Top 10 Video Calling apps

Latest news about Video Calling apps

2022. Google Duo to unite with Google Meet



Google Duo, the company’s video chat service for consumers, will soon merge with Google Meet, the company’s video chat service for business users. The Duo app will soon get all of Meet’s features, including scheduled calls, and then, once the transition is complete, change its name to Google Meet. At that point, the current Meet app will simply launch the new Duo/Meet app. It’s a bit complicated, but to be fair, moving millions of users to the new platform was always going to be a heavy lift.


2021. Signal expands encrypted group video calls to 40 people



Messaging app Signal can now support group video chats with 40 participants — up from five — and end-to-end encryption will still be intact. End-to-end encryption means only the participants in the call can view the messages or video. No one, including the messaging provider, government authorities, or hackers, can view the calls, unless a participant accepts them into the video session or they snatch your device.

2021. Telegram added group video chat and screen-sharing



Telegram now allows to video chat with up to 30 people. The new capability lives within the Voice Chat feature. Whenever you start a voice chat room, a camera icon will now appear. All you have to do is tap on it to enable your video. As with other video conferencing apps, like Zoom and Google Meet, you can make a video fullscreen and also pin a specific person to the center of the call. That way, when someone joins the call, it'll stay focused on them. Telegram added the ability to share your screen, too. While on video, you have the option to either switch back and forth between your camera and the content on your screen or display both simultaneously.


2020. Wonder raises $11M for a new approach to group video chat



Wonder, a Berlin startup that has built a platform for people to come together in video-based groups to meet up, network and collaborate, while also having a bird’s-eye view of a larger space where they can more serendipitously, or more intentionally, interact with others — not unlike in an office or other business venue — is today announcing that it has raised $11 million in a substantial seed round. Wonder now has 200,000 monthly users from a pretty diverse set of organizations, including NASA, Deloitte, Harvard and SAP, which are using it for a variety of purposes, from team collaboration through to career fairs.


2020. Remotion raises $13M to create a workplace video platform for short, spontaneous conversations



Mouse over a team member’s profile pic bubble, click the video chat icon, send a quick chat request and get to talking over video. It’s far from a revolutionary workflow, but Remotion is aiming to build a platform that makes video calls feel like less of an event and more like a lightweight way to quickly get to the bottom of something without back-and-forth emails or Slacks. Remotion is launching their product in beta today and announcing that they’ve raised $13 million in funding. The startup is debuting its product on the heels of a historic pandemic that many believe could fundamentally shift companies away from strict office cultures toward embracing more hybrid and fully remote workforces.


2020. Facebook updates Messenger Rooms to take on Zoom



Messenger Rooms, Facebook’s Zoom competitor, is rolling out new features aimed at making Rooms easier to both create and discover, as well as those for further personalizing your Rooms experience. The new version of Messenger Rooms will now display the Rooms you’ve been invited to up at the top of your Chats tab in your inbox to make them easier to find. It will also make the ability to create a new Room more visible, by placing the option front and center in the Chats tab. Other changes impact Rooms management. You can now create a Room with a default, suggested or custom activity, set a future start date and customize your audience selection. In addition, the Manage Rooms feature will let you view, join, edit or later delete the rooms you have created, or invite more people to join an existing Room.


2020. Google brings Meet to Gmail on mobile



Google integrated to mobile Gmail its Meet video conferencing service. Now, if you use Gmail on Android or iOS and somebody sends you a link to a Meet event, you can join the meeting right from your inbox. So you won’t have to install the dedicated Meet app anymore to join a call from Gmail. Gmail app will get a new Meet tab at the bottom of the screen. This new tab will show you all your upcoming Meet meetings in Google Calendar and will allow you to start a meeting, get a link to share or schedule a meeting in Calendar. If you’re not a Meet power user, then you can turn this tab off, too.


2020. Viber launches group video calls for 20 users


Viber becomes the latest platform for launch a Group Video Calls feature, enabling large meetings and online classes. The new feature will enable group video calls of up to 20 people with unlimited duration. Viber already has a lot of success with Group Audio Calls (up to 20 people), and group chats (up to 250 people) so in light of the current situation, Viber has also started to add video to its capabilities. Group Video Calls show the speaker to all participants but users can also choose to pin any video to their screen during the call – their own or other participant’s video. Users can also mute themselves, or disable video during the call, as well as see if other participants are on mute or their video is turned off.


