VIDEOCHATAPPS
80 OCTOBER2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE392
Bestoftherest
FACETIME
Free•apps.apple.com
Maximum participants: 32
Apple’s FaceTime is primarily
used as aone-to-one video-
calling app,but not long into
quarantine,Apple added the
ability to chat with up to 31
other callers at once.It’s avery
simple alternative to more
complex services, although the
fact that it’s only available on
Apple’s operating systems –not
Android or Windows –could be
abig limiting factor.
GOOGLEDUO
Free•duo.google.com
Maximum participants: 12
Google Duo also recently moved
from two-person video calls to
group chats, albeit with asmaller
12-person limit. It works on both
Android and iOS, and there’s a
Meet-style web app if you’d
prefertouse adesktop or laptop.
Its party piece is the Knock Knock
feature,which shows the caller’s
video feed to the recipient as the
call rings, but you can disable
this if you want more privacy.
GOOGLEHANGOUTS
Free•duo.google.com
Maximum participants: 25
Google Hangouts is currently a
less compelling option than
Google Meet, whose additional
features –such as agallery
view that shows farmore
participants than the 10 of
Hangouts –are on apricing
holiday. It’s finefor small and
medium-sized groups, however,
and benefits from the same
integration with Google services
such as Calendar and Gmail.
HOUSEPARTY
Free•www.houseparty.com
Maximum participants: 8
Houseparty’s participant limit is,
ironically,small, but it still stands
out thanks to its built-in games.
These range from word
association to an homage to
Pictionary,with participants
teaming up or competing against
each other.There’s an unusual
in-app purchase model, which
sells extra content forthe
charades-likeHeads Up game,
but otherwise it’s free to use.
ZOOM
Free•www.zoom.us
Maximumparticipants: 100
Zoom is primarily a
tool for businesses,
but during the
lockdown it’s been quitethe
upstart success with private
home users as well.
This is in spiteofthe free
versionhaving the fairly
tight restriction of a
40-minutetime limit on
group calls –not an issue
forquick catch-ups with one
or two cohorts, but more
problematic forbigger,
longer gatherings. However,
Zoom has also improved its
free offering by adding the
same end-to-end encryption
on video calls as the paid
versions, something that
was missing prior to a
campaign by privacy and
child-safety advocates.
If you want to upgrade to the cheapest
paid version, which ups the meeting
length limit to 24 hours, it’s £12 per
month, and only the host needs to pay.
Other participants, of which there can be
up to achaotic-sounding 100, don’t need
to cough up at all, and can join without
needing to set up aZoom account.
Even if you’re hosting aZoom meeting
forfree,however,you and everyone else
can take advantage of an impressively
robust feature set, from multiple video
view layouts to integrated screen sharing
and Virtual Backgrounds: the background
replacement trick that was also recently
added to Skype.Bothstaticimagesand
animated GIFscan be uploaded forthis,
and we find the pseudo-green screen
effect is most effective if you’re sitting
in front of ablank wall.
If you think you’re likely to be using it
regularly,Zoom has enough bells and
whistles to be worth paying for, but as
long as you keep calls briefthe free
versionisfine,too,especially with its
freshly added encryption.
