Top Smartphone Apps For Staying In Touch

Probably the best Apps to be introduced over the last few years are communication apps. Apps such as WhatsApp are incredibly popular and the popularity of WhatsApp was underlined by the $19 billion paid for the messaging service by Facebook. However, WhatsApp Is not the only App out there that allows you to communicate with friends across the world, whether it is instant messaging, video calling  or voice calls over wifi there are a number of choices and the best thing about it, most of them are free!

Instant Messaging Services

The obvious choice for Instant Messaging is WhatsApp. I doubt there are many people that have not heard of the ‘WhatsApp’ and one of the main goals of Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg is that everybody on the planet is aware of and has access to Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg has a goal to connect the poorest countries in the world. Such is the popularity of WhatsApp that over a 24 hour period it is known to have handled 64 billion messages! The service allows users to stay in contact across the world using data services so to avoid charges from phone networks. With Wifi hotspots more accessible than ever the changes are you won’t have to worry about using any of your monthly data. Features of WhatsApp include the ability to send audio recordings, video recordings and picture messages. The simple instant message format makes it easy to use. The biggest attraction of WhatsApp is the number of users, chances are most of your friends are already on there and you may be attracted by the fact you can stay in touch with your friends without having to share every details of your life, like on Facebook.

The Top Alternatives to WhatsApp

Telegram – A very similar App to WhatsApp ‘Telegram’ promises to remain Ad free and is open source so is more accessible to developers than WhatsApp. Interestingly when Facebook purchased WhatsApp there was a surge in people using ‘Telegram’ such is the contempt for Mark Zuckerbergs quest for global domination.  You may also want to try ‘Kik Messenger’ available on all platforms Kik Messenger has been around since 2010.

Voice Calls over Wifi

If you want to call someone on the other side of the world then you will not want to pay expensive international fees, the best option is to call over Wifi. For many years the leader in the market has been ‘Skype.’ With Skype you can make calls to other Skype users for free and calls to mobile devices across the world for a fixed fee of £8.49 per month. If you know which country you will call regularly then you may save money, for example calling just the USA unlimited for a month will cost £3.99.

The Top Alternatives to Skype

Viber – Skype is the number one choice for business but there are other choices available including the massively popular Viber. Although Viber does not offer as many features as Skype many believe that Viber offers a better service. If you want a cheaper subscription service than Skype to call landline and mobiles then the best App for you is RebTel. For £7 for the year you will pay as little as £0.99 per minute to phone mobile numbers.

Facebook Messanger Introduces Voice Calling

Even though Facebook have purchased WhatsApp they still continue to push the ‘Facebook Messanger’ App and have recently update the App to to include voice calling.

Pin It