Hamburg Man Arraigned on Rape and Unlawful Imprisonment Charges
Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 62-year-old Scott A. Saracina of Town of Hamburg was arraigned this morning before Hamburg Town Court Justice Carl W. Morgan on the following offenses:
One count of Rape in the First Degree (Class “B” violent felony)
One count of Kidnapping in the Second Degree (Class “B” violent felony)
One count of Unlawful Imprisonment in the First Degree (Class “E” felony)
One count of Assault in the Third Degree (Class “A” misdemeanor)
One count of Criminal Mischief in the Fourth Degree (Class “A” misdemeanor)
One count of Harassment in the second Degree (violation)
It is alleged that on August 23, 2022, at approximately 5:00 p.m., the victim was inside of the defendant’s vehicle when he forcibly grabbed her purse, which caused the strap to break. The defendant allegedly took the victim’s cell phone out of her purse and became verbally abusive. When the victim attempted to take her cell phone back, the defendant allegedly bit her finger. The defendant is accused of pulling the victim’s head backward by her hair during the incident while he continued to make threatening statements.
It is further alleged that the defendant drove the victim to her home in Chautauqua County then forced her back into his vehicle. The defendant allegedly abducted the victim, who was known to him, to by driving her to his apartment on South Park Avenue in the Town of Hamburg. The defendant is accused of forcing the victim into his residence while in possession of her purse and cell phone, which prevented her from calling for help. The defendant is accused of forcibly raping the victim inside of his bedroom while preventing her from leaving the apartment. The defendant allegedly threatened the victim throughout the incident.
The victim was later permitted to leave the apartment with her belongings. The alleged crime was reported to police and the victim underwent a rape kit.
Saracina is scheduled to return on Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. for a felony hearing. He was held without bail.
If convicted of all charges, Saracina faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
The defendant also has pending charges for allegedly stalking and harassing a second female victim and violating an order of protection issued by the Court.
It is alleged that on Wednesday, February 2, 2022, at approximately 9:25 p.m., the defendant, with the intent to harass the victim, sent numerous unwanted text messages and multiple phone calls to his ex-girlfriend. The defendant also allegedly went to the victim’s home unannounced.
Saracina was arraigned the following day on one count of Aggravated Harassment in the Second Degree (Class “A” misdemeanor) and one count of Stalking in the Fourth Degree (Class “B” misdemeanor). He was released on his own recognizance. A temporary order of protection was issued on behalf of the victim.
It is also alleged that on Friday, March 4, 2022, at approximately 3:37 a.m., the defendant knowingly violated an existing order of protection by placing a phone call to the victim. He was arraigned the following day before Judge Gorman on one count of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree (Class “A” misdemeanor). He was released on his own recognizance.
It is further alleged that on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at approximately 3:51 p.m. the defendant again knowingly violated an existing order of protecting by attempting to video chat with the same victim through a social media application. The defendant was arraigned Judge Gorman on one count of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree (Class “A” misdemeanor) and released on his own recognizance.
A trial has been scheduled for December 6, 2022 on the misdemeanor cases.
DA Flynn commends Detective Jon Wright and the Town of Hamburg Police Department their work in these investigations.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Noha A. Elnakib of the Special Victims/Domestic Violence Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Caitlyn G. Burns of the Justice Court Bureau. The misdemeanor cases are being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Stephen A. Papia of the Justice Courts Bureau.
As are all persons accused of a crime, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
Google’s Gmail app now lets you make voice and video calls
Calls can be initiated from the top right of a chat.
Image: Google
One-on-one voice and video calls are now rolling out for Google Chat inside the Gmail app on iOS and Android, Google has announced. The feature was first announced in September, but as of December 6th it’s started rolling out for anyone with Google Workspace, G Suite, or personal Google accounts.
It’s previously been possible to start calls from within the Gmail app, but until now it’s involved sending an invite to a Google Meet video conferencing call, which feels excessive for a one-on-one conversation. Going forward, however, there’ll be simple phone and video icons in the top right of every one-on-one chat which can be used for calls.
