When hiking, have you a preference? Skype or another?

[gunwharfman]

When I'm away hiking I tend to use Skype to phone my wife, sister and others, it works far better on my phone than it does on my PC, why is that?

Duo is on my list to try, do you use it? Any difference at all to Skype?

Is there anything better or is it just down to personal choice?

[harland]

I only ever phone home to say where I am and that I'm safe, I have heard of Skype but wouldn't know how to use it but never heard of Duo. Happily away from technology when I am walking unless you count a notebook and pen to write up my journal! Not totally antisocial, happily chat with people in the pub who always chat when they see a map and me writing up my journal.

[SteamyTea]

There is really very little to chose from with all these communication apps, they all use similar underlying technology.
I have used both phone based Whatsapp and Vibre in the past, and everything from AOL chat to Zoom on the PC.
Quite simply, if you are happy with what you have, stick with it.
For me, I am happy with making normal calls and sending texts, but I don't make many anyway.  Hard to believe that 35 years ago, I went to Holland for a week and ended up, 2 months later, in West Africa, not one phone call back home.
How times have changed.

[archaeoroutes]

I don't really have a preference. Depends on the situation.
If I have a decent mobile signal, I just phone normally. If I'm somewhere with rubbish signal but wifi (often the case with cafes or hostels in valleys) I tend to use Facebook to call because the family doesn't use Skype and VOIP to normal phone rarely seems to work clearly for me.
Basically, I call for the children's going to bed routine.

[Apache]

The only advantage that I can see in either Skype or Duo is being outside the EU and within a free WiFi area. Otherwise just calling using the inclusive minutes is more reliable as that can be made in a 2g area whereas Skype etc ideally need 4g and then use data. So I use a mobile phone to call another phone. I did use Duo when in Thailand recently, it worked well with the hotel's WiFi. I did use WiFi calling once when in North York Moors on a Caravan Club site. I had to sit by the office as it only had a hotspot.

[ninthace]

I use WhatsApp.  Video, voice and text capable.  Encrypted end to end. Free.  Can create groups if required.  I use it for phone to phone video from UK to NZ and for family chats.

[fernman]

I looked into video chat prior to my hospital admission.

Skype on the pc requires you to have a Microsoft account, I do have one, but then Skype can only be used with Edge or Chrome browsers, neither of which I have, nor do I want them.

So, goodbye Skype, and hello Zoom, which is so simple to register with and install, and to use. While I was bedridden I even used it to look at myself on my laptop while guiding my rechargeable electric shaver around my face.

[Jac]

WhatsApp has been working well for me to keep in touch visually with family.

[BuzyG]

We used Skype before WhatApp came along.  It can do many things that WhatsApp Can not do.  Share screens video conference and much more.  This is why we still use it at work.  Crucially though it's not end to end encrypted.  WhatsApp is, so all of our family and friends groups and chats and photo sharing is done on WhatsApp.    


I regularly post a where's Dad today picture up for everyone else to guess at, as I am walking.  They are getting quite good.     

[SteamyTea]

They are getting quite good.

Going to have a go, without seeing the picture.
West Country.

[vghikers]

I tend to use Skype to phone my wife, sister and others, it works far better on my phone than it does on my PC, why is that?

Without knowing a lot about the fine detail, the app - and the hardware it runs on - is designed from the outset for live person-to-person communication, a PC is not. I've thought about video calling on a desktop for a while, off and on, but never got around to pursuing it. I've read a few reports that Skype's performance on a PC can be rather poor with video lag etc. It's the default choice for the legions who don't give a toss about privacy.

I only ever phone home to say where I am and that I'm safe,

Same here, just dumb PAYG feature phones in our case, topped up with a few quid very occasionally.

So, goodbye Skype, and hello Zoom, which is so simple to register with and install, and to use.

Zoom is better but has its own security and privacy problems, it's highly advisable to join meetings through a web browser rather than install the software (this option is hiding in the fine print), the session is then sandboxed which limits the attack vectors and its access to personal data.

Once I can concentrate for long enough I'll try Jitsi. It requires no software and doesn't even need a registration or signup, it's all anonymous via a web browser.

[BuzyG]

I looked into video chat prior to my hospital admission.

Skype on the pc requires you to have a Microsoft account, I do have one, but then Skype can only be used with Edge or Chrome browsers, neither of which I have, nor do I want them.

So, goodbye Skype, and hello Zoom, which is so simple to register with and install, and to use. While I was bedridden I even used it to look at myself on my laptop while guiding my rechargeable electric shaver around my face.

Great idea.        But don't get shaving foam on the keyboard. 

[BuzyG]

Going to have a go, without seeing the picture.
West Country.

I'm tempted to post a few from last weekend, but I think that could be a bit of a thread hijack, so I will resist the temptation.

[Dyffryn Ardudwy]

I rarely take a phone with me, simply because the mobile phone signal in my favourite haunts, is non existent.
Last year, when travelling down to South Wales, to visit my friends, i thought i would try an experiment, and see if anything has changed.

From around Trawsfynydd onwards, gaining any mobile signal, on any network, is very touch and go, and the most of Powys is off limits.

The Western Mail tried an experiment three years ago, where two members of staff drove all the way from Llandudno to Cardiff, using the A470, to see what the mobile coverage was like.

Once they hit the other side of Blaenau Festiniog, it was game over, with EE being about the only provider that could get any coverage, but even in Mid Wales, you lose all mobile coverage.

Ladies and Gents, a lot of Wales is still in the 19C when it comes to a strong mobile signal, and just recently Gwynedd council in conjunction with Snowdonia National Park, refused permission for a phone mast in the upper reaches of Bryn Gwynant.


The only network that occasionally works here in Dyffryn, is EE, and ive got to walk half a mile down the road to reach a spot where sometimes a signal is available.

[Skip]

. . . a lot of Wales is still in the 19C when it comes to a strong mobile signal

Oh, did we have mobiles in the 19th century? ;-)


In my experience, EE provides the least unreliable service of all the networks.