Tired of Zoom? Here are 5 best alternatives

The Citizen – Translated by: Mennat Allah Ashraf

Since the coronavirus pandemic led to city closures and curfews, Zoom has become a fundamental support in everyday life, whether at work or at school, but later issues have arisen regarding how which it processes users’ personal information, and here are other alternative options according to the Classification of British Independent Sites.

5 best alternatives to the Zoom app

1- Skype

This app was one of the first apps to bring the benefit of internet video chat to many people, and the platform has become ubiquitous and has almost monopolized video calling for over a decade, but since its inception. Microsoft’s acquisition in 2011, its services have lagged behind emerging competitors, but yet it remains a solid and familiar choice.

2- Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams

Originally designed as a competitor to the popular Slack workplace chat tool, it has since evolved into an all-in-one platform that supports everything from video conferencing to PowerPoint presentations.

The new update, slated for release later this year, will allow up to 1,000 participants to join video chats, a huge jump from the previous limit of 250 people. Powerpoint presentations will also be extended with other features and improvements.

And because Microsoft is aware of the security concerns plaguing Zoom, its privacy credentials say: Privacy is deeply rooted in our company and product philosophy.

3- HouseParty

HouseParty has quickly become the handy chat app for people looking to play games and have fun with friends and family remotely, it is free, easy to use and offers a wide range of great interactive games. to play in pairs or in groups.

4- Signal

One of the most prominent founders of this app, Edward Snowden, the American who exposed the US government spying on its citizens despite officials denying it, and whatever the truth behind it, the application has adopted methods to communicate securely on the Internet.

Signal is widely regarded as the most private messaging app and allows encrypted video chat, but there are some restrictions that keep it from achieving the current level of success like its peers, including the fact that it doesn’t support group video calls.

5- WhatsApp

With over 2 billion users across the world, WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging app, and it introduced the free group video calling feature to all of its users in 2018, making it the most suitable choice for people who are only looking to chat with their friends and family, but the downside is that only four people can participate in an encrypted video chat at any time.

There are many useful features included in the video chat feature of WhatsApp, such as adding people during a call and hiding the video stream from other participants.