It’s a simple addition, but it’s one that furthers Google’s goal of making Gmail the central hub for all its communication services. In fact, Google’s post says you’ll be redirected to the Gmail app, even if you start a call from within the Google Chat app. As my colleague Dieter Bohn pointed out in September, emails now take up just one of the four tabs in the current Gmail app, alongside Chat, Spaces (Google’s Slack-style messaging service), and Meet (its video conferencing service).
Why Tether Is Launching a P2P Video Chat App Called Keet
Stablecoin issuer Tether and cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex have entered the world of social media, today announcing the launch of video chat application named Keet.
Keet, which is fully encrypted, is the product of Bitfinex, Tether, and software company Hypercore. It’s only available on desktop for now, but there soon will be a mobile app with “amazing” video quality, the companies told Decrypt
.
The messenger is the first app built upon Holepunch, a platform that allows developers to build Web3 applications, which also was
announced
today by the three companies.
Currently closed-source but expected to be open-source later this year, Holepunch doesn’t run on a blockchain but will make use of the Lightning Network—a “second-layer solution” that speeds up Bitcoin transactions while reducing costs. So, those who want to build, say, a payment app upon Holepunch, would be able to via Lightning.
Tether, Bitfinex, and Hypercore have poured $10 million into Holepunch, which could see tens of millions of dollars in additional investments, they added.
So why would the company that issues the world’s biggest stablecoin (USDT) and a crypto exchange go into the crowded market of chat apps? It’s in the name of freedom of speech, Paolo Ardoino, the CTO of Tether and Bitfinex, and the CSO of Holepunch, told Decrypt
.
“You know that funny
meme
where people ask if you are ‘in it for the tech’ in the Bitcoin space, mocking the fact that of course everyone is in it for the money? Actually, we at Tether and Bitfinex—and this is the great alignment we have—we are actually in the blockchain space for the tech,” he said.
“One of the main concepts is that individual sovereignty cannot be reached if you only have financial freedom but you don’t have freedom of speech,” he added. “Sometimes you have to give back and push forward.”
The app—along with Holepunch—is free to use and will supposedly be more private and secure than Web2 centralized
peers such as Zoom or Google Meet. This is because Keet users can make calls directly to another individual’s computer, with nothing stored on a server.
“This app is for everyone,” Holepunch CEO Mathias Buus said.
Ardoino added: “Privacy is one of the most-forgotten human rights—everyone should be entitled to say what they want to their parents without worrying if someone is listening.”
Tether’s USDT—the most-traded cryptocurrency and considered the backbone of the crypto economy, with it typically pegged to the U.S. dollar—is available on a number of different blockchains. (Japanese yen and euro tokens are also available.)
But that hasn’t stopped regulators from
asking
whether its tokens are, like the company says, backed by real reserves.
Last year, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission
fined
Tether $41 million for lying about its fiat-backed reserves. Bitfinex, the ninth-biggest crypto exchange in terms of volume, was also hit at the same time with a $1.5 million fine for “illegal, off-exchange retail commodity transactions in digital assets.”
Stay on top of crypto news, get daily updates in your inbox.
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DogeChat App Will Use DOGE and Other Cryptocurrencies For Payment
VANCOUVER, BC, April 21, 2022/PRNewswire/ -- Hello Pal International Inc. ("Hello Pal" or the "Company") (CSE:HP) (Frankfurt:27H) OTC:HLLPF), a provider of rapidly growing international live-streaming, language learning and social-crypto platform, announced its plan to launch two 1-on-1 video chatting apps: DogeChat and DoggeChat.
The two apps are 1-on-1 video chatting apps that will be focused on English-speaking markets, especially North America, and will allow users to match with and video chat with other individual users from across the globe , with calls charged on a per-minute basis and paid by the call initiator to the call receiver. The key difference between DogeChat and DoggeChat is that payments in the former will be made in Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies, whereas payments in the latter will be in fiat currencies made through the Apple Appstore and Google Play Store.
