No more exorbitant communication costs! With these eight applications, you will be able to communicate with your loved ones (SMS, calls, etc.) for free from anywhere in the world.
You’re probably wondering how to stay in touch with family and friends without having to pay full price. Indeed, when traveling abroad, making international calls and sending text messages with your plan can be ridiculously and unpleasantly expensive. So, to avoid having to worry about this, we have compiled a list of the best calling and messaging apps for iPhone and Android smartphones. Don’t worry, you won’t go home with a €1000 phone bill.
1. WhatsApp
WhatsApp is the world’s most popular instant messaging application. It is used by more than a billion people, and for this reason, it is in your best interest to install it on your smartphone, since many of your friends/relatives are already using it. The application, whose use is linked to your phone number, allows you to call, send text messages, photos, videos and audio recordings without SMS. That means everything is free, all you need is a WiFi connection.
WhatsApp also offers group chats, ideal for organizing a trip with friends of different nationalities, for example. WhatsApp is available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone and Nokia.
2. Skype
When we think of “travel” and “contact”, the Skype reflex comes to mind quite quickly. Need to make an emergency conference call when you’re abroad? The Skype application allows you to do this. Skype works great for making video calls, including group, voice calls, instant messaging, screen sharing, and file sharing. Rather complete then. The app is free if you have a WiFi connection. Skype is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
Skype also offers a no-obligation subscription system that is particularly interesting for the most talkative. For example, a plan for calling the United States with unlimited minutes, landlines and mobiles costs €3.60 per month. Skype credit costs 2.1 cents per minute. Prices differ depending on the country (see all available plans on the Skype website).
3. Viber
Working much like WhatsApp, Viber allows you to call, text, and send photos and videos to any other Viber user, completely free. Viber was initially launched in direct competition with Skype. The only problem is that to communicate with your relatives/friends, they must be part of the current 400 million unique users. The application is available on Android, iOS and Windows Phone.
If this is not the case, Viber has launched Viber Out, which allows you to call people who do not use the Viber application. This is a landline and mobile calling system that is cheaper than a standard operator, and is based on the price of a local call. You can top up your Viber Out credit and then use it to call almost anywhere in the world. A call to a mobile line in France will cost you 7.5 c/min and a call to a landline will cost 2.0 c/min.
4. Facebook Messenger
Facebook’s “independent” application, Messenger, is one of the most popular messaging services. Very practical to use, it allows you to send a text, audio or video message (which can be read either via the mobile application or directly on Facebook on a computer). Messenger tells the sender if their message has been read, and allows content to be sent to single contacts or groups.
Facebook Messenger is available on all devices, namely iOS, Android and Windows Phone.
5. Hangouts
Hangouts (formerly Google Talk) is less famous and glamorous than the other apps listed here, but it’s still an effective instant messaging tool. You’ll easily find Hangouts in your Gmail box on your desktop, allowing you to send messages, photos, videos and other files (including GIFs). Good to know, Hangouts allows video calls with up to 10 participants.
Hangouts has the particularity of linking platforms together: whether you are in front of your PC or on your Android device, the application gives you the possibility of communicating by videoconference with a person using Hangouts on their iPhone or Mac. Hangouts is available on iOS and Android.
6. WeChat
Launched in 2011 by the number two Internet company in China, Tencent, the WeChat application is ranked second among instant messaging applications behind WhatsApp. WeChat therefore draws its popularity from China, but the application is also popular in certain Asian and African countries, such as Congo, Malawi or South Africa. Free, WeChat also offers its users numerous bonuses available for small amounts, such as “stickers”, images to exchange in a conversation. WeChat is available on iOS and Android.
7.LINE
LINE and WeChat are similar in their functionality. The LINE application is a bit like the “largest avatar network in the world”, offering countless emojis. It allows you to send text messages, images and videos accompanied by “stickers”. Other features of the app include games and a payment platform. LINE is available for free on iOS and Android.
8. Telegram
Telegram offers essentially the same thing as WhatsApp or Viber, except that it was a pioneer in end-to-end encryption. Telegram is therefore a secure messaging application, which allows its users to confidentially exchange their text messages, audio, photos, videos in an encrypted manner, that is to say unreadable by a third party. Since then, WhatsApp and Viber have followed suit. The only drawback is that the application is little used worldwide (a little over 100 million users), so you will have to convince your contacts to download the application for free, on iOS and Android.
As you will have understood, the applications presented here are free and easy to use. The hardest part will therefore be to make your choice and then convince your loved ones to use it to go directly via WiFi and thus avoid paying for calls to landlines or mobiles.
It’s well known that going abroad requires knowing how to communicate. Whether it’s simply to communicate once you’re there, to move around more easily or to develop a new string to your bow, learning a language remains your best passport for a trip abroad!
Depending on the country and the language concerned, there are many applications that allow you to learn a language. So to guide you in this learning, here are some articles on the applications to optimize to embark on this new adventure:
– Top 10 best apps for learning English
– Top 10 best apps for learning Spanish
– Top 6 best apps for learning Italian
– Top 8 best apps for learning German
– Top 5 best apps for learning Portuguese
– Top 4 best apps for learning Swedish
– Top 6 best apps for learning Chinese
– Top 5 best apps for learning Arabic
– Top 5 best apps for learning Russian
Main photo credit: Pexels – Alex Mihis
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