No apps grew more in user numbers over the last few years than group calling apps. With people stuck inside with the COVID pandemic we had to find a way to stay connected. Group calling apps certainly helped fill that void of human contact that started to appear. A lot of these apps started popping up. If you were a teacher or a student during this time you know some of the most popular apps for educational purposes. When it comes to work, there were also other apps that became very popular. At the end of the day in these scenarios though you had to use the app that someone else decided worked best. If you want to make personal group calls though, what app should you use?
As we mentioned there are a lot of different options worth looking into. In fact, a lot of these options work in a very similar fashion. The problem though that we’ve seen certain people have is that they’ve become accustomed to the way that certain apps work. So they just stick to group calling apps that are familiar. Without really taking into account if the app is well suited for their needs. If you want to look for a new app for group calling or maybe affirm that you’re using the right one we can help you in both cases. In this article we’re going to be exploring group calling apps, as well as different apps that have a multi screen call option. To help you pick the right one for you.
- Group Calling Apps – The Options That Are Out There
- What To Look For In One Of These Apps
- Calling May Not Necessarily Be Free
- Other Apps With Group Call Options
- Do Certain Apps Work Better With Specific Phones?
- Using Group Calling Apps Abroad
Group Calling Apps – The Options That Are Out There
There are actually multiple options these days that offer some level of group calls. You can even make a group call in a WhatsApp group if you wanted to. The problem with that is that there’s a limit of about 4 people on the call. When we’re talking about group calling apps we usually assume that you’ll want more people to be on the call. The apps that come to mind for most people are apps like Zoom, or even Skype. It’s important to point out that each of these apps could have it’s own cap on the number of people that can be on one call.
The main options that we are going to be looking at are Zoom, Google Hangouts, and Skype. Yes, there are other apps out there, but from our experience those work more as internal communication. Essentially in these cases as an employee or as a teacher you’ll have to use the app that they tell you. If you’re going to be the one hosting the call and you get to pick, it’s probably a good idea to pick one of these three apps over other alternatives. Just because these are the apps that more people are potentially going to be familiar with.
What To Look For In One Of These Apps
Familiarity with the app is certainly something that you’re going to want to consider. That can be a two way street though and not in a good way. We’ve seen people stick with apps that offer fewer features just because they happen to be more familiar with those apps. You may be missing out on certain perks that could be interesting. If you’re going to be hosting a very large group call, let’s say for a family chat, and you’ve got a big family. Then you’re going to want to know which app allows you to bring more people on the call simultaneously. Another aspect is the duration of the call. Some apps have very strict time limits on free versions. That’s something that you’re going to want to look into.
Another thing that may be interesting is the ability to call in without having the app or smart phone even. So, Google Hangouts actually has a feature that allows people to call into the group call without having the app or even being online. You can dial a number from your landline and you’ll be connected to the call. It may be a nightmare for the person who is just using a phone to be on a large call. You’re just hearing a bunch of voices, and not seeing anyone. However, this can be a feature that’s great for calling older folks who aren’t all that tech savvy. Yes, familiarity and overall comfort are important, but there are more things to think about for sure.
Calling May Not Necessarily Be Free
This is something that we touched upon, but it’s so important that we wanted to cover it in depth. The issue that Zoom has on the free plan is that you can’t have a group meeting that lasts more than 40 minutes. That’s on the free plan, if you have the pro plan you can extend those meetings. Even if you consider the plan low cost it isn’t free! With Skype you have some of the same issues. The thing with Skype is that most people have never reached the limit, and that’s why they never realized there was one! The limit is 10 hours a day or 100 hours a month on the free plan.
Calling into a google Hangouts call may not be free. It depends on your ability to make the call in through your landline. With Skype you can actually call landlines, but the service isn’t free. The real problem though is data usage. People with unlimited data plans probably don’t think about this anymore, but these calls can use up a lot of data. Even if you’re not getting charged a per minute rate you could be using up all of your data. In the best case scenario on an unlimited plan your data speed is going to go down. In the worst case scenario you’ll get charged data roaming fees. That can be nasty bill! We say all of this to make sure that you keep in mind how you can navigate these costs.