The plan is that DoggeChat will launch first, followed by DogeChat at a later date. Both apps will share in the same user pool, and upon the launch of DogeChat, regular users of DoggeChat will be incentivized in various ways to switch to DogeChat.
The launch of DoggeChat and DogeChat represents the Company's market expansion into the burgeoning 1-on-1 video chatting space, as well as its foray into the North American market. More significantly, it also represents the Company's plan to start incorporating cryptocurrency payments into its social and livestreaming businesses.
"We expect these apps to be very synergistic to our current livestreaming and crypto-mining operations," said KL Wong, Founder and Chairman of the Company. "They will not only bring into our existing ecosystem new users from different markets, but also allow us to start implementing our goal to make the use of cryptocurrency more widespread in the world, starting with our users."
To download Hello Pal, Language Pal, Travel Pal or the proprietary Phrasebooks please visit the IOS or Android store. For information with respect to the Company or the contents of this news release, please contact the Company , KL Wong, CEO, at (604) 683-0911 or visit the website at
hellopal.com
. Email inquiries can be directed to:
[email protected]
.
About the Hello Pal Platform
The Hello Pal Platform is a proprietary suite of mobile applications built on a user-friendly messaging interface that focus on social interaction, language learning and travel. Hello Pal, has been designed from the ground up to be easy to use and enables users' the freedom to speak in their own language regardless of the other person's language they are speaking to. Hello Pal's overriding mission is to bring the world closer together through social interaction, language learning and travel. By creating a platform where it is easy to instantly interact with others around the world and giving them the tools to communicate with each other in a joyful and fun way, we hope to do our part (however small) in fostering understanding and tolerance between all citizens of the world.
Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations; they are not guarantees of future performance. Hello Pal cautions that all forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Hello Pal's control. Such risks and uncertainties are described in Hello Pal's annual and interim financial statements available on www.sedar.com. Accordingly, actual, and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions, and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Hello Pal undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.
THE CSE HAS NEITHER APPROVED NOR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE
Company Enters North American Market for 1-on-1 Video Chatting
Hello Pal International Inc. (“Hello Pal” or the “Company”), a provider of rapidly growing international live-streaming, language learning and social-crypto platform, is pleased to announce the soft-launch of DoggeChat, a 1-on-1 video chatting app.
Marketing Technology News: Hello Pal Announces Plans to Launch New Video Chat Apps
The DoggeChat app represents the first of two 1-on-1 video chatting apps announced earlier by the Company (see Company’s announcement on April 21, 2022). The app is aimed at the English-speaking market (especially North America), and allows users to match themselves with other individual users from across the globe to engage in 1-on-1 video calls. Calls are made for free under restricted circumstances, beyond which the call initiator pays for calls on a per-minute basis, and the call receiver receives a proportion of that payment. Users may also become monthly subscribers to experience VIP privileges.
The invite-only soft launch will focus on ensuring that unforeseen issues are given the opportunity to be resolved prior to the full launch. The demographic for the soft launch has been curated from a pool of English-speaking users of varying geographies, allowing simultaneous testing of both the platform’s engineering, and user experience design across the various English-speaking markets.
“The launch of DoggeChat is exciting for us as it marks our entry into the 1-on-1 video chatting space, as well as gives us a good opportunity to enter the North American market,” said KL Wong, Founder and Chairman of the Company. “Both these aspects complement our current livestreaming operations very well, and helps expand our international social platform further.”
The full launch of DoggeChat is expected to occur in the following weeks, with the launch of its cryptocurrency-based sister app, DogeChat, to follow shortly thereafter.
Marketing Technology News:
MarTech Interview with Heather Conneran, Director of Brand Experience Platforms at General Mills
Video chatting platforms like Zoom are continuously growing in popularity, thanks to the easy-to-use features which allow friends and family to connect when they're not together. If you're looking to switch up your video-chat game as you keep in touch from a distance, there are plenty of options. Whether you want to play some games together or just hang out, here are eight video chat apps to use with your friends and family when you can't be together IRL.
