non-iOS to iOS video chat
June 3, 2019 6:49 AM Subscribe
My spouse will be in Japan for several weeks while the rest of us stay home in the US mid-west and we'd like find the right way for us to keep in touch. Video chat seems like the right choice for the kids, but I don't know what the best tools are circa June 2019.
We'll be connecting from Android or PC to iOS, prefer not to use facebook, but are otherwise open to whatever free-ish options are easy and reliable. High security is not a concern. Thanks.
We'll be connecting from Android or PC to iOS, prefer not to use facebook, but are otherwise open to whatever free-ish options are easy and reliable. High security is not a concern. Thanks.
Oh, Snapchat also supports video calling, but it's phone-only, unlike Signal and Telegram which have desktop clients.
posted by tobascodagama at 6:57 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by tobascodagama at 6:57 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
Skype?
posted by ellieBOA at 7:00 AM on June 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by ellieBOA at 7:00 AM on June 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
We just use Skype and it (mostly) works fine.
posted by The Toad at 7:01 AM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by The Toad at 7:01 AM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
I have no problem using Google Hangouts from Asia to US for video calls. When we do them just within the US, it works fine from an iPad to an Android tablet.
posted by jillithd at 7:06 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by jillithd at 7:06 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
I've never had issues with Google Hangouts (Android to iOS). Easy, simple.
posted by Aranquis at 7:14 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Aranquis at 7:14 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
If it's just one device to one other device, I'd recommend Zoom.us, free/unlimited for that use case and works flawlessly on everything.
posted by matrixclown at 7:15 AM on June 3, 2019
posted by matrixclown at 7:15 AM on June 3, 2019
Google Duo is google's simplified video chat app. (Google Hangouts is fine too, but later this year supposedly it's going to be separated into Hangouts Chat and Hangouts Meet because... well, I don't know why.)
posted by bluecore at 7:40 AM on June 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by bluecore at 7:40 AM on June 3, 2019 [4 favorites]
Skype is pretty much the default app for this need.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:40 AM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 7:40 AM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
My partner (Android) and I (iOS) use Google Duo.
posted by matildaben at 7:43 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by matildaben at 7:43 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
Another reccy for signal.
When I was traveling internationally a few months ago, even if the bandwidth for video wasnt there, the audio quality of signal was much higher than pretty much anything else.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:44 AM on June 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
When I was traveling internationally a few months ago, even if the bandwidth for video wasnt there, the audio quality of signal was much higher than pretty much anything else.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:44 AM on June 3, 2019 [3 favorites]
We recently converted from Skype to Zoom at work and it’s been a revelation. The video and audio quality is way better, it works flawlessly in every browser and OS config we’ve thrown at it, and it has a host of features for professional conferencing, although I have a paid org account and can’t speak to the free tier. I hate using other systems now. With multiple participants it’s especially excellent.
posted by spitbull at 8:01 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by spitbull at 8:01 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
Whatsapp works great is free and cross platform.
posted by chasles at 10:43 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by chasles at 10:43 AM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
MarcoPolo!!
posted by lazaruslong at 11:37 AM on June 3, 2019
posted by lazaruslong at 11:37 AM on June 3, 2019
I just used Discord's video chat and it was awesome, super high quality and never dropped. Prefer it a lot to Skype.
posted by yueliang at 4:10 PM on June 3, 2019
posted by yueliang at 4:10 PM on June 3, 2019
My wife and I use Google Hangouts in this situation (Japan<>US) all the time and it works great.
We originally used Skype and Hangouts was a big improvement over that.
posted by thefoxgod at 5:20 PM on June 3, 2019
We originally used Skype and Hangouts was a big improvement over that.
posted by thefoxgod at 5:20 PM on June 3, 2019
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Telegram is similar in terms of functionality but is not considered to be as secure as Signal.
posted by tobascodagama at 6:55 AM on June 3, 2019 [3 favorites]