Other Apps With Group Call Options
We were going to include house party on this list. When doing research for this article we found out that it had actually been discontinued. The jury is still out on exactly what happened. There are a lot of theories being thrown out there. There could be a push by some of the big companies to try and mitigate competition these days. The rise of Zoom through the COVID pandemic was something that caught the big players off guard. In any case, we mentioned that you can do a group chat through whatsapp. Face Time also has a feature that allows you to have a couple of friends jump on the call.
The key to some of these options that we’ve thrown around is that they only allow a few people to get on the call. The main apps that we’ve talked about allow for a ton of people to get on the call. If you’re going to try out new options, an app like House Party or something that comes out of the blue may not be a great option. Just because you won’t have a clear idea of what is being done with your personal data. An argument could be made that you don’t want the big companies handling your data either. That’s a known evil though. Do you want to explore the unknown side?
Do Certain Apps Work Better With Specific Phones?
The answer to this question is yes, but maybe not for the reasons that you think. Certain group calling apps, like FaceTime, are only going to be available for IOS users. Can you join a FaceTime call with an Android device? Yes, but you can’t initiate FaceTime calls with an Android device. Therefore, obviously this is one of those apps that is limited depending on the type of device that you happen to have. If you have an older phone or even tablet or whatever it may be that doesn’t get anymore updates you’re also going to have certain trouble using specific apps. With Google Hangouts, you’ll be looking at a similar scenario that we saw with FaceTime. There are other ways to join the call without necessarily having the app on your phone. The features that you’re going to have access to when you do this are limited.
From there we could start a full debate over whether the IOS version of a particular app may work better than the Android version or vice versa. That discussion certainly could have a lot of merit. Especially with certain apps. Having said this though, whether one version of the app is better than the other is an opinion based argument. Whereas, with FaceTime, the lack of features on Android makes it clearly a better option for IOS users. As we mentioned before, the answer to the original question that we posted above is clearly yes.
Using Group Calling Apps Abroad
Using apps to call when you’re abroad or you’re calling someone who is abroad is a good idea for a number of reasons. Number one, the quality of the call that you make can depend of course, on the specific app that you’re using. For the most part though, if you happen to have a stable internet connection the quality of the call should be ok. We mention this because a lot of people slammed calling apps in the beginning for poor call quality. These days, particularly with international calls, it’s not like the quality of regular calls has gotten any better. Of course, most of these apps offer easier video calling options as well.
When you’re thinking about making a group for a meeting whether it be on the professional level, or the personal level does it really make sense to make a regular call? Most people have no clue how to even connect other numbers to a call from their phone. Yes, this is something that can be done. However, it usually isn’t as seamless as just sending the invites to a call via email or whatever it may be. Finally, when you’re calling through these apps, if you pick the right app to call, you won’t have to worry about a per minute rate or things of that nature.
It’s important for us to mention that we don’t gain anything from saying this or trashing regular calling methods if you will. From our experience though, it’s just a fact that using apps can be more cost effective, and easier to do overall.
Group Calling Apps Conclusion
Now you know that there may be a few more things to consider before you go out and pick the app that you want to use to make group calls. Without a doubt familiarity and name recognition play a role in the selection process for most people. That’s why Zoom has been able to build on the initial success that the app gained through the COVID-19 pandemic. We also want to be clear that there’s nothing fully wrong with Zoom to the point where we would advise people to avoid it. The reason why we wanted to create this article though was to highlight the fact that there were other options out there. Maybe you find an app that works better for you!
If you’re not on an unlimited plan, or connected to a wifi connection, and especially if you’re abroad, don’t think these apps are fully free. Sure, in most cases you won’t be looking at a per minute rate for your calls. However, many of these apps are well known for being massive data spenders. If you don’t have unlimited data make sure that you are connected to a wifi network with a stable connection when you make these calls. That way you won’t be sacrificing call quality. At the same time though you won’t have to worry about the expenses that could come your way because of your data usage.