5 Best Video Chat Apps in 2016

Smartphones have completely revolutionized the way we communicate. Nowadays, people across the world instantly communicate via calls, texts, and emails, bridging the distance between them. Skype was introduced in 2003 with an aim to connect the world. Skype conveniently allows people to see and chat with each other using a webcam. It has indeed brought people close, but it isn’t the novelty it was once. With the drastic increase in smartphone usage, there are several video chatting apps that have found their way to mobile devices. Here are 6 best video calling apps for Android. 

1. Facebook Messenger — Facebook messenger is a free video chat app for Android, iPhone, and Windows phone. Making a call using Facebook messenger is quite easy. You simply tap a contact from the messenger app list and click the video button to start a video call. You can easily make a call to anyone in your facebook network around the globe. All the calls are free but you need to pay for the data charges. Unfortunately, facebook messenger doesn’t support video conferencing, like other apps YapApp or Google Hangouts. So if you want to talk to several friends in one call, you’ll have to opt for other apps.

2. YapApp — YapApp is comparatively a new & free video chat app available for Android, iPhone, and iPad users. YapApp offers free HD video calls, voice calls and group calls to up to 4 people. YapApp’s chat interface is extremely clean and easy to use. It gives you the option to add unlimited members in a group. You can share up to 10 photos, crop your photos, send pre-recorded voice messages and location to your contacts. The USP of the app is that unlike other apps it doesn’t disclose your phone number to the contacts and all the messages and calls of the app are encrypted, which makes it extremely secure. The app’s data consumption is low, making it an overall a good video calling app.

3.ooVoo — Oovoo is a great app if you frequently use video chat to communicate to your friends and family. It works for users on Android, iOS, and Windows. The app allows you to free video call with up to 12 people. Video quality of the app is good even with low bandwidth connections. You can buy avatar characters and use them during your calls.

4.Google Hangouts — Google Hangouts is an instant messaging platform developed by Google. It has replaced three messaging Google products: Google Talk, Google+ Messenger, and Hangouts. Google Hangouts offers chat, voice calls, instant messaging, and video conferencing for up to 10 people. It allows you to share photos and emojis with your contacts. All video calls to other users are free (excluding data charges).

    

5. Viber — Viber is a free messenger offering free instant messaging, voice calls and live video chats. You can group chat with up to 100 participants. The app has support for over 30 localized languages. You can share photos, videos, emoji icons, and stickers, and record audio messages. The only drawback of this app is that it collects names and phone numbers of the users, though for functional reasons but then it raises concerns regarding privacy and security.

These are some of the free video chat apps that allow you to make free video calls and give you a high-quality video calling experience. Though you can download them for free, but using them can eat up a lot of your data plan. So, ensure you choose the video chat app which is low in data consumption and gives you best calling experience.

Source:- https://medium.com/@YapApp/5-best-video-chat-apps-in-2016-430bd437590e#.2i86b0bas