- POWERFUL: You can create group chats for up to 200,000 members, share large videos, documents of any type (.DOC, .MP3, .ZIP, etc.), and even set up bots for specific tasks. It’s the perfect tool for hosting online communities and coordinating teamwork.
- RELIABLE: Built to deliver your messages in the minimum bytes possible, Telegram is the most reliable messaging system ever made. It works even on the weakest mobile connections.
- 100% FREE & NO ADS: Telegram is free and will always be free. We are not going to sell ads or introduce subscription fees.
4. Skype
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skype.raider
Use Skype to send SMS messages to mobiles worldwide and with SMS Connect you can now also read and reply to your phone’s SMS messages right from your computer. SMS connect will be released gradually.
Features:
- Video calls – Don’t just hear the cheers, see them! Get together with 1 or 24 of your friends and family on a HD video call. Watch everyone’s smiles and cries when you tell them “We’re engaged!!!”
- Chat – Reach people instantly. Send messages to your friends, grab someone’s attention with @ mentions, or create a group chat to plan a family reunion.
- SMS Connect * Read and reply to your phone’s SMS messages in Skype on your PC or Mac.
- Share – Send photos and videos with your family and friends. Save shared photos and videos to your camera roll. Share your screen to make travel plans with friends or present designs to your team.
- Voice calls – Camera shy? Make voice calls to anyone in the world on Skype. You can also call mobile and landlines at low rates.
- Express yourself – Liven up conversations with emoticons, click on the “+” in chat to send a Giphy or images from the web, and annotate images with words, lines and more.
5. Houseparty
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.herzick.houseparty
Houseparty is the face-to-face social network where you can connect with the people you care about most. The app makes connecting face to face effortless, alerting you when your friends are “in the house” and ready to chat so you can jump right into the conversation.
The same goes for you opening the app! Your friends will know you’re in the app and ready to chat, so they can join you (…because rejected calls are so last year).
Houseparty is truly the next best thing to hanging out in person. See your friends more often on Houseparty.