Since technology took over human life, it has become literally impossible to separate these two. First, it was to get rid of the postal service by coming up with email services that offer a better, faster and convenient way of delivering messages.
Technology came in and reduced the significance of traditional landlines and telephones, ushering in a new era of smartphones. The smartphone world has since then gone ahead to be controlled by the internet, which is a must have for all the smartphone users. Today, people no longer make use of these phones to send messages and make phone calls via their telecom carriers. Instead, the rise of the internet has seen the development of apps that offer much better platforms for making free voice calls as well as exchange messages. In essence, telecom carriers have become the secondary or even the tertiary means of communication.
Instant messaging and VoIP services compared
One major application behind this change is Skype. After being introduced in 2003 on PCs, this app has since then moved onto the mobile platform. Skype is used to make free voice and video calls as well as exchange instant messages. Users can enjoy group video calls as well as share media files of unlimited sizes. In addition, Skype allows the users to sign up for a premium account which they use to connect to the other users not using Skype at very affordable rates.
WhatsApp on the other hand is the stalwart of this huge change, coming in 6 years after the launch of Skype. This application allows the users to make free voice calls as well as exchange media files such as photos and videos. The voice calling feature is still very new in the industry and in fact, it is not among the recommended options when you want to make a voice call over the internet. The major issue with WhatsApp when it comes to sharing media files is that it has limits where it manages only 16MB.
Another application that comes in with some amazing instant messaging and VoIP capabilities is Viber. This messenger allows the users to exchange media messages as well as make free voice and video calls. The app is equipped with numerous stickers and emoticons for use in messaging. As you may have noticed, only Skype and Viber offer free video calls. Furthermore, these two apps allow the users to make calls to those not using the app using the ViberOut feature at very affordable rates. These users may be on mobile numbers or even landlines and in any country, but the rates vary according to country.
Registering an account
Viber makes use of the same sign up process as WhatsApp, where both apps only ask for your phone number which they’ll use to create your user ID. On the other hand, Skype needs lots of details during registration, among them an email address, password as well as create a user ID for accessing the Skype account. When compared to WhatsApp and Viber, Skype is not the easiest to create an account with.
Cost of calls
When making calls on Viber, WhatsApp and Skype, there are no charges involved as long as both the recipient and the caller are on the same network. However, those using Viber and Skype have an advantage over WhatsApp users as they can still keep in touch with those not using the app.
All you need to make free WhatsApp voice calls, Viber free calls or Skype voice calls is a suitable 3G, 4G or Wi-Fi connection. In case of using mobile data, make sure your data package is unlimited or else the app will start billing internet costs via your airtime.
Installing on Windows Phone, iOS 8 and Android Lollipop
It is very easy to install any of these apps on the Android Lollipop, iOS 8 or Windows Phone smartphones. All you need to do is to visit the official app store of each phone and while in there, search for the app you want. Tap on the results and then proceed with downloading and installing the app on your phone. The setup processes of each app come with very simple on-screen instructions which require little or no tech competence to follow.
In the case of WhatsApp, you will have to pay a fee of $0.99 from the second year to keep using it. On the other hand, Skype and Viber are free for life.
Bottom line
WhatsApp, Viber and Skype are three amazing apps for communication. However, having all of them installed on your phone or any one or two of them is entirely dependent on you. WhatsApp will offer you with a very simple and easy to use interface and more people to connect with, Viber on the other hand will offer you more features and services as well as better syncing with PC and tablets clients. Skype on the other hand is the best as far as the quality of services is concerned; however, many have complained of its huge data consumption margins. So, which app will it be? Will it be Viber, WhatsApp, Skype or all of them?
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