Video Calling Apps for Android

If you’re looking to expand your communication options and move beyond text messages to video calls, the Android operating system offers several alternatives. The only catch is the lack of interoperability, but that’s just part of the natural competition among platforms. Today we’ll review five of the most important ones, which together represent hundreds of millions of users worldwide.

Video calls. Science fiction anticipated them for years, and for several high-profile companies they were the future of communications. However, in this era of mobile devices and compact accessories, text still reigns for various reasons. Fortunately, there are several platforms that offer the possibility of making video calls at no cost, and they strive to improve with each new version. If you have an Android device at hand, here you’ll find five of the most popular options.

Google Hangouts

If we didn’t start with Google’s main tool, Mountain View would probably open fire on us. Google Hangouts is essentially the merger of three old communication systems: the classic Talk, Messenger, and Hangouts, the latter under the umbrella of Google Plus. If you use a recent version of Android, it’s almost certain that this software is already installed and managing all your messaging, but I’ve seen updates even for Gingerbread devices.

Snapchat

Social network, video messages… defining Snapchat is more complicated than it seems. Yet, what started as a small ghost is now a true monster with over a hundred million users and a valuation that would be close to 20 billion dollars. The ability to make a video call isn’t among its main features, but rather an extension of its chat service. If your contact is available, press the white circle with the blue background.

Skype

Android might not be Microsoft’s preferred environment, but it has done an acceptable job developing a compatible version of Skype. As always, the idea is for users to concentrate all their communication needs on this platform, including video calls. In mid-2013, Skype removed limits on its video messaging system, probably as a response to Snapchat’s growth. User feedback is mixed, but the balance is undoubtedly positive.

Viber

With WhatsApp’s success spreading across the world, many projects tried to jump on the same train, but once aboard they discovered they had to offer more to compete. Viber is one that picked up the gauntlet and faced the challenge. It’s estimated to comfortably exceed 600 million registered users, though the number of active users would be lower. Its development remains firm, and with 7.5 million comments on the Google store, ignoring it would be crazy.

LINE

Another child of the “WhatsApp era”, LINE is a collaboration between Japanese and South Korean engineers. The social networking component is much more developed in LINE compared to other services, but the number of active users stays on par with the rest, and the video call feature carries a good reputation. At the time of writing, it seems things didn’t go very well with the latest update; however, I imagine it will only be a matter of time before a new build appears.

No, I’m not crazy. Services like Facebook Messenger have been left out of the list, and while it has a huge number of users, in my opinion it needs more work. Honestly, I can’t single one out over the rest, because users tend to measure the value of video calls through the number of contacts in that service, and once again, many prefer text over video. Whatever your situation, I hope this information helps. Good luck!