With so many different apps available to make video calls, you can check out the apps' respective features to see what fits your needs. For instance, Zoom users praise its easy-to-use platform, while people with busy schedules love Marco Polo's video chats. Some applications have a limit on how many people may join the chat for free, so if the size of your group doesn't suit certain apps, you'll need to find one that does. Luckily, there's an app for any type of gathering, and you can also choose the best app for you based what device you'll be using, like an iPhone, an Android, an iPad or tablet, or a laptop.
1. The Marco Polo App
The Marco Polo app is a great option if you and your friends are having some scheduling conflicts. Instead of live chatting, you can use Marco Polo to keep an ongoing video conversation by sending video messages to your friends whenever you have time. This way, you and your friends can watch video chats back and reply on your own time. Plus, the app also has some fun built-in features including filters, emojis, and voice changing filters.
To get the Marco Polo app download it for iOS or Android. Then, create an account and link your contacts, or invite your friends to join.
2. Google Duo
The Google Duo app is a top-notch option for those who want something similar to FaceTime, but have friends with Android phones. You can use Google duo on your iPhone or Android phone, computer, or tablet. Duo is free to use, and you can video chat with up to 12 people at a time, so it's great for larger groups.
Duo has some fun features like the ability to send video messages with effects and filters. There are also some AR filters you can use to send video messages, like what you'd see on Snapchat.
You can download Duo via Google Play or the App Store or use it on your desktop computer.
3. The Bunch App
The Bunch app lets you and your friends group video chat while playing games. Of course, you can group call without playing games, too. The nice thing about it is you can switch in and out of game mode easily. Once you're ready to get in on the fun, you can use Bunch's overlay feature, which lets you still see everyone while you're playing games together. Some of the games they have built into the app include virtual pool, Monopoly, Uno, Scrabble Go, Exploding Kittens, a mobile version of Call of Duty, and Risk.
Bunch supports calls for groups of up to eight people at once.
To get the app, download it for iOS or Android and create an account with your SMS, Facebook, or Snapchat login. Then, you can invite your friends to use the app or see who's already using it.
4.WeChat
WeChat is free to use and available on iOS and Android. The features available include text messaging, group chat, video calls with up to nine people, and the ability to share moments like a post on Facebook, or post photos and videos to your Time Capsule, which is similar to IG Stories.
This makes it easy to connect with your BFFs while you go about your day, hop on a video chat, and simultaneously share posts that only your friends in the app can see.
5. Squad
The Squad app offers an easy way to share your phone screen with your friends while you're chatting, which leads to near-endless entertainment options you can share together. Squad supports group video chats of up to nine people, and the coolest part is, multiple users can share their screens simultaneously.
Some ideas for making the most of Squad are watching YouTube videos together, scrolling IG together, and sharing photos. The app is free to download and use from the App Store and Google Play.
6. Houseparty
Houseparty offers a fun way to get your friends together over group video chat and play games. Games available on the app are accessible via the dice icon in the right corner of the main screen below the plus sign (+). You can play Heads Up!, Trivia, Chips and Guac, and a Pictionary-inspired game called Quick Draw with up to 8 people at once.
To get the Houseparty app, download it from the App Store or Google Play. Next, invite your friends to use it and start the party.
7. WhatsApp
Most people use the Facebook-owned app for secure messaging, but you can also use Whatsapp for video chat. To use it, download Whatsapp from the App Store or Google Play. Once you're all logged in, begin a chat conversation with one of your contacts and click on the camera button at the top of the screen. Next, click the add button in the top right corner of the screen to add another participant.
Unfortunately, WhatsApp only allows group video calls for up to three people, but it's a simple and easy way to connect with your close friends and family members.
8. WAVE
You can group video chat with WAVE for free and play games together within the app. Games available include mini-games like Whac-A-Mole and Never Have I Ever, This or That, an escape room-inspired game, Mafia, and a game like Pictionary.