2020. Google Duo now lets you make group video calls on the web, just like Google Meet



Google's video chat app Google Duo got new features this week. Duo is the one that's mobile-friendly and resembles FaceTime more than Hangouts and Meet. The new features make more sense with that in mind. Google added something called "Family Mode" to Duo, in which you can draw silly little doodles on the video feed, presumably to amuse the little ones on the call. There are also AR effects you can use on one-on-one calls on Android and iOS, similar to those available on Facebook's video calls.


2020. Facebook announces Zoom-like clone with Messenger Rooms



Facebook comes for Zoom with a new service - Messenger Rooms - a tile-view video chat experience that can hold up to 50 participants. You do not need a Facebook account to join a Messenger Room. There will be no time limits on calls. Messenger Rooms privacy protections include the ability to control who sees your room, and can lock or unlock it. If it's unlocked, anyone with the link can join and share the room with others. But the room creator has to be present to start the call. Messenger Rooms arrives as some people are looking for an alternative to Zoom, which has faced a number of security and privacy issues in the past two months.


2020. Facebook takes on Zoom with Messenger desktop app on macOS and Windows



Facebook is releasing a standalone Messenger desktop app on macOS and Windows. The new app comes at a time when millions of people around the world are stuck at home due to the coronavirus outbreak. The timing is right, too, as videoconferencing apps such as Zoom, Skype and others race to offer the best experience for all the folks working at home. It brings some obvious (albeit minor) advantages, like having Messenger in a window of its own and not having to track your browser tabs. Facebook's list of features for the standalone Messenger app doesn't differ much from the web-based Messenger experience. You still get free, unlimited group video calls, which sync across mobile and desktop platforms. And standalone apps are typically faster and more responsive than apps that run in your browser.


2019. Skype now supports up to 50 group call participants



Skype is doubling the number of people who can simultaneously participate in a group audio or video call. It now supports as many as 50 people at once, up from 25, previously. With the expanded support for more participants, Skype tops the abilities of other popular messaging apps like WhatsApp, Google Hangouts and Instagram, and instead competes more directly with enterprise-grade calling solutions like Zoom, for example, which supports up to 100 or even 1,000 participants, depending on the plan, with up to 49 webcams displayed in its gallery view. Skype also one-ups Facebook Messenger, which allows 50 people to join a chat but limits the screen to show only the speaker after more than a half-dozen people join in. On Skype, participants are shown in bubbles across the top of the screen and the end-user can choose whose feed they want to focus on in a multi-paned main window.


2019. Skype can now blur the background during video calls



Skype added a new feature that might raise its appeal among users. It's screen-blurring feature designed to obscure your messy room or any other background details that you’d rather weren’t on display to the other party on the line. Skype said that the feature — which is similar to the blurring added to Microsoft Teams last year — uses artificial intelligence to keep the focus on the caller. That also means it will detect features such as hair, hands and arms. The feature is rolling out to Skype for desktop, the web and mobile, although it doesn’t support all devices yet. It can be enabled in Skype’s settings or from the video call button inside the service.


2018. Skype and PowerPoint got real-time subtitles


PowerPoint and Skype are getting real-time captions and subtitles in 2019. The new feature allows those who are deaf or hard of hearing to read the words that are spoken during presentations in PowerPoint or video calls in Skype.  The subtitles also allow speakers to include a translation of a presentation. Live captions and subtitles will support 12 spoken languages and display on-screen in more than 60 different languages. Presenters will be able to customize the appearance of subtitles to match a presentation, and the speech recognition should adapt for more accurate terminology based on context. In Skype subtitles will be available in one-to-one video-calls. Once turned on, they will auto-scroll during the call, but Microsoft says it’s working to offer other viewing options in the future. Specifically, Skype will soon allow you to scroll through the captions in a side window.


2018. Skype 8.0 adds HD video, encryption & call recording



Microsoft today is launching Skype 8.0 version for desktop that adds support of HD (1080px video) video calls which can include up to 24 people, as well as the Twitter-inspired @mentions. Later this summer it will also get end-to-end encryption for Skype audio calls, text messages, and shared files like images, audio and video. The calls will be secured by the industry standard Signal Protocol. Messages and notifications in these conversations will also be hidden in the chat list to keep the communication private. Besodes, Skype is adding built-in call recording. The calls will be recorded in the cloud and everyone in the call will be notified the call is being recorded, for privacy’s sake and for legal reasons.


