6 Apps for Video Chat Between Android and PC

I am going on vacation soon and have spent about a week looking for a way to video chat with my husband while I'm gone. I have an Android phone with a front facing camera. You would think video chatting would be easy.... but no... I've had lots of difficulties.

Finally, I found an app that worked for me, and below I will outline all of the different options, depending on your phone or tablet's model.

I wish you success!! This simple activity shouldn't be as frustrating as it is! Whether you call it Face Chat, Face Time, Video Chat, Video Calling, etc, it should be easy as pie!

Photo Credit

Links go to Android Market - You can read reviews, specs, and download the app there.If you don't have access to Android Market, some of these are also available on GetJar. Continue reading below for more information about whether the app worked for me.

1. Yahoo Messenger
2. Skype
3. ooVoo (Supported Devices List)
4. Google Talk - Requires Android 2.3+
5. ReelPortal Video Chat - Requires Android 2.3+
6. Tango (Supported Devices List)

Give these a try: Yahoo Messenger, Skype, and ooVoo

1) Yahoo Messenger

I own a Samsung Galaxy S 4G phone, which has Android version 2.2 on it, and Yahoo Messenger is the only program that I have had success with for video chatting between a computer and an Android phone. The instructions are:

1. Install Yahoo Messenger (Download from Android Marketplace or GetJar)

Ignore the description of this app, which says you need Android 2.3 for video chat. You don't.

2. Run Yahoo Messenger (in Android programs, it is listed under just "Messenger").

3. Click on the settings button and click on options.

4. Click on "Voice and Video"

5. You will be prompted to install a Video plugin.

6. Download and install plugin.

7. Run Yahoo Messenger... Now Video Chat will work.

NOTE: The PC user has to download and install the Yahoo Messenger program. The web version does not support video chat. Mac version of the program is also available. Click here to download Yahoo Messenger for PC/Windows or Mac.

The video isn't high quality, but at least it works. Which is more than I can say for Skype.....

****************************************

2) Skype

Skype should work on Android version 2.2, and it does have a PC application as well. At first I was able to get it to work, with the front facing camera, but I appeared upside down and it did not support a hands-free headset.

Recently the Skype program has been updated and I currently can't get it to work on my phone, but it's worth a try. The Skype app is updated frequently and maybe you will have success.

Skype advertises itself as a universal solution... It says, "Make free voice and video calls to anyone else on Skype, whether they're on an Android, iPhone, Mac or PC..." However it also notes problems with Froyo and unsupported phones....

I wish you luck!

Download Skype from Android Market or from GetJar

****************************************

3) ooVoo - Download from Android Market

This may work, but I haven't tried it yet. There is a list of supported devices. The description says, "Make free 6-way group video calls with ooVoo's video chat app for Android. Video call your ooVoo friends that are on Android, iPhone, PC and Mac. Make video calls over 3G, 4G, and Wifi for FREE!"

Give these a try: Google Talk and ReelPortal

4) Google Talk

Video chat with Google Talk

This is a native application (added automatically via an update) for the Nexus S and for other phones running Gingerbread. Here's the official Google news article about it. It should work between your Android Phone or Android Tablet and Gmail with Google Talk on the Computer.

****************************************

5) ReelPortal Video Chat - Download from Android Market

Features: Video Conferencing, Public Rooms, Private Rooms

Requirements: Dual-core CPU, Android 2.3 or above, Adobe AIR 3.0

The PC or Mac user can participate in the video chat by going to Reelportal.com and signing in through the website.

There is also an app for the Blackberry Playbook, available on Blackberry App World.

I just found out about this one!

List of supported devices. Supports over 500 devices! Make Free Video Calls, Phone Calls, and send Free Video Messages!

PC Requirements: XP, Vista, or 7. Both 32- and 64-bit operating systems are supported.

Download Tango from Android Market.

I hope you enjoyed this list of 6 Android apps for video calling between PC and Android phone... Now you know that there is an alternative to Skype!

I'm not sure why everyone seems to assume that both parties will have an iPad, iPhone, Android smartphone, Android tablet, etc. Maybe you want to chat with your spouse, parents, grandparents, etc.... They shouldn't have to spend $200+ on a phone or tablet!

As an aside, I got started on this search because my phone is a Samsung Galaxy S 4G Android Smartphone and one of its features is "Video Chats without Buffering"...... what they don't tell you when you buy it, is that the pre-installed video chat software is called Qik Video Chat and it is NOT compatible with PC!

So, downloading and installing an app is a necessity because my husband doesn't have an iPhone or Android phone. He has a desktop computer running Windows 7. Finally, we found a solution - Yahoo Messenger with Video Chat Plugin - but it took many hours of frustration! I hope that someday a really good video chat program will be available and that it will work well on all platforms!

So... any thoughts or experience you'd like to share?