Free online services to communicate with loved ones during a pandemic

The pandemic has taught us a lot - to go shopping online, go to school and work, even spend time with friends online. Although humanity used various instant messengers en masse before, over the past year they have become much more popular. The publication spoke about which communication applications can be used absolutely free Lifehacker.

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1. Skype

Skype was one of the first mainstream free calling services and was popular with users even before the smartphone era. This success has attracted Microsoft. The company acquired Skype. Now the service is available on all modern platforms and is included in the list of the most popular programs for short messages and calls.

Skype allows you to make calls from both desktop and mobile applications. You can also make calls from your browser via the online version. Skype supports both voice and video calls. You can contact one person or arrange a conference with several people.

2. Zoom

The service quickly gained popularity thanks to remote workers. It has become the standard for connecting with colleagues, family and friends during a pandemic and is not going to give up. Zoom is completely free for personal use and available on all platforms.

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In addition to classic voice calls, the service supports video calls, screen display, text chat, and also allows you to record meetings. And although with the help of Zoom you can call one-on-one, it is still more suitable for group communication.

3. Telegram

Telegram was created by the founder of the social network VKontakte Pavel Durov. Although this messenger is still relatively young, it has already become popular all over the world.

Using Telegram, you can send both text and voice messages. He has group and personal calls and video calls.

4. Viber

Viber can be called the most popular service among residents of the post-Soviet space. Most smartphone owners associate voice communication with this application, so it will most likely be needed to communicate with relatives who remained in their homeland.

With Viber, you can make not only audio, but also video calls from desktop and mobile applications. Conference mode is also present.

5. Facebook Messenger

This service is part of the largest social network with more than one billion users. With Facebook Messenger, you can not only exchange text messages, but also make calls.

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The service supports free calls from the browser and mobile client. Users have access to audio and video communication, voice conferences and video chats.

6Google Duos

Simple and convenient service from Google, designed to simplify communication with friends and colleagues. Unlike the company's other group meeting-focused tools, Duo is more personal and a lot like Apple's FaceTime.

The application allows calling by voice and video communication in groups of up to 12 people. There are no text messages in Duo, but it is possible to record a video message in case the subscriber is not available.

7 Whatsapp

This is another Facebook project. WhatsApp hardly lags behind the popular Facebook Messenger, so the likelihood that many of your acquaintances are already using it is very high.

WhatsApp allows calls from customers' mobile phones as well as from their computer. The service supports voice and video communications. There are both single calls and group calls.

8. FaceTime

This is a free Apple service that is integrated into the company's operating systems and allows iPhone, iPad and Mac owners to communicate over the Internet. It only works on branded devices and is not available on other platforms.

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FaceTime has regular and video calls with support for group chats of up to 32 people. During communication, you can use animated Memoji to convey mood and emotions. A Live Photos feature is also available to help you capture the best moments of your hangouts.

9. ICQ

Once ICQ was very popular, but the creators were unable to adapt in time to the changes in the market. Therefore, ICQ was lost against the background of competitors. Now the owners of the service are trying to regain their former popularity.

With the updated app, you can make audio and video calls from your desktop computer and mobile phone. In versions of the service for Windows and macOS, voice and video conferencing is available.

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