Anyone know a good alternative for (video) communication on pc?

1 month ago*

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There are plenty of good free offers. Teams if you want to stick with Microsoft. Google has Meet, Zoom also still exists.

1 month ago
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Isn't teams also with invites and the likes? It's more about a spontaneous with friend(s) also with an ability to see that someone is online.

1 month ago
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AFAIK you can use Teams as a guest, being invited by a link.

1 month ago
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Teams can absolutely keep your past connections / friends on a list, though been a few years since I used it like that.
Viber is also on PC and android too, and works quite well

1 month ago
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Thanks.

1 month ago
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Isn't Microsoft Team moving to a paid subscription or something?

I swear I heard talk about it splitting from Office365 packages or something.

1 month ago
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A business version became paid only. But there is still a free basic version for individuals.

1 month ago
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teams is really bad on mobile, it's alright on pc

1 month ago
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I thought that one have every gamer => Discord ☺️.

1 month ago
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But my female friend isn't a gamer. :P And personally i don't like discord much either (nor need it).

1 month ago
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I don't understand this logic. There are plenty of non-gamers who use discord. It provides all the tools you need for video chats, voice chats, text chats, group chats, 1 on 1 chats, small streams and so on.

1 month ago
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For me it comes across as messy with way too much unneeded junk.

1 month ago
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I only use Discord and I totally understand this :D. Discord is bloated and unnecessarily complicated.

1 month ago
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Understandable, it's aimed for servers and communities. All your DMs are on a single button on the top left, while you have space for like a dozen servers on the same screen. It works really well for DMs, but messy/unoptimized for it visually.

1 month ago
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For me Discord is like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.
Is It user friendly? Because I find It has many options but barely explained.

1 month ago
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To me their UI is very unintuitive, not impossible to use but never a pleasant experience. I get that Discord can do a lot of stuff but I can't help but dislike it.

1 month ago
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yeah we use it for work too

1 month ago
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Discord is the most popular communication platform on PC right now. Doesn't really matter if you're a gamer or not. Only issue is many people are concerned about it because they're working towards being a public company and just hired a former Activision executive to be the CEO. So it's understandable to want a different platform to switch to as a backup.

1 month ago
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LINE, but only be popular in some Asia countries.

1 month ago
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Try https://www.gather.town/, it's kinda fun

1 month ago
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TIL they shut down skype. I stopped using it 10 years ago, after they removed the app from my tv (which I bought specifically so that kids could talk to their gramps). Anyway, if I absolutely must use video chat, it's usually whatever the caller is using - teams, meet or telegram.

1 month ago
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It's open, but my conversation partner is female with little pc knowledge (like i tell her years to install some antivirus) so it has to be something easy.

1 month ago
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maybe telegram (or some equivalent app) on the mobile phone?

1 month ago
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For her apps are fine, for me, i can't type on mobiles, i hate it and with whatsapp there is a pc version, but complicated and a long story up till now she wanted to keep her whatsapp seperated from the msn/skype we used to do because her kids also use her telephone. But maybe she just has to get over it.

1 month ago
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I'm using telegram on desktop and mobile, it's quite comfortable. If she needs a separate app on the phone anyway, then might be worth a try. You can do end-to-end encrypted chats, too (not sure about video calls).

1 month ago
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Sounds like it's worth a try, thanks.

1 month ago
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Telegram is very different to WhatsApp under the hood... most of the times has better features.

With WhatsApp, you need to have your phone online, because it works like: (web client) -> (WhatsApp services/servers) -> (your mobile WhatsApp receives the web client message), (the app does the actual sending of the message).

Telegram Desktop, Mobile or Web are real clients on their own. Independent of mobile app (you can even turn your phone off).
The interface is as simple an familiar as WhatsApp, and lets you have, video calls, audio calls, group calls, stories (instagram like), groups, channels, and communities... as well as huge file transfers, photo/video editing... all these way ahead from WhatsApp.

Worth a try, you'll not regret.

1 month ago
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Thanks.

But with Whatsapp, you just have to connect it to your desktop once every blue moon, you don't always have to have your phone on.

1 month ago
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Ok, seems that it changed since I'm not using whatsapp, ig, fb anymore.

1 month ago
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I have not had to connect since I moved to a new country almost 11 months ago and could no longer use my old cellphone/number.

1 month ago
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She have an Apple or Android phone? Tablet? Ipad?
Anyways, someone with an Apple can send a link to any device that has Edge (PCs) or Chrome (Android devices).
Android devices use Meet which can be used on PCs (and Apples?), havent done it myself.

1 month ago
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Android.

1 month ago
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I use Google Meet for work almost every day, in my experience it works really well. You can spontaneously set up a room, or use the same room again and again if you want. You just need to share the link. On the free version, for meetings with more than 2 of you there is a limit of 1 hour, but that just means you all have to leave and then enter again.

That said, my wife prefers Teams. They're both free, so you can experiment and see what works for you!

1 month ago
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Signal has video calls

1 month ago
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Slack allows 1-to-1 video calls in the free version.

