Two years after the emergence of Covid-19, the pandemic is still out there. However, the almighty Internet still connects us to the rest of the world, even though we might be physically isolated in our apartment. Due to the social distancing caused by the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses around the world have experienced a shift to remote work. In this case, video conferencing apps are playing a crucial role in providing support to help navigate remote work and connect people around the world in the Covid era.
Following is a list of the best and most popular conferencing apps for mobile devices carefully selected by our editors. We wish you a good time connecting with the rest of the world through video conferencing apps.
With pandemic transforming Zoom into a household name, Zoom is now probably the most popular video conferencing app worldwide. The app offers quality video, audio, and screen-sharing features and enables participants far-away to join meetings conveniently. Early this year, Zoom rolled out a new feature that allows users to review and sign documents during a video conference call. The new tool simplifies online document signing and provides users virtual, face-to-face signing experiences in the midst of a global pandemic.
Max. allowed participants: 100 by default in every meeting, 1000 with Large Meeting add-on.
Cost: Various plans for customers with different needs, from $0 to $19.99/host/month.
Best for: Work conference calls and therapy sessions.
Skype by Microsoft provides video and audio calling as well as a messaging service, with which most of you must be familiar. Skype is almost available for all platforms, including iOS, Android, Windows and Mac.
Max. allowed participants: 100 for audio calls, while the number of video callers depends on what device you're using, according to the company.
Cost: Free, and $2.99/month if you want to call directly to a phone.
Best for: Calling parents and other older relatives, especially if you don't want to download a new app (or teach your grandparents how to).
Microsoft Teams offers you brand new experience of online meeting. It is a popular tool that helps companies improve communication and collaboration between employees. It has gained increasing popularity due to the self-quarantine caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Max. allowed participants: 300 attendees in an audio conference.
Cost: Starts at $12.50 per month, per user, with a free trial. There is also a free version with more limits.
Best for: Communication and collaboration in the workplace.
Hangouts is a communication tool developed by Google. Advantages about Hangouts include running in your Google browser and being deeply integrated with Google’s other apps. For example, if you create a new Google Calendar event, you will get a Hangouts video chat link included automatically and can pick up your chat conversations right inside Gmail.
Max. allowed participants: 25 for a free version, 250 for paid subscription.
Cost: From 0$ to $25/user/month (includes unlimited storage and a Gmail business account.
Best for: Those who get bored amid social distancing. You can chat with your whole gang, or share your screen with them on the movie night.
Google Meet is another communication tool owned by Google. Compared with Hangouts, Hangouts Meet is designed around scheduled calls. For the most part, Hangouts Meet is the same as Hangouts' video calls—only with a fresh new design focused just on video chat. There's no text chat—that's saved for the companion Hangouts Chat app.
Max. allowed participants: 25 for G Suite Basic and Business plans and 50 participants with G Suite Enterprise.
Cost: G Suite Basic starts at 6$/user/month, Business 12$, Enterprise 25$.
Best for: Those who work with a team and have scheduled meetings, and use Google apps for work by default.
