Consumer Tips
Apps to Help You Stay Connected During Coronavirus
Our new normal includes social distancing and staying at home as much as possible. But let’s make sure we’re staying connected with family, friends and neighbors while we’re apart.
There are several easy ways to virtually connect with the important people in your life. It's easy to set up virtual movie nights, happy hours, book clubs, birthday parties or even wine tastings using these simple-to-use apps. Check them out and stay connected.
Ways to Connect Virtually
- Zoom works well for getting a large group on screen together, especially once you set gallery mode and can see everyone at once. It’s free to sign up and host a meeting. Video conferences of three or more are limited to 40 minutes unless you upgrade your membership.
- Skype has been around for a long time and supports big groups with no real time limit. You can put together video calls of up to 50 people at once.
- Facetime is perfect if everyone's Apple friendly. Facetime can handle up to 32 people at a time.
- Google Hangouts video calling can include up to 25 people. Video calls on Google Hangouts are completely free to make.
- WhatsApp is a good option, if you don't mind a four person limit. It's free to video call friends, wherever they are.
- Netflix Party is available on Chrome browsers and is free to download. It allows users to synchronize a show or movie viewing with friends. You can also react to what you're watching by using the chat feature.