1 month ago
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Thanks, video and text or just video?

1 month ago
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Slack also has private chats and channels like in discord.
Here is a short overview video that gives a brief look https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTuOS8E1LZk

1 month ago
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I would say microsoft teams. Just have 1 on 1 chat and you can call/video there.. Just like in skype.. (haven't used skype for like 10 years or more so not sure if it changed or stayed the same)
Also can create (group) chat with more people.
Also if you go skype.com, you see this. So it's the next step from skype.
"Skype is retiring in May 2025. Beginning March 2025, you will be able to sign into Microsoft Teams Free with your Skype credentials, and your chats and contacts will be right there ready for you. Enjoy the features you love about Skype, including free calling and messaging, as well as new features like meetings and communities, all on Teams app."

1 month ago
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Some options available:

https://github.com/okhosting/awesome-communication

You can pick from open-source projects, self-hosted solutions, WebRTC-based, etc.

1 month ago
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no one talks about how quiet icq died RIP icq may you be forever forgotten

1 month ago
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That was my first messenger, and yeah i miss it, it was good enough.

1 month ago
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We use Google Meet for D&D, and small things. Being able to share a URL is handy.

Work uses Zoom. It also has a time limit for free accounts. Not sure if it's like Meet's though.

1 month ago
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Facebook messenger ?

1 month ago
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I video-talk with my parents using Whatsapp Desktop app while they are on their phones. Both can have their pick of favorite device

1 month ago
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Good, was uncommon in usage. Obsolete enough to kill.
In addition to the suggestions, whatsapp does video on pc now, btw.

Id personally go with Meets or Zoom. Effortless.

1 month ago
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I was going to suggest Whatsapp since it's what most people use these days and it works on plenty of devices but I read that your friend doesn't want to use it for some reason, I kinda get it, some want to keep some things away from their phone rather than surrender our lives to the black rectangle in our pockets. Does Telegram have a desktop app?

1 month ago
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1 month ago
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Actually Whatsapp also has a PC app, but I think, that it's still directly linked with your phone number.

1 month ago
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You are correct.

At one point in the past, I had to login on my phone - as if there was a time limit on how long you could use it on the desktop without having a live session on the phone to which it was linked. However I moved from out of county 10 months ago and lost access to that phone number on my phone, but Whatsapp has functioned fine for those 10 months.

My wife uses Whatsapp to talk to all her friends and family in the Dominican Republic. And her family often has group phone calls - voice or video. They have not yet used them, but Whatsapp now has Communities which, I believe, will facilitate phone calls between several people.

1 month ago
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Oh I didn't know that they removed the time limit on the desktop session, I remember it logged you out quite frequently a few years ago. Good to know.

1 month ago
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They didn't AFAIK. As someone already mentioned it here, I need to open mobile version (Android in my case) of WhatsApp to keep me signed in on my laptop, every two weeks or so, maybe even less :( Pretty big PITA because I use this line on old phone, 2G voice calls only. So I need to switch SIM card to Android phone.
Viber, OTOH, worked flawlessly in this regard. Did it once initially, and after... 2 years maybe, I still haven't seen any relog warning

1 month ago
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I never saw any announcement. But unless there was a helpful glitch in my case with me no longer even having the phone number active, it would appear they have removed it. Thankfully, because I have lots of people I still communicate with back in the Dominican Republic..

1 month ago
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Playing games for quite a while I've been a very satisfied user of TeamSpeak. Seems, that it's still around and free. I've actually been very upset, when everyone has switched to Discord, which I since use, but still strongly dislike.

1 month ago
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I used Skype until last week so that my kids could talk with my parents, back home.

We've since moved to Teams and the experience has been positive. Better connection, better image and better sound. The transfer was also hassle free which was a must for them.

1 month ago
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my progression was AOL to MSN to Live Messenger (when MSN was rebranded) to Skype to Discord
I've also used facebook messenger and Teams for specific ppl but generally Discord is easiest right now since most folks are on it. It has a small learning curve but nothing too crazy.

1 month ago*
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I was going to mention Jitsi Meet, but after checking it quickly I realized that they dropped Firefox support, which I find quite shocking for an open-source product that used to work perfectly on it years ago...

1 month ago
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From what i know:
1:1 focused: whatsapp, telegram, line
Group focused: discord, slack, zoom, google meet

1 month ago
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I use Signal with my family/extended family. Chats, voice calls, video calls

1 month ago
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I use Google Meets

1 month ago
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Microsoft Teams is what replaced Skype, so if you like Skype that's pretty much where to go.

1 month ago
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mirc still works.

1 month ago
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Suggesting irc to people who think discord is too complicated? Brave!

1 month ago
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when write "/join #whatever" to get something right away became more complicated than 4 clicks in whatever places to try to find (because you won't) something? the irc help page is literally written in 3 big topics divided each in 3 subtopics. discord in the other hand...

1 month ago*
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I was co-owner of a channel on EFnet for years and in the abandonware scene.

1 month ago
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