Android App of the Day: Viber

Do you have friends or family that live in other parts of the world that you wish you could talk to on a regular basis? Communicating with loved ones can be difficult with the high costs of international calls. If this is a problem you are facing, then the Viber app for Android just may be able to help you out. With Viber you can make quality phone calls, send text messages, and photo messages all for free (data network charges may apply). Life with the Viber app for Android has been so much easier, making this app one to tell your friends and family about.

Pros:

  • Communicate (call, text, send pictures) for free
  • Connect to friends and family all over the world
  • Save money on phone bill (data charges may apply)
  • Immediately syncs your contact list, displays who is already using Viber
  • App is always running in background with minimal battery drain
  • Always receive incoming calls/messages without having to open app
  • Good call quality
  • Completely free no advertisements
  • Responsive support team

Cons:

  • Video chat is not available
  • Not compatible if you have a custom ROM installed

How it works:

After you download the app Viber will prompt you to select your country,and enter in your phone number. Thankfully after that you won’t have to continue with a lengthy account creation, which is a welcome relief.

From there you will need to wait for a text message that will provide a code that you will need to go forward. After you receive your unique code the app will sync with your device’s address book. The complete sync only took a few seconds and was surprisingly quick. Once Viber has successfully synced with your device you will see all of the names of your contacts and more importantly, which of your contacts are already using Viber.

To start using Viber’s service simply tap on a contact name and you will see two options to either make a call or send a message. In order to make a call or send a message will have to have either a 3G or Wi-Fi Internet connection.

Making a Viber call is a breeze and the voice call quality is quite satisfactory. The call quality tends to get better as the call goes on, but overall Viber has yet to disappoint.

One of the best features of Viber is that the app is always running in the background. You don’t have to be actively within the app to receive incoming calls or messages as Viber will automatically launch if you someone calls you.

Conclusion:

Like many people I know, I have friends and family that live in places all around the world and trying to keep communication costs reasonable has always been a challenge. With Viber installed I know that I can reach the people who matter the most to me for absolutely free. Overall, I have found Viber to be easy to use and the call quality has been reliable. I love that Viber always stays running in the background without minimal strain to my smartphone battery life.  If you are in the market for a free and reliable way to connect with your loved ones without running up your phone bill Viber is absolutely worth the download.

Viber is available for free in the Google Play Store. Requires Android 2.0 and higher. Play Link

This is part of our Android App of the Day series. We take our favorite app for Android for each day and post it here for you to check out. Feel free to check out all of our App of the Day posts here.

4 thoughts on “Android App of the Day: Viber”

  1. Hi,

    This is a member of the Viber R&D Team!

    Thank you for your review about Viber!
    I would like to clarify two things ..
    -At this stage, due to the large variety of customized ROMs available, we support only the basic ones, such as CM7 and MIUI.
    -We are working on adding video chats on our future builds. 🙂 Stay tuned for updates!

    Please feel free to let us know your thoughts, questions and comments, we’d be happy to hear from you.
    Viber Team

  2. I have just installed Viber into my Samsung Galaxy s3. Its not synching my contacts tho. Tried uninstalling etc – still not working. How do I get around this?

    Is there a way to do it manually as I have less than 10 contacts I’ll be using Viber to call ?

    Thanks

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