8 apps to call your loved ones free of charge abroad

No more exorbitant communications costs! With these eight applications, you will be able to exchange with your loved ones (SMS, calls...) free from anywhere in the world.

You probably wonder how to stay in touch with your family and friends without having to pay the high price. Indeed, when you travel abroad, making international calls and sending SMS with your package can be ridiculously and unpleasantly expensive. So, not having to worry about it, we have established a list of the best apps to call and send messages for iPhone and Android smartphones. Rest assured, you will not return home with a telephone bill of 1000 €.

1. WhatsApp

WhatsApp is the most popular instant messaging app in the world. It is used by more than a billion people, and for this reason, you have any interest in installing it on your smartphone, since many of your friends/proches already use it. The application, whose use is linked to your phone number, allows you to call, send textos, photos, videos and audio recordings without SMS. That is to say that everything is free, simply a WiFi connection.

WhatsApp also offers group discussions, ideal for organizing a trip between friends of different nationalities for example. WhatsApp is available iPhone , BlackBerry , Android , Windows Phone and Nokia .

2. Skype

When you think "travel" and "contact", the Skype reflex is fast enough. Need to make an emergency telephone conference when you are abroad? The Skype app lets you. Skype works perfectly to make video calls, including group calls, voice calls, instant messaging, screen sharing and file sharing. Pretty full, then. The app is free if you have a WiFi connection. Skype is available on iOS , Android and Windows Phone .

Skype also offers a non-competitive subscription system that is particularly interesting for the hardest. For example, a plan to call to the United States with unlimited minutes, fixed and mobile phones costs €3.60 per month. Skype Credit costs 2.1 cents a minute. Prices differ according to countries (see all available packages on the Skype website ).

3. Viber

Working a little like WhatsApp, Viber allows you to call, send SMS and send photos and videos to any other Viber user, and this totally free. Viber was initially launched in direct competition with Skype. The only hic is that in order to communicate with your loved ones, they must be part of the current 400 million unique users. The application is available on Android , iOS and Windows Phone .

If this is not the case, Viber has launched for this Viber Out, which allows to call people not using the Viber app. It is a fixed and mobile phone call system that is cheaper than a standard operator, and is based on the price of a local communication. You can recharge Your Credit Viber Out and then use it to call almost worldwide. A mobile phone call in France will cost you 7.5 c / min and a call to a fixed will cost 2.0 c / min.

4. Facebook Messenger

Facebook’s “independent” application, Messenger, is one of the most popular messaging services. Very convenient to use, it allows you to send a text, audio or video message (which can be read either via the mobile app or directly on Facebook on computer). Messenger tells the sender if his message has been read, and allows to send content to unique contacts or groups.

Facebook Messenger is available on all terminals, including iOS , Android and Windows Phone .

5. Hangouts

Hangouts (formerly Google Talk) is less famous and less glamorous than the other applications listed here, but it remains an effective instant messaging tool. You will easily find Hangouts in your Gmail box on your desktop, allowing you to send messages, photos, videos and other files (including GIFs). Good to know, Hangouts allows video calls up to 10 participants.

Hangouts has the particularity of linking platforms between them: whether you are in front of your PC or on your Android device, the app gives you the ability to communicate videoconferencing with a person using Hangouts on your iPhone or Mac. Hangouts is available on iOS and Android .

6. WeChat

Launched in 2011 by the number two of the Web in China, Tencent, the WeChat app ranks second in the instant messaging applications behind WhatsApp. WeChat therefore draws its popularity from China, but the application is also popular in some countries in Asia and Africa, such as Congo, Malawi and South Africa. Free, WeChat also offers its users numerous bonuses available against small amounts, such as " stickers", images to be exchanged in a conversation. WeChat is available on iOS and Android .

7. LINE

LINE and WeChat are similar in their features. The LINE app is a bit the “largest avatar network in the world”, offering countless emojis. It allows you to send text messages, images and videos by accompanying them with " stickers". Other features of the application include games and a payment platform. LINE is available for free on iOS and Android .

8. Telegram

Telegram offers substantially the same thing as WhatsApp or Viber, to this close that it has been pioneering in end-to-end encryption. Telegram is therefore a secure messaging application, which allows its users to exchange their text, audio, photos, videos in a costed way, i.e. unreadable by a third party. Since then, WhatsApp and Viber have taken the lead. Only default, the application is not used in the world (a little over 100 million users), so you will have to convince your contacts to download the application free of charge, on iOS and Android .

You will have understood, the applications presented here are free and easy to use. The hardest part will be to make your choice and then convince your loved ones to use it to pass directly via WiFi and thus avoid paying for calls on fixed or mobile lines.

Main photo credit: Pexels – Alex Mihis