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Which app is best, VIBER or SKYPE, for making International Calls.

ET iPhone Home

ET iPhone Home

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Oct 5, 2011
3,823
529
Orange County, California USA
A friend just told me about VIBER for making "free" international calls. I'm reading about it now. Have yet to download Skype or Viber for iPhone 4S. I do have Skype on my MBA. Do these iPhone apps function in the same manner as they do for computers? Is one preferred over the other? Can I use my current Skype account on my MBA when I download the app on my iPhone 4S.

Thanks for any recommendations, suggestions, and experiences you can share on these apps.
 
I've never tried Viber, but I've used Skype for a really long time on all my devices (iPad, android phone, mac book air, pcs), and I think it's overall a great app which serves my needs well. It's the most widely used app in my circles, so I would keep that over any alternatives for that reason.
 
Skype.

In my experience, Viber has poor sound quality, or the phone call hangs up. I know it's not my reception because I have full bars and Skype works perfectly fine.
 
I have been using Skype for a long time. I have made quite a few long distance calls, including countries far away like Japan and the quality is excellent.

You can use Skype on your iPhone the same way as on the computer. Also you can have it with the same account on multiple computers/phones/tablets.
 
RocketRed said:
Skype.

In my experience, Viber has poor sound quality, or the phone call hangs up. I know it's not my reception because I have full bars and Skype works perfectly fine.
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I second this. I gave Viber two tries and dumped it.

Skype is amazing. It's practically universal, has amazing sound quality, and is somewhat affordable for calling landlines/cellphones internationally. Not everyone has Viber, let alone even heard of it. While not everyone will have Skype, they certainly have heard of it. It's very mainstream. I think FaceTime is also catching up but it doesn't make plain VoIP calls.
 
KJmoon117 said:
I second this. I gave Viber two tries and dumped it.

Skype is amazing. It's practically universal, has amazing sound quality, and is somewhat affordable for calling landlines/cellphones internationally. Not everyone has Viber, let alone even heard of it. While not everyone will have Skype, they certainly have heard of it. It's very mainstream. I think FaceTime is also catching up but it doesn't make plain VoIP calls.
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Skype (the company) was purchased by Microsoft a while ago, right? So you know this is good stuff.. has support and further development/funding from a larger corporation.

A lot of my friends have Viber.. but it's definitely no whatsapp. Whatsapp is very good because it's just simple text messaging. Viber .. you have to worry about dropped calls, being able to call another person, low/high volume.. etc.

Skype is definitely more consistant and less buggy.
 
try them both....I use both but just recently started using viber....with Viber the calls seem to go straight through. with skype the calls have to connect and then ring and sometimes this is hit or miss...my gf in Thailand has called me on occasion and Skype did not even ring on my device and I was defintely online. other times she or I will pick up and there's no sound...but when it works it's fine and the video call option is Skype's advantage over Viber...but I haven't had any problems with Viber in the last month...and it should be noted that the call quality on both is pretty poor IMO
 
to answer your question. Viber is a bit different from Skype in how its contact system works.

Skype works like email or IM clients. You have a discrete skype account, and add skype users to its own address book.

Viber works off phone numbers. You associate your phone(s) with Viber, and viber then automatically adds any phone numbers in your contact list who also have viber to its address book. It works very similarly to whatsapp.

Because of the extra simplicity (you run the program then can call other viber users without having to add usernames, etc) viber is becoming pretty popular for less tech-savvy people. I can't speak about the VOIP quality however, as I've only used it sparingly.
 
RocketRed said:
A lot of my friends have Viber.. but it's definitely no whatsapp. Whatsapp is very good because it's just simple text messaging. Viber .. you have to worry about dropped calls, being able to call another person, low/high volume.. etc.

Skype is definitely more consistant and less buggy.
Click to expand...
I used to prefer WhatsApp over Viber but now prefer the latter. One reason is Viber can accept Google Voice numbers. And MMS is just as good and free but not quite as smooth and fast as WhatsApp.

I settled for Viber because it can give me all those features like free voice calls, sms, and mms. Much faster for me to send pix to my parents than uploading them on FB or email. The Android Viber works great but the iOS version doesnt update my contacts as well. You have to edit it the number for the new Viber contact to be recognized.
 
jojoba said:
I've never tried Viber, but I've used Skype for a really long time on all my devices (iPad, android phone, mac book air, pcs), and I think it's overall a great app which serves my needs well. It's the most widely used app in my circles, so I would keep that over any alternatives for that reason.
Click to expand...

If I have Skype downloaded and have app turned ON on both my 4S and MBA and I get an incoming call, do both 4S and MBA notify me, or does one have precedence over the other? Thanks.
 
ET iPhone Home said:
If I have Skype downloaded and have app turned ON on both my 4S and MBA and I get an incoming call, do both 4S and MBA notify me, or does one have precedence over the other? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I'm not 100% sure, but from what I can recall you will be notified on both devices.
 
Savor said:
I used to prefer WhatsApp over Viber but now prefer the latter. One reason is Viber can accept Google Voice numbers. And MMS is just as good and free but not quite as smooth and fast as WhatsApp.

I settled for Viber because it can give me all those features like free voice calls, sms, and mms. Much faster for me to send pix to my parents than uploading them on FB or email. The Android Viber works great but the iOS version doesnt update my contacts as well. You have to edit it the number for the new Viber contact to be recognized.
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Great Post ... WhatsApp accept Google Voice Number Now
 
I recently started using Kakao Talk to make international calls and it's great. and free. Which is the best part :D
 
Skype vs Viber data usage

There’s a great ebook report that details the data usage (and other phone resources) of the Skype and Viber mobile apps. Search on Amazon Kindle for ‘Skype vs Viber: are VOIP mobile apps viable alternatives to cellular calls?’

:)

www.technowledge.org
 
Question: I was under the impression that to make a call using Viber both parties needed to have Viber on their phones. Is this true? If so, it would make the app pointless to because I would have to convince all my friends to download it. Is it the same with Skype?

Also, I like Google Voice.
 
jason2811 said:
Question: I was under the impression that to make a call using Viber both parties needed to have Viber on their phones. Is this true? If so, it would make the app pointless to because I would have to convince all my friends to download it. Is it the same with Skype?

Also, I like Google Voice.
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True, Viber needs Viber. Skype needs Skype only for free calls. If you pay, you can use Skype for international (duh :) ).

Also check Rebtel - I've been using them for some 3 years now. Idea behind is that you can make international calls (say from your mobile) at local rates (say if your mobile plan allows - for free). Its a bit confusing at first but it works.
 
Skype

I like Skype more, may be 'cause I got used to it. Besides, it is more popular. However, you need to compare the prices on the calls to the region you need. It may happen that Viber will be cheaper.
 
bloutrein said:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can't make paid calls with Viber.
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That's what official Viber says:
Can I call people who don't have Viber?
Yes, if the person you're calling doesn't have Viber, the call will be placed like *regular call, but don't forget to invite your friends to Viber so your next call is free ;).
*Regular calls are calls placed through your cell phone service provider, using your cell phone rate plan.
 
Now even can use Skype on an outlook.com. Interesting
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Ever since Skype was bought by Microsoft, it gives you the ability to "Log in with a Microsoft account". I don't have Outlook, but I am not surprised you can use Skype from within Outlook on your computer ;)
 
Skype and Viber are good for personal meetings. For business meetings, security is my top priority; hence I use RHUB web conferencing appliances.
 
I hate Skype, buggy software and my calls are always failing or not arriving. But it has the best quality (it seems every calling app uses noise reduction algorithms that make people sound too quiet), so I unfortunately use it.
 
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