Each game allows a range of up to four or eight players at a time. There's also the ability to watch YouTube videos together built into the game section of the app.
You can download WAVE from free on iOS or Android devices.
With so many video chatting platforms available on your phone, it's easy to connect with your loved ones no matter where they're at.
With one of the best video chat apps at your disposal, face-to-face interaction can easily be a thing of the past. COVID isn't fully gone, and there are plenty of other concerns to make a case for not being in the same room as friends, colleagues or whoever else you need to speak to.
Video chat apps can give you a virtual presence at physical events you can't attend. Heck you don't even have to be in the same time zone thanks to the magic of the internet. Video chat apps bridge the gaps, and keep you connected with the people that matter — all without having to leave the house.
But which service is the one for you? There are plenty of them, and picking the right app is a difficult prospect. Luckily we've rounded up all the best options available, to help you figure out which of the best video apps is the right choice for you.
What are the best video chat apps?
The best video chat app overall — and one that is especially popular now — is Zoom Meeting, which can be used on desktop and mobile alike.
Zoom comes in free and paid tiers. The free option supports calls of up to 100 participants, though sessions with three or more individuals on the line are limited to 40 minutes. It can even run within a desktop browser window if you don't want to download the app to your machine.
Skype is a good alternative to Zoom. It's a bit easier to use, but also works across various platforms and costs nothing at the outset. It even allows you to call landlines and cell numbers at reasonable rates, supports texting and can conduct real-time translation.
Google Duo is an app that comes preinstalled on the vast majority of Android phones these days, and has essentially become Google's answer to Apple's FaceTime. It's easy to use, just like FaceTime, and offers a quick shortcut to calling Google Home devices built in.
Facebook also has two solutions on offer: Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Both apps' video calling features saw a bump from 8 to 50 participants early on last year. While Messenger requires a Facebook account to use, you can sign up to WhatsApp using your phone number.
As for gamers we recommend using Discord, which features robust apps across mobile and desktop. In fact, Discord is built for streaming games to small groups of people, and the company recently increased the cap on its Go Live free streaming service from 10 to 50 individuals.
Finally if you need space for a lot of people, or a video chat service that offers robust integration with Microsoft Office, then Teams is your best bet. The free tier lets you call with up to 100 people, without Zoom's awkward time limits, while paid tiers increase that number up to 300. The best part is that if you subscribe to Office 365, you probably already have access to one of Teams' premium plans as part of the bundle.
Here's a closer look at all of the best video chat apps.
The best video chat apps you can download today
(Image credit: Zoom)
1. Zoom Meeting
Best all-around video chat and conferencing app
Specifications
Works with: iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Web
Maximum free users: Time limit for 3 or more
Reasons to buy
+
Good for friends and colleagues alike
+
Comprehensive feature set
+
Works on all platforms
Reasons to avoid
-
Free tier imposes time limits for 3 or more people
The pandemic proved to be a big deal for Zoom, cementing its position as the de facto video chat app for a lot of people and businesses — and with good reason. Zoom's extensive feature set and extensive platform support has made it a popular choice across the world. Whether you're on desktop, mobile, or prefer a web client, Zoom offers something for you.
Screen sharing, encryption, and live annotations all come a standard with Zoom, regardless of whether you pay or not. But while a simple one-on-one chat doesn't have any restrictions, having more than three people in a meeting restricts free users to a 40-minute time limit. If you want un restricted access for up to 100 people, you'll need to pay $15 a month for the Pro tier, while the pricier Business tier raises that cap even higher.
Zoom suffered from a number of high-profile security issues in the early days of the pandemic, but things have since changed for the better. Calls are protected by end-to-end encryption, there are new privacy-focussed notifications, and an updated privacy policy makes it clear who can save and share meetings recordings. You can read more about the app's ongoing issues, and measures that have been taken to rectify them, on our Zoom security issues (opens in new tab) page
(Image credit: Skype)
2. Skype
Best easy-to-use multiplatform video chat
Specifications
Works with: iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Web, Xbox
Maximum free users: 50
Reasons to buy
+
Max 50 people allowed on video call
+
Supports international call and text
+
Available on all platforms
Reasons to avoid
-
Business tier costs money
Skype has been in the video chat business for a very long time, and still offers a robust set of features for up to 50 people at a time. It also costs absolutely nothing to use, and is available on just about every device you might need to use.