2018. GoToMeeting added AI transcription, Amazon Alexa integration



LogMeIn has updated its GoToMeeting video and audio conference platform with new features that include a text chat function, AI transcription service and integration with Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant. The Business Messaging feature lets employees chat one-to-one or in groups with each other or with external clients using the new GoToMeeting desktop application or a standalone mobile app. Users can jump from a message thread directly into a video or audio conference with one click. The Smart Meeting Assistant transcribes meeting audio, storing the text in the cloud for subsequent sharing. This means that meeting attendees won’t need to worry about taking notes and can focus on discussions with colleagues.


2018. Google starts migrating all G Suite users from Hangouts to Meet



Google announced that it starts moving all of its G Suite users from its Hangouts video chat service to Hangouts Meet, the more enterprise-ready version of Hangouts. The move will likely take about a month or so. This means all newly created Calendar invites will now link to Meet video meetings, though Google stresses that all previously created meetings won’t be affected by this. Google expects that Meet will have full parity with Hangouts, including support for these browsers, and, at that time, Meet will become the default for these stragglers, too.


2018. Instagram gets video chat



Facebook announced that Instagram is getting support for video chats, among a couple of other new features. Quite a few Instagram users already use the platform’s live video feature to chat with their contacts. Video chat is a pretty straightforward feature that will expand on the existing messaging tools in Instagram. In addition to these video chats, Instagram is also getting an improved Explore tab that is more focused on the things you are interested in. Recall that Snapchat also recently introduced group video calls for up to 16 people.


2018. Skype adds new feature for recording video calls



Microsoft has developed a new mode “Skype for Content Creators” will allow desktop users to place and record calls using Skype desktop software, which can either be streamed live or imported into other apps for further editing before posting. This will allow digital broadcasters, streamers, and vloggers to record videos, podcasts and live streaming calls without having to invest in expensive studio equipment.  The feature will work best for those who record video chats with other remote guests – like for a weekly call-in show – but it can also work for calls that are live streamed to other platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube.


2018. Snapchat introduced group video calls for up to 16 people



Snapchat introduced a new group video chat feature, letting users chat with up to 16 people. It is also offering group voice calls with up to 32 participants. The feature is relatively simple. Just tap the video icon in a group chat to get started, or start up a call with a few people and invite new people to join. Alongside the introduction of group video calls, Snap is also bringing @mentions to the platform. Users can now tag each other in their snaps and Stories by simply typing @ before their user name. Users who have been tagged will be notified when they appear in the Stories.


2018. Google Duo gets video- and voicemail


Google’s messaging app Duo now allows to leave voice and video messages when nobody picks up your call (or politely declines to talk to you). Duo users can leave up to 30-second messages and your contact will see them in the Duo app. After watching the video or listening to the message, your contact can call you right back, at which point you can decide if you want to pick up the call or just let it go to videomail, too. Google notes that all messages are end-to-end encrypted and that the update will start rolling out to Android and iOS users today, and that all users worldwide should see it within the next few days.


2017. Skype introduced Professional accounts



Skype announced the new account type - Professional Account - freelancers and online entrepreneurs, that give online lessons, tutoring and consulting. The Skype Professional Account desktop client, soon to be released in preview in the U.S., adds powerful new features to Skype to make doing your online business a whole lot easier. In addition to meeting with your clients as you have been on Skype, you can also book those meetings, accept payments, and keep notes—all in one place. Skype Professional Account gives you the power to do business from one app for free (during the preview). From French tutors to yoga instructors, you’ll be able to book lessons, accept payments, and give lessons all from one place, seamlessly. Plus, we’ve added an enhanced profile page to help improve your online presence and a dedicated website for your small business right in Skype. Your contacts will be able to see pertinent info like your hours and business offerings. All the features work together. For example, a payment request can be sent along with a booking.


2017. Skype radically redesigned mobile and desktop apps



In June, Microsoft introduced a completely revamped version of its Skype app, designed with a heavier focus on media-sharing, and other social expression tools, like emoji, reactions, and even a Snapchat-like stories feature. Now that new experience is rolling out to desktop users. Group chats are multi-colored, emojis can be used to react to what others are saying while in video calls or in text conversations. But there are some additions that will be useful in the new Skype desktop, despite all this social app envy. For example, a new media gallery can be viewed on the right side of a group chat, which makes it easier to locate shared files, like documents, spreadsheets, photos or other media, that had been posted into the group.


