The best apps for video-calls

One of the most drastic changes to our daily lives, due to the emergency situation and the consequent forced isolation, is the physical distance from other human beings, in specific terms "social distancing".

In fact, small moments of the routine that we took for granted, just like meetings and contact with other people - meeting people on public transport and in shops, going to lunch with parents or going to visit a friend for a coffee - were suddenly interrupted.

If, for the first week, taking some time for ourselves could only seem like a luxury, the lack of contact with others starts to make us feel uncomfortable day after day. Social life is essential for us, so after several days of chat, sexting, or more old school way of communication like phone calls, everywhere on Instagram group video calls, virtual aperitifs, telematic romantic dates, and simulations of movie parties on Netflix started popping up. In short, for any type of social activity (or almost any) we found an online alternative.

Since we are really lucky to live in a time when, despite the difficulties, the ways of communicating are endless, we have compiled a list of apps for video-calls to face the quarantine without loosing our social life.

 

WhatsApp

It might be taken for granted, but it is functional. Surely you have already installed Whatsapp on your smartphone, it's free, it allows group video calls (up to 4 people) and everyone uses it already. Advantages? You don't have to download new apps or ask your friends to download it.

 

HouseParty

Houseparty is like the TikTok of video-calling apps, created for the Z generation but used by everyone, the coolest app of the moment of its kind. It allows groups up to 8 people and makes your video-calls more interactive and fun thanks to the mini-games.

 

Google Duo and Hangouts

The apps for video communications owned by Google, the former mainly dedicated to consumers while the latter to the business. They work from both mobile and computer, and while Duo allows up to 8 people simultaneously, Hangouts reaches up to 100 users!

 

Skype

Since we were kids, Skype was the main video calling app: it can connect up to fifty people at a time - showing four at a time (small disadvantage) both from smartphones and PCs. It is not necessary to download the app, in fact you can receive the invitation and use it from a browser, however losing quality and fluidity.

 

FaceTime