What's more Skype is well known for being able to connect to landlines and basic cell phones, and supports both international calling and texting. You do have to pay for this, but it's especially useful for keeping in touch with friends and family several countries away.
Skype offers a lot of common features too, including screen sharing, live transcription, and in some cases real-time translation of in-chat audio.
(Image credit: Google)
3. Google Duo
Best video chat for Android users
Specifications
Works with: iOS, Android, Windows and Mac via web
Maximum free users: 32
Reasons to buy
+
Preinstalled on most new Android phones
+
Easy and fun to use
+
Completely free
Reasons to avoid
-
32 person limit is smaller than most
While Apple has had Facetime for years, Google's Android operating system lacked its own native equivalent. Instead people had to rely on third party apps that were downloaded from the Play Store, and hope their friends were willing to sign up as well.
Thankfully Duo came along to address that problem, with a video chat app that is remarkably easy to use and accessible within Android's native phone app. What's more, Duo supports a lot of fun features, including the ability to record and send video messages that let you connect with friends and family — even if they're not available at that exact moment.
Duo is even available on iOS, so you can keep in touch with your iPhone-toting friends without having to buy an Apple device for Facetime access. And it even has the same 32 person limit as Facetime, so they don't have much of an excuse to stay away.
(Image credit: Discord)
4. Discord
Best video chat for gamers
Specifications
Works with: iOS, Android, Windows, Mac, Web
Maximum free users: 25 on video call; 50 while streaming
Reasons to buy
+
Great for gaming
+
Robust PC and mobile apps
Reasons to avoid
-
Lacks more work-friendly features
Gamers already know Discord as a great resource for connecting with their friends over text, but did you know Discord supports video chat, too? Additionally, because it allows for streaming in the app itself, it's a great way to play some games with friends, by streaming one user's screen content to the rest of the group.
In fact, the Tom's Guide staff did exactly that multiple times during the COVID lockdowns, with one user sharing Quiplash from their PC's display to the rest of us playing along by phone. Thankfully, Discord has even gone so far as to raise its Go Live built-in streaming service from a maximum of 10 people to 50 people temporarily.
If you upgrade to Nitro, which costs $10 per month, you can raise the streaming quality to 1080p/60 fps, up from a max of 720p/30 fps for the free tier.
(Image credit: Vincenzo Pinto/Getty Images)
5. FaceTime
Best video chat app for iPhone users
Specifications
Works with: iOS, Mac
Maxmium free users: 32
Reasons to buy
+
Supports up to 32 people on a video call
+
Built into every iPhone, iPad and Mac
+
FaceTime Audio makes voice calls easy, too
+
SharePlay lets you watch or listen to streamed content with other callers
Reasons to avoid
-
Android and Windows will only get limited access va a web browser
It's no surprise that FaceTime should appear on this list of the best video chat apps. Apple's software wasn't the first in video chatting, but it was the one that started it all for mobile users, and led the industry toward making video chat easier and more accessible.
Today, FaceTime is preinstalled on all Apple hardware and supports a number of really fun and useful features, from cute Animojis, Memojis and stickers to allowing up to 32 people on a single call. And because FaceTime also has a voice call component — FaceTime Audio — you can easily route calls over data or Wi-Fi whenever you like, where your conversations will sound infinitely better than they do over your cellular provider's voice network.
The only downside to FaceTime is of course that you'll only get the full experience on Apple hardware, including iPhones and Macs. Android and Windows users can join in calls from a web browser, but they can't actually host them. Still it's better than being completely locked out, as was the case before.
