In the movie ‘Back To The Future 2’ (1989), we saw the old version of our hero Marty getting yelled at by his boss in a video call. Although the event took place in 2015, the movie still amazed us. As shown in many sci-fi movies, we are nowadays making video calls. Today’s article will discuss some of the best video calling apps for Android.
Top Video Calling Apps for Android
1. Google Meet
Google Meet is the improved version of Google Duo. This app is more than just a video calling tool; it can also be used for seamless video calls, meetings, and training sessions. It is considered one of the safest video calling apps, as all user data in the Google Meet app is end-to-end encrypted. With the app, you can make group video calls with up to 32 participants from your contact list by phone.
Google Meet provides a simple collaboration & content-sharing experience during video calls. It enables participants to share their screens during meetings, facilitating the easy presentation of slides and documents. The screen share feature also works excellently for personal use, as you can watch videos with friends & family.
If you are speaking with someone with a different accent, you can use Meet’s caption feature to get live transcription to understand them better. Meet offers high-quality video & audio with better noise cancellation options & low-light visibility features. It lets you use fun video effects, filters, and AR masks for video calling. The app also helps you to make Google Meet links for hosting 720p video calls for up to 100 participants.
2. Facebook Messenger
Facebook Messenger is an extensively trusted messaging & video-calling app that is relatively user-friendly. It is a free app that ranks among the best for video calling and texting on Android, allowing you to make both one-on-one and group video calls. You can also use it to share GIFs, videos, and photos with stunning art effects.
Usually, Facebook Messenger lets you create a group with up to 250 people, and if you make a group video call within that group, you can add up to 8 participants. Facebook Messenger rooms let you create video call links & make group video calls with up to 50 participants. Facebook Messenger has appealing chat themes, virtual backgrounds, and AR filters to provide a fun experience.
Moreover, you can play games with your friends in Messenger rooms. Facebook Messenger allows you to make HD quality, 720p video calls without trouble. The share screen option on Messenger allows you to watch videos, movies, and TV shows with other participants on a video call.
Meta also offers a Messenger Lite app for those with old Android phones or phones with low resources. Dissimilar to Google Meet, Facebook Messenger does not allow automatic data encryption. You have to enable data encryption for the chat if you want.
3. WhatsApp
WhatsApp is one of the most popular and famous chatting and video calling apps worldwide, with around 2 billion active monthly users. You can start a chat or make a video call to any of your contacts registered on WhatsApp. Regarding privacy, WhatsApp is one of the most secure apps & offers end-to-end data encryption for all conversations.
This app allows you to easily send texts, GIFs, stickers, documents & media files. A maximum of 32 participants can join a group video call on WhatsApp. As per updates, WhatsApp will introduce the call links feature to ease joining video calls. It doesn’t provide many video calling features but can be considered for its simplicity. It is a free, secure, and simple chatting and video calling app with no ads disturbing the user experience.
4. Viber
Viber is a versatile social app that allows you to text and make video calls with your contacts who also have the Viber app, use end-to-end encryption for messages and video/audio calls, and make low-cost calls to landline and mobile numbers through its VoIP service.
You can choose any of your contacts for video calls or start a group video chat with 39 other participants. Viber is an excellent alternative to Telegram & WhatsApp, ensuring total accessibility & privacy for each call you make.
5. Zoom
Sometimes, you need more time to organize & set up your meetings. This is where Zoom becomes useful. Zoom is like Google Meet, except anyone can access the Zoom meeting if they have the invitation link. No account is needed to participate when someone joins through the web version. You can set your video conferencing calls to HD, up to 720p, or 1080p in premium accounts.
Another excellent feature is the capability to record meetings in the app & store them in the Zoom cloud. That way, you can view, share & download the recording whenever it’s needed. Be reassured about missing a work meeting or some interview ever again.
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6. Telegram
If you want privacy & speed for all your activities, like file sharing & social messaging, Telegram is one of the best options you can get. Telegram syncs across all devices, so you can easily carry your social activity from one device to another. You don’t have to bear with file limits, and you can store your entire chat history without blocking space on your device. It all goes to Telegram’s cloud storage.
But the prominent feature of Telegram is that everything is encrypted, including video calls. For video chatting, you can set portrait and landscape modes, start group calls, and set an overlay while using other apps on your device. Telegram is entirely free & open source; other developers can use the API (Application Program Interface) to implement it on other apps. There is also a desktop app, which is not much in use nowadays.
7. Microsoft Teams
If you are looking for an app that is professional enough for team meetings and group chats with some options to add private groups for family and friends, Microsoft Teams offers you all the options to keep collaborations strong. You can do it all, from meetings to projects with coworkers to family and friend gatherings.
You can switch any group chat to a video call, and the dashboard feature lets you see all shared content when you’re not on a call. It can carry out secure conference calls without worrying about your data & privacy with any external partner, making Microsoft Teams the top choice for large corporations. You must buy the Microsoft 365 commercial subscription to access various commercial features on this app.
Conclusion
There are many good Android video calling apps, but you must know what you need to find the best one. One thing to note is that all the top social messaging apps use end-to-end encryption to protect your conversations, which means no one can spy on them. Your privacy matters just as much online as offline.
If you are still trying to decide which app to choose & are on a budget, you can go with the best free video calling apps on Android before going for a premium.