2017. Amazon launched Skype for Business alternative



Amazon launched Chime, a video-conferencing service that will compete with Skype for Business and WebEx. Chime is provided by Amazon Web Services, the cloud-computing and storage division that makes up a big chunk of Amazon's business. The online meeting tool lets users switch between Mac, Windows, iOS and Android devices to use video-conferencing, screen-sharing, file-sharing and a chat feature.  Chime costs $2.50 per month per user for a plan with screen sharing and use of a corporate directory, and $15 per month per user for a full plan that offers video meetings for up to 100 people — the version most businesses will need. A basic plan that allows video calls for two people and chat features is free.  Since Chime is provided by the security-focused Amazon Web Services, the video-conferencing tool encrypts all communications and doesn't store chat history.


2016. Skype adds real-time translation to all VoIP calls



Last year Skype launched built-in Translator that allows to translate speech in real-time. Until now this feature was available only in video chat, but in the new version you'll be able to call people around the world and have your conversation interpreted instantaneously - even if they're using the last remaining rotary phone. When placing a call, users just need to set their language of choice and the tool will take care of the rest. The person on the other end of the line will hear a message stating that the call is being recorded and translated through the service, which will be very clear once the conversation begins. Windows Insider Program members will be the first to have access to the new feature. To date, nine spoken languages are supported: English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Arabic and Russian.


2016. Skype now allows to make calls without registration


Last year Skype enabled to invite to chat or video call people that don't have Skype account. Now it's possible to start chat and calls without registration also. All you have to do is go to Skype.com and click "Start a Conversation." You type in your name, it creates the chat with its own unique link that you can send to friends or colleagues. They don't need to use an account either. You can invite up to 300 people in a text chat or up to 25 on voice or video calls. The conversation only lasts for 24 hours, so you won't be able to go through your post history afterwards. You also won't be able to use Skype Translator or call phone numbers with the service; those still require you to have a Skype account.


2016. Skype gets Bots


In the new version of the Skype for Windows 10, Microsoft added several Skype bots, the automated chat assistants that it introduced earlier this year in a limited preview. The new bots include those that can help you make travel arrangements, locate event tickets, pull in information from other applications and services and even keep you entertained. For example, the Skyscanner Bot lets you search for individual or group flights, return pricing information and route options. Then, it will provide a link where users can go to complete the booking.


2016. Microsoft launched free Skype Meetings for small business


Microsoft launched Skype Meetings, a new audio and video conferencing tool specifically designed for small businesses. Unlike the fully featured Skype for Business product (that allows you to host meetings with up to 250 people and it’s deeply integrated into Outlook, Word and PowerPoint), Skype Meetings only allows PowerPoint collaboration (screen sharing, laser pointer, etc.) and screen sharing. Video calls are also limited to a maximum of 10 people during the first two months. After that, the maximum number of participants drops to three people. Participants can join Skype Meetings from virtually any device with the help of a personalized URL and the calls are powered by the same technology as Skype for Business calls. That means you will get to take advantage of Skype’s head tracking feature, for example, which ensures that a face will always be in the center of the screen, no matter where it is in the actual video image.


2016. Skype voice and video calls now work plugin-free in Microsoft Edge



Microsoft is making Skype in the browser plugin-free, but for now - only in Microsoft Edge. Other browsers, including IE, Chrome, Firefox and Safari, will continue to require plugins as before. This includes Outlook.com, Office Online, and OneDrive, all of which, along with Skype for Web, will now support real-time, plugin-free voice, video and group calling when you’re using Microsoft Edge. The company has been more recently working on ways to allow anyone to join a Skype chat, even if they don’t have an account. Skype for Web was one easy way to connect these invitees to your chat session, but installing browser plugins could slow down that experience. Now when those users are on Edge, they can just click a link and start chatting.


2016. Skype for Web now supports calling to mobile phones, landlines



Browser-based Skype for Web is getting a slew of new features that brings it more in line with its desktop and mobile counterparts – most notably the added ability to dial mobile phones and landlines. To make calls to mobile phones or landlines from the browser, you’ll need a subscription or Skype credit, as on other platforms. Then, once signed in, you can click on the phone call tab, pick a destination, and dial. Besides, the web version also now allows you to bring non-Skype users into a conversation easily, introduces notifications, and lets you watch YouTube videos in Skype for Web itself.