Video Chat Apps For Your Android Phone

This New Year’s Eve made me realize something – when you have friends and relatives living in different corners of the world – you may pretty much give up on sleeping and get ready to fake your excitement over witnessing yet another countdown. And as most friends and family insist on seeing you “live”, your phone will be nothing else but a Skype portal.

Skype is great. And for a person like me, who only uses video chats once a year, it gets the job done perfectly. But the truth is, there are lots and lots of various video chat apps out there, apart from the well-known Skype, Google Hangouts and Viber. And if you do use them on more than one occasion, you may find this list handy.

ooVoo

ooVoo is a perfect choice for social media users, as it operates according to the same principles. As soon as you sync your  ooVoo account  with Facebook, the app will upload all your contacts automatically and you will be able to videochat with your friends anytime you want. A cool feature is that you can chat with up to 12 people at once – so you may not have to travel for that high school reunion after all.Video and other forms of communication are free among ooVoo users, but you will be charged for calling landlines and cellphones.

Fring

Fring is a relatively new alternative to all the big names out there, but it’s quickly picking up pace. The app should be praised time and time again for its simplicity and clarity of use. Instead of creating yet another account, you can simply log in with your phone number and get access to all the essential features you would actually use in a video chat app. With Fring you’ll be able to make video calls (including cheaper calls to landlines), text, send images and videos and more. The app may not be as versatile as its more popular counterparts, but when it comes to simplicity of operation – it takes the cake!

CamFrog

If you are the adventurous type, chatting to same old friends and colleagues may get boring and you could want to explore new territories. CamFrog gives you the best of both worlds by letting you chat and video chat with people in your contact lists as well as join themed chat rooms with random people. The app is a mix between social media and video chat with lots of discovery functions. Just like with any social media, you will need to choose a profile pic, update your statuses, describe your interests and more.

Qik

Quik is a multi-platform application that does come with a video chat function, but is not primarily a video chat app. However, it is all about video. Qik’s main function is lifecasting, letting you record and broadcast moments of your life in video format on your very own Qik live feed, as well as follow those of your contacts. As for the video chat function – it allows you to send video messages to your friends and will provide you with a selection of standard video chat functions.

Tango

Tango also plays on simplicity and convenience. Just like Fring, the application will only ask for your phone number and will not even require a password. The setup is quick and easy and in no time you will be video chatting away with your friends all over the globe. With one big BUT – they also must have Tango installed. Tango is 100% free and unlimited, but it does not allow any cross-platform interactions or calls to landlines and cellphones. But if you build up a nice community around the application, you will be able to fully enjoy its features in a nice and simple interface.