In the past years, we have seen a flurry of instant messaging apps. In fact, some of these apps have become part of our day to day lives. We can’t even imagine our lives without them. But, there are so many to choose from. This is why we bring to you the best apps for iOS Texting and video calling.
Best apps for iOS texting and video calling
Take a look at our updated list.
1. WhatsApp
WhatsApp, almost always, makes it to the top of the list and there are many reasons why. It is the most widely used messaging service worldwide. This app boasts of more than a billion subscribers. Billions of messages are sent and received using WhatsApp every day. In the beginning, the developers decided to make WhatsApp a paid app. But, they went against it and now it is completely free. In fact, it does not even have any ads.
Almost everyone who has a smartphone also uses WhatsApp. It is not just a messaging app though. You can send pictures, videos, voice recordings, documents, location, contacts and a lot more using this app.
You can also make voice and video calls with WhatsApp. In fact, it has one of the best video calling services. WhatsApp encrypts your messages and calls heavily. This means your communication is always safe. WhatsApp was bought out by Facebook a few years ago and it may be sharing user data with its parent company. We don’t know that for sure though! WhatsApp is available on all the major mobile platforms.
Also read: Best Android apps for apartment hunting
2. Viber
Viber is another extremely popular instant messaging application. This app is available on Android and iOS devices. Viber is an incredibly simple app to install and use. Yet, it offers tons of features and a number of cool options to enhance your communication experience. Viber is much like WhatsApp in many ways. For instance, it also uses your phone number to create an account. Viber also scans your contact list and instantly lets you connect to those who are also using this service.
The app lets you send voice and video messages, text and pictures and also make voice and video calls. But, Viber is also different from WhatsApp. It also lets you make calls outside Viber to mobile and landline phones. You need to pay a fee for that though. All the messages and calls to and from Viber are encrypted. It is not as popular as WhatsApp but it is good enough with a few hundred million subscribers.
3. iMessage
While talking about iOS devices, there is now way we can forget iMessage. In fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that iMessage is more popular among the iOS users than WhatsApp. If you use iPhone or any other iOS device, there is a good chance you may have already used iMessage. With this app you can share text messages, pictures, audio clips, audio recordings, videos, and documents. But, do note that iMessage does not support video calling. If you want to make video calls you will need to use another Apple exclusive called Facetime. Nevertheless, iMessage is a wonderful instant messaging tool for the Apple users.
iMessage is ahead of other IM apps in many ways. It has its very own integrated App Store; something the other services cannot boast of. It also has an App Drawer where you can view your downloaded and used apps. You can download a variety of apps from the iMessage App Store. It has utilities, games, location apps and a lot more. You can even play games with other iMessage users. On the security front, iMessage to is well encrypted. This app uses Apple’s in-house encryption protocol. Some glitches have been found in the security in the recent times but overall it is pretty alright.
4. Facebook Messenger
This is another extremely popular instant messaging service you will find on most of the iOS devices. Messenger is a cross-platform app available on various devices including iOS, Android, Windows and more. This app is designed for those who want to use Facebook chat without having to log in to their full-fledged Facebook account. So, let’s say you are tired of Facebook notifications and don’t want to access your account.
At the same time, you want to stay in touch with an important client who communicates via Facebook chat. Just install Messenger as a standalone FB chat app and you are good to go. This app, like others, lets you send text messages, videos and pictures. It also allows you to make video and voice calls. You must be registered on Facebook in order to use the Messenger service. If you don’t have a FB account (very unlikely) goes get one. Of course, Messenger is totally free to install and use.
5. Google Allo – signed off
If you are someone who likes the integration of AI in the mobile services, Google Allo is the messaging app you are going to enjoy. Allo brings to you a smart assistant that can help you in a number of ways. Not only will it suggest the responses based on your chatting history, it also suggests places and locations. For example, if you are talking about having Sushi with your friend, it will quickly suggest the nearby Sushi joints.
The context related help could sometimes be very useful. However, sometimes it might be a bit annoying. Let’s say you are having a generic conversation around Sushi without any intention to have it anytime soon. In this case the location suggestion will seem unwarranted. Nevertheless, I believe that AI technology needs to be given a chance and Google Allo is a good start.
6. Slack
Slack is widely considered to be the instant messaging and communication app for the business professionals. However, it has also become quite successful among the personal users. Slack is known to offer tons of features pertaining to management and scheduling that make your life as a professional much easier. It also allows you to quickly share files and important documents with multiple users.
Whether you wish to send the message to an individual or a group, you can do that quite easily using this app. It even lets you create subgroups within groups so that you can assign specific tasks only to specific set of professionals. The basic version of Slack comes for free. For the premium version there is a subscription fee.
7. WeChat
WeChat may not seem like a very popular messaging app but you will be surprised to knw that currently has nearly 700 million users (closest anyone can get to WhatsApp’s user base). But a huge percentage of its users are based in China where this app belongs to. WeChat lets you make voice and video calls and share text, images, videos, links and voice notes. The app also lets you find the people nearby by shaking the phone.
When it comes to iOS texting and video calling apps, there are so many to choose from. Even though WhatsApp, Messenger and iMessage are the most popular apps, people are now looking for more options. So, if you want to explore more, here is our list. Take a look and give some of these apps a try.
| About the Guest Author:
Renuka Sharma is one of the writers, who loves to read and write about latest gadgets and trending apps. She loves to be surrounded by the technology and covers a wide range of technology updates. Apart from technology, photography attracts her.
