Teleworking has come into our lives to stay permanently, at least in a hybrid modality in which face-to-face work in offices is combined with teleworking from home or anywhere. This is why it is convenient to be clear about the offer of applications for video calls available.
We wanted to bring together six of the most popular programs here, the vast majority of which are cross-platform and available for macOS, in addition to Windows. In this way, you will be able to keep in touch with your loved ones, either for work issues or for family matters.
Not only mobile devices are versatile in this task. In fact, the larger screens provided by iMac computers, the new MacBooks, as well as iPads, will allow us to have an improved experience in group video calls, now that the cameras are of higher resolution.
Before going into depth, you can consult our 3 recommendations to improve the quality of the video calls you make with the Mac. Although the webcams of the computers have improved in recent years, there are still computers with cameras whose quality is very basic.
We also propose the article on the best webcams for Mac if this is your case, if you still have a computer from previous generations in your possession.
The best video calling apps for Mac in 2022
Zoom – The most widespread of recent times
- pros
- Great adoption in professional environment
- Easy to use
- cons
- Limitation of use in time
If there is any winning app that has grown amazingly in the number of new customers over the last year, it is Zoom. The one discussed here has gone from having 10 million users at the end of 2019, to more than 300 million.
During the pandemic, security problems have been associated to which the company seems to have been able to respond quickly, publishing security patches. In this way, it seems to have become the new WhatsApp of the groups when it comes to making video calls.
Once you have configured your account and downloaded the client application, the service allows you to organize meetings with up to 100 participants, as well as having as many sessions as you want per month.
The only real limitation is that group meetings can only last a maximum of 40 minutes before Zoom automatically ends them, the toll to pay if you use the free version. Nevertheless, we tell you some tricks to bypass this restriction.
If you use it in a professional way, you need more participants to carry out a presentation, longer meeting times, call analysis, or the ability to record video calls and store them in the cloud, there are pricing plans starting at €46 per month (€39.08 per year).
Check out the article on tricks to improve the privacy and security of your video calls in Zoom.
Get Zoom for macOS
Microsoft Teams – A serious alternative in the business world
- pros
- Integration with Office tools
- Ability to share content
- cons
- Business Pricing Plans
Microsoft Teams is a comprehensive service designed for professional users or business environments where virtual meetings and video calls are the order of the day. The free tier offers interesting features that are good for most purposes.
You can make HD video calls, share your screen, and use built-in chat features to communicate in writing. Plus, there’s 10GB of storage allocated to any team for content sharing, with an additional 2GB for personal documents.
The upgrade to Basic Business plan It is priced at €4.20 per month per user, with the added bonus that you have Microsoft 365 tools. Above it, the Standard Business version appears at €10.50 per month, or the superior version of Office 365 E3 at 19 €.70.
get Microsoft Teams for macOS
Google Meet – The key tool for G-Suite users
- pros
- Tool kit
- Integration with G Suite
- cons
- Lower adoption than Teams or Zoom
Google has had many video calling apps throughout its history, which can be confusing for users. We currently have Duo, Google Hangouts and the one we’re focusing on here: GoogleMeet.
While the first few options are a simple service intended for quick calls between friends and family with a limited maximum number of participants, Google Meet is an enterprise app and as such requires a G Suite subscription.
This gives you access to video calls that can have up to 250 participants, plus you can broadcast live presentations or events to an audience of up to 100,000 viewers.
Unsurprisingly, there are also chat features and the ability to share your screen with all the other participants. During the time of pandemic and teleworking, the tool has been offered by Google as a free version.
And it is that the free version of G Suite has certain limitations that are especially associated with storage. The cheapest is Basic plan whose price is €4.68 per user per month. The Business amounts to €9.36, and the G Suite Enterprise to €23.
get Google Meet for macOS
FaceTime – The best choice of Apple device users
- pros
- mobile experience
- Now with Android user support
- cons
- Limitation of participants
If your video calling needs are somewhat more modest, which are reduced to being in contact with yours or with your clients, you should know that you already have a video conferencing application on your Mac that comes in the form of FaceTime.
Although it is capable of hosting calls with up to 32 participants (it’s like making a group call on FaceTime), its use is limited to those users who own an Apple device, such as a Mac, iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch.
With the latest update, Android device friends can now join this type of video call, something that until now had significantly limited its possible expansion.
AThose in the Apple universe will be able to chat without having to download extra applications to their device or computer, or having to spend extra money on additional pricing plans.
If you want to know this tool in depth, we have a tutorial on how to use FaceTime on your Mac.
Skype – The application harmed by the arrival of Microsoft Teams
- pros
- large number of users
- User experience on mobile devices
- cons
Microsoft’s video conferencing application is one of the pioneers in this section. Launched back in 2003, the software of video calls had hardly any rivals for much of its history, as a reliable service that was well established at the business level.
Currently, Microsoft seems to promote its Microsoft Teams tool more with a more professional profile, which means that Skype has been losing steam at the same rate as followers and user numbers.
However, it remains an interesting tool worldwide to make video calls between people from all over the world at an affordable price or even free, with the possibility of even associating mobile or landline telephone numbers.
HD video is available and you can share your screen with others during the call, record sessions, and even activate the new ‘live subtitles’ feature that can produce readable versions for the hearing impaired.
Until recently, Skype’s free standard service was accompanied by a Skype for Business tier, but it has now been replaced by Microsoft Teams, a solution that we also cover in this article and discuss below.
get Skype for macOS
HouseParty – A service that had its moment and has come to less
HouseParty has been one of the latest free to arrive on the market, at least in terms of recognition, but it has made a strong impression among the younger audience, by allowing the use of additional elements to encourage group conversation.
Okay, don’t expect it to be used for important company shareholder meetings, but if you want to have a fun time with your friends, with Houseparty you can emulate the typical gatherings with your friends for dinner or a few beers.
It currently supports up to seven people in a virtual room. If that’s not enough, you can use multiple rooms and virtually roam between them, though conversations stay within each individual room.
Users can connect to Houseparty by using an iOS, Android, macOS, or Windows device, with the latter using a Chrome extension. The purpose is none other than to have fun and have a good time.
That is why there are several games that can be shared and started with your friends, trivia-style or a drawing game that emulates Pictionary. If you want to have a good time with friends, it is the best option.
get House Party for macOS
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