7 Best FaceTime Alternatives for Video Calling 五月 26, 2017

7 Best FaceTime Alternatives for Video Calling

Video messaging and calls have become very common in today's age. You can now reach your colleagues, clients, friends and loved ones anywhere in the country or even abroad via video calling. It's fun and easy and almost anyone can do it.

What Is FaceTime Video Calling?

FaceTime is a video calling service provided by Apple available on all of their iOS devices. You can now just tap on your contacts and start a FaceTime call with your colleagues, clients, friends and loved ones as long as you have access to the Internet via WiFi or mobile data.

FaceTime is an exclusive service with anyone who has an iCloud account and iOS device or Mac. Thus, if you want to use FaceTime service, you will need to have an iPhone, iPad or Mac for you to be able to video call anyone. This also means that the people you want to make a video call will need an iPhone a, iPad or Mac as well and sign in to their iCloud accounts in order for you to do FaceTime.

Why You Need FaceTime Alternative to Make Video Calling?

Many users have mentioned that using FaceTime, they have experienced little to no lag time in their video calls. It seems that calls have a high quality stream without it buffering or lagging. Audio quality is also reported to be superior and instances of choppiness or voice cutting out is next to none as long as you have a stable connection. However, the biggest problem brought about FaceTime is its exclusivity to iPhone and other iOS devices. The person you are trying to make video calling may also not be able to respond if they don't have FaceTime. Which can be a hassle because there are many who do not use an iPhone device or refuses to use one for a number of reasons (one of them is its prices). What's worse, FaceTime only allows one-on-one video calling. If you want to make group video calling, you have to ask help from other video conferencing solutions.

Seven Apple FaceTime Alternatives

Here are some alternatives to FaceTime that you can try out to make one-on-one and group video calling in an easy way.

1. ezTalks Cloud Meeting

ezTalks Cloud Meeting is a professional and trustworthy video conferencing software that anyone can sign up for. It's free and available for both individual and business use. The great thing about ezTalks Cloud Meeting is that it's rather well established and available on iOS, Android, Mac and Windows devices and computer, making it accessible to a larger audience than FaceTime.

You can do individual video calls and you can also do conference calling. ezTalks Cloud Meeting even allows up to 100 participants to join you in the video calling for free. During the video calling, you can also content and screen sharing and live broadcasting via the browser. You can have an unlimited number of meetings as well. Recording of video calls and playback is also an available feature on ezTalks Cloud Meeting. Besides, it provides you with HD audio, HD video, sketch out ideas with an interactive whiteboard tool, schedule video calling ahead of time and more.

2. Google Hangouts

In this day and age, who does not have a Google account. Whether it's for email, a cloud drive service, calendar, or whatever other reason, almost everyone has a google account. And with a Google account, you can also sign up for Google Hangouts.

As one of best FaceTime alternatives, Google Hangouts is a messaging service available for use on Windows, Android and even iOS devices. This app allows you to message via text or chat online with your friends and family. You can do Google video conferencing calls and chats and is fully integrated to do video calls and conferences. It's a lightweight app that can be used on the phone, desktop or tablet. Hangouts comes with HD Video calls and can host up to 25 people at a time. There is also a built-in screen sharing, so you can share projects and online presentations or conduct Internet trainings online.

3. Whatsapp

Whatsapp is another alternative to FaceTime that is available on mobile devices for both Android and iOS. Right off the bat, this service is free and readily available for download on almost all mobile devices. There are over 1 billion people using this application in over 180 countries, so you know its tried and tested and quite reliable when It comes to messaging friends and family online.

Whatsapp allows for voice and video calls and you can even do conference. Even after a call has ended, you can still message via the video conference chatroom, so conversations can keep ongoing. You can easily share videos and photos on Whatsapp. There is also a document-sharing function, so you can view and share files as well even when on a call.

4. Skype

This Apple FaceTime alternative, is Skype, one of the oldest instant messaging services out there. Skype is actually known for video calls and conferences and they are probably one of the most widely used video conferencing app out there. Aside from video calls, Skype also allows for quick instant messages and is the most widely available application as of today.

Initially, it was only available on Windows desktop. Skype is now downloadable on both Android and iOS devices as well, making its reach significantly wide. Skype video calls allow for full screen conferences and you are able to share your screen live with the others on your conference, allowing for greater collaboration and interactivity with the participants online.

5. Viber

Viber is another very popular FaceTime alternative app available on both iOS and Android. This app is easy to install and connects through your mobile number as your User ID. You can even connect multiple devices to your main phone, so you can access messages on different devices. You can do voice calls and video calls on Viber as well as instant messaging.

Viber allows for group chats so you can keep in touch and track messages even when you're not on a call. Currently, conference calls are not yet available. However, other features include video, photo and document sharing. You can also send out short voice messages aside from engaging people on a call or chatting with them.

6. WeChat

WeChat is another messaging application gaining popularity nowadays, especially in China. Like Viber, it is easy to install and connects to your mobile number. You can also connect multiple devices to the same account. Voice and video quality on WeChat is at par with most other messaging services.

This application is easily downloadable on iTunes and on Google Play. Not only can you chat on WeChat (as the application name implies) and you can also make video calls as well. Group chat is also an available service on WeChat where you can add up to 40 members. WeChat is an interesting app as it has other built-in features such as games, and integrates with other messaging services (such as QQ). Unfortunately, video conferencing is not yet an available feature on WeChat.

7. Facebook Messenger

The last alternative for FaceTime We'd like to share with you is Facebook Messenger. If all else fails, Facebook messenger is one of the most widely used applications when it comes to instant messaging as it has one of the largest subscriber base in the world. One of the things they have launched with Facebook is the ability to make video calls. Video calling is easy and can be used on a laptop with a webcam or any iOS or Android phone with a front facing camera. Simply click the video call icon on the messenger and you can start away. You can even do group video calls on Facebook messenger, making it a robust messaging and calling application that can work independently of your Facebook application.

Nowadays, there are many available options and alternatives to Apple FaceTime that you can try out as technology becomes more widely available in different parts of the world. These applications don't carry the same restrictions as FaceTime and are mostly free. As technology advances, you will find more and more applications that make it even easier to reach colleagues, clients, friends and loved ones by just the touch of a button. Communication through video calls is now right at your fingertips.