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Video call app - cross-platform & Siri/Voiceover friendly (rblind.com)

submitted 5 months ago by acodring@rblind.com to c/main@rblind.com

2 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Hello,

I'm trying to help my Dad talk to his brother (my Uncle).

Can you recommend a voice calling app that:

works on Android and iPhone
supports Siri "Call [contact] using [voice calling app name]"
supports VoiceOver two finger double tap Magic tap to answer or end a call
does not require an actual phone number
bonus points if it supports video

Long winded background follows...

Uncle lives in UK and can see just fine, but does not like Apple or Facebook so he's got an Android phone. Dad is in Canada and has an iPhone. He's pretty good with Siri and making good progress with VoiceOver. He does not have a phone plan so no phone number.

If my Mum is around my Uncle sets up Zoom calls and they can talk. If my Mum is not around Dad can call Uncle's regular phone number using a VOIP client "Hey Siri, call Uncle using GroundWire." However for some bizarre reason the UK reverted to 1990's phone rates after Brexit so these Canada-UK calls cost $0.4361/min vs the Can-US VOIP rates of 0.01/min. $25/hr feels egregious, although it does work very well.

I thought Signal was the answer, but Dad won't be able to register since he doesn't have a phone number and even then Signal doesn't support Siri.

I looked at Discord but it seemed pretty cluttered and complicated.

all 3 comments

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[–] motobojo@rblind.com 1 points 4 months ago

Have youi looked into WhatsApp? There are apparently ways to use it without a phone. I use both the cell phone app on my andoid phone and the Windows WhatsApp app. The Windows app is just "linked" to my cell phone. There are other ways though (apparently). Here's a link that might help.
https://mobiletrans.wondershare.com/whatsapp/how-to-use-whatsapp-without-phone-number.html#:~:text=the%20initial%20setup.-,Method%203%3A%20Use%20WhatsApp%20without%20a%20Phone%20Number%20Via%20Linked,a%20tablet%20or%20second%20phone.

[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 1 points 5 months ago

Threema is very similar to Signal but doesn’t require a phone number. It does cost $/£/€ 5 though (but it’s one-time, and makes it less likely you’re true product).

Not sure about all the features you mentioned.