Remember the home phone? Or, as it used to be called, simply “the phone?” That was before we each got our own communications devices in our pockets that come with us anywhere. Before we had to differentiate between your phone, my phone, big phone, small phone, red phone, blue phone. It was just the phone. It’s ironic, given how connected we are, that it can seem so much harder to stay in touch. It used to be that if we wanted to speak to a family, we’d call them. At home. Only when kids started moving out and getting their own home phones would we need to add another number to our Rolodex (also, remember the Rolodex?). Staying in touch Today, home phones are the exception, not the rule. Everyone in the house has their own phone and number. To complicate things a little further, everyone has their own device, and the best way to keep in touch with one person can differ subtly or radically from another. Some people only want to text. Some prefer a call. Some use Facetime exclusively; some started with Skype and never looked back. Staying in touch with everyone can mean managing profiles and passwords on what seem like a dozen different voice, text and video chat apps. As winter begins to settle in northern climes and snowbirds wisely head south to get as far away from that old man as possible, we’re taking a look at some ways to stay in touch with family and friends back home in the days of this new communication breakdown. CSA Online by Andrew Moore-Crispin Staying in Touch on the Road Viber viber.com Viber’s privacy policy errs on the side of the user andmakes its stance on security, privacy and encryption very clear. It’s also entirely cross-platform with Android and iPhone apps, Windows and Mac apps, Linux apps. Viber offers end-to-end encryption; only you and your chosen recipients can readmessages sent back and forth on the platform. There are many reasons this is valuable. A big one is that you won’t see ads for Brand X mysteriously following you around the internet because you just mentioned Brand X in a chat. Quite aside from all of that, Viber is a powerful communication platform. It supports all of the features which you’ve perhaps come to expect (audio and video calls, animated stickers, group chat, voice and video messages) and adds in the ability to call out to a landline or cell phone at very reasonable international calling rates. Less than 2¢ per minute with unlimited calls from and to anywhere in North America for as little as $2.99/mo. To be clear, you don’t have to pay to use Viber. You only pay if you choose to make traditional phone calls. FaceTime In this column, we’re discussing apps and services that work across platforms. That said, Apple’s FaceTime deserves a mention for how simple it is to get started and for the fact that every Apple user has it. FaceTime comes pre-installed on every Mac, every iPad and every iPhone. With the latest update, it allows video chats with as many as 32 people at once and does a good job of figuring out who the active speaker is, and focusing in on him or her. Because this app lives in Apple’s “walled garden,” it just works. Nothing to search for, install or troubleshoot. Making a video call is simple. Just tap another Apple user and wait for them to pick up. That’s the upside of the Apple approach. The downside is that you can’t call people outside of said walled garden. No Android, PC or any other users need apply. If everyone you want to contact is an Apple user, great! FaceTime may be your best bet. If you count anyWindows PC, Android or other users among your friends, FaceTime doesn’t offer the messaging platformubiquity we’re shooting for. 56 | www.snowbirds.org
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