alternatives to skype (android)?
 

I've been using skype for voice over wifi/3g. my mobile runs android 2.3

there seems to be a few alternatives on the market (such as vox, viber, and so on).

can other members here comment from their experience with such alternatives on the rates, topup setup, and sound quality?

TIA

Viber rocks
 

My daughter is currently studying abroad in Greece. Her iphone does not work internationally-she has #4 She is using viber. As long as there is an internet connection she text and sends pictures. Its awesome so far.

I use the Talkatone app with Google Voice when travelling outside the US. It's free for calls and texts to US and Canadian numbers.

I use viber to communicate with friends abroad and it works rather well. Calls over 3G aren't great but they do work. Wifi calls are about as clear as any other VOIP call. It is also completely free to call other Viber users. There are fees for calling non-viber users. Texting and picture messaging are quick.

I have a few friends/colleagues that live abroad who use magic jack(+) as a phone so people back home can call a local number and get a phone to ring. Then viber is the mobile backup for messaging.

Tango is a partial alternative to Skype in that it offers free voice, video calls, text, chat, and video voicemail to other Tango users via a smartphone or computer. But you cannot pay to call outside the network. One advantage of Tango is that your phone will ring without you logging in....I suppose some people would view that as a disadvantage.

tnx.

anyone using vox? does it have a flagfall charge, like skype?

You could try the new Google hangout app. It's just debuted, so I really don't know how well it works. There is talk, video and IM.

+1

To clarify, Im only interested in voip and sms. no need for video chat.

as I understand, viber doesnt call "normal" lines, but requires the party to have viber installed.

I've used the textfree app for years, it used to be the pinger guys (actually, they have started to move back to the pinger name/brand) I often find the calls better than skype on some networks either due to skype blocking or maybe just better routing. You have to either pay for minute or jump through some download apps hoops to get a bunch of free minutes. It's also a great texting app for when travelling abroad. The downside I would say for texting is that there are ads (unless you pay to remove them) and the ads use bandwidth/data so when on a restricted foreign network google voice is better for texting..lowest kb's use.

But, the voice quality is very good and calling to any USA number works great.

Viber is restricted to Viber-to-Viber calls and texting, but I found it gave better voice quality than Skype. (I found Viber simpler to use than Skyper since it is all based on phone numbers, so you don't have to mess around with profile names and all that)

I've used Bobsled for free calling to USA numbers.

With respect to Android (not iOS), I think that GrooveIP is the better Google Voice client. The sound quality is great and the integration is very good.

for client to client calls - LINE is ok
for PSTN calls - use any SIP client and get VOIP provider.

For international outgoing calls, nobody beats the price of Betamax. They have literally hunderds of sites with different rates for the same destionations, so you have to dig a bit to find the best one for you.

Here some rates (although there are more):

http://backsla.sh/betamax

Their app is called MobileVOIP, but depending on which site you use, you might be able to use it with SIP.

try the textfree or pinger app. Nice voice quality and SMS, and multiple numbers and locations can be had. There are ads on the free version, I just pay the 5$ for the paid version to get rid of them, especially when travelling abroad so ad loading doesn't suck up any precious data bandwidth. App is very very reliable. Minutes are not FREE, although you can do things like tweet it, or download other apps to get a bunch of free ones, or buy them for like 1cent for 10 minutes time.

Exactly the reason why I will NEVER install Viber on my phone. Forget about privacy!!!

Many posters here are using apps other than Skype, but I don't know why...it seems to do the job well and economically. Is it because Skype is blocked in many hotels, coffee shops, etc. but the alternatives are not?

+1 for Talkatone + Google Voice. Absolutely free and you can call any phone just like Skypout... I've successfully used this in Asia and Europe with no problems...

Google voice is more expensive than Betamax.

http://www.google.com/voice/rates
http://backsla.sh/betamax‎

You have to use Talkatone in conjunction with GV, then it is free... (when calling to the US)

Bear with me since I'm a newbie at all this, but the Talkatone knowledge base says you pay GoogleVoice rates, so that wouldn't be free??

I'm also not sure what it adds if you already have Google Voice, which allows you to send the number you want to call to your phone and you then pay the GV rates, unless I'm misunderstanding something.

if you just want to text, i recommend WhatsApp. it is available on multiple devices, Apple, Android, etc. all it uses is data, so you can use it over wi-fi or cellular data.

alright, for talking over data, cellular or wi-fi

if you have an Apple device, even iPad, then Google Voice and Talkatone are the way to go.
if you have an Android device, even tablet, then Google Voice and GrooveIP are the way to go.

what this means is, you sign up for Google Voice, in the US i assume. you get a US google voice number. then you sign into GrooveIP with your google credentials. then GrooveIP makes a call, OVER DATA, to another number. if that other number is US based, which you can use abroad, then the call is completely free.

i have used this over data in other countries on my cellular with a local sim, on my cellular with a US carrier sim with data turned on, and on a laptop signed into Google Voice in a hotel room.
this uses NO carrier minutes, only data, and very little data. the sound quality is very good, little or no delay or echo depending on where you are.

if you are calling another country through google voice, that is when those google voice rates would apply. this is to call an in country person with a US number or someone back home.


*i just saw you said topup, UK? i assume this works the same with a UK based set of numbers but have not tried it. or you can just get a US number (through google voice) and then have you friends/family do the same.

Betamax is free to US, plus maybe other 60 destinations

Talkatone , Truphone

In the interests of full disclosure:

The GrooveIP app is not free - $4.99
The GrooveIP Lite app is free, but only allows calls over WiFi.