(Image credit: Facebook)
6. Facebook Messenger
Best cross-platform FaceTime alternative
Specifications
Works with: iOS, Android, Windows and Mac via web
Maximum free users: 50
Reasons to buy
+
Accessible with every Facebook account
+
Available on web and phone
+
Max 50 people allowed on video call
Reasons to avoid
-
Lacks more work-friendly features
The beauty of using Facebook Messenger for video chat is that you're probably already signed up to use it. As long as you have a Facebook account and the Facebook Messenger mobile or web app, you can start video chatting with your Facebook friends right now. Even if you had a Facebook account at one time and have since deactivated it, you can still use Messenger.
Just tap the little video camera icon in the upper-right corner of the screen, and you can start a call with an individual or chat group. And just like Skype, up to 50 people can be present on a Facebook Messenger video call at the same time — a good sight greater than the maximum 32 video chatters supported by Apple's FaceTime and Google Duo.
Plus, even while you video chat, you can still use Facebook Messenger's myriad other functions, like sending chat messages, stickers and so on.
(Image credit: WhatsApp)
7. WhatsApp
Another cross-platform video calling solution
Specifications
Works with: iOS, Android
Maximum free users: 50
Reasons to buy
+
End-to-end encrypted
+
50-person group calls
Reasons to avoid
-
Desktop calls require an active phone connection
WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging alternatives on smartphones today, both because you can join with only a phone number and because many of your friends and family are probably already using it.
Up until recently, WhatsApp's video calling feature wasn't the most robust out there. But that changed once the max participant limit was raised to 50, thanks to an integration with Facebook Messenger's new Rooms feature.
WhatsApp video calls are also end-to-end encrypted, just like chat messages. In other words, you'll never have to worry about any of your conversations being intercepted by nefarious interlopers.
Previously video calling was also only available on mobile devices, but recently that changed. It is possible to make and receive video calls through WhatsApp's desktop client. Everything works exactly the same way, the only difference if you're using a desktop instead of a mobile device.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
8. Microsoft Teams
Like Skype, but more professional
Specifications
Works with: Android, iOS, Web, Windows
Maximum free users : 100
Reasons to buy
+
Free and paid plans
+
Office integration
+
100 person group calls on free tier
Reasons to avoid
-
Primarily for business use
While primarily aimed at businesses and professionals, there's still a Microsoft Teams can offer. Especially if you ever plan on getting together in particularly large groups. The free tier lets you have up to 100 people in a call, which should be more than enough for even the largest of family reunions.
Unlike Microsoft-owned Skype, Teams also comes with some professional tools that you may still find useful talking with other. Tools like screensharing, background blur, and noise-suppression software powered by Teams' own AI. It even connects to Office, and is included in an Office 365 plan, in case that's ever relevant outside of the office.
While Teams does have a reputation for being a bit messy, it's usually the professional tier that comes out worse for wear. But if you plan on just using Teams as a video chat app, then you don't need to worry about that too much.
How to choose the best video chat app for you
Because all of the best video chat apps have free tiers, you shouldn't be worried about trying different ones to find something you like. After all the riskiest thing you might have to do is install the software and make a new account.
But if you want to know where to start, the best advice is to take stock of what you need this app for. If you're just looking to chat on your phone alone, Duo, FaceTime or one of Facebook's offerings will suffice.
However, if you and your friends use a number of devices to connect — phones, tablets, computers and so on — or your need is more professional or collaborative, we recommend leaning toward Teams, Zoom, Skype or Discord. These apps are available on every platform, and even though some of them offer paid tiers, you likely won't need to use them. Especially if your head count is small enough, or the length of time you plan to chat is relatively short.
The paid tiers will come with fancier features in many cases, but the free versions are already pretty feature-rich. At the very least you'll have access to all the basic features you need to chat with other people.
Ultimately, you'll probably end up on whatever video chat app your friends and family already prefer using — that's the way these things tend to go. But if you're all in the mood for a replacement, one of the options in this list will hopefully suffice.
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