Viber - Free Phone Calls

Submitted by Paweł Masarczyk on 4 December 2010

Posted in:

Social Networking

Description of App

Viber is an iPhone application that lets you make free phone calls to other iPhone users that have Viber installed. When you use Viber, your phone calls to any other Viber user are free, and the sound quality is much better than a regular call. You can call any Viber user, anywhere in the world, for free. All Viber features are 100% FREE and do not require any additional “in application” purchase.

WHY USE VIBER VS. OTHER VOIP (VOICE OVER IP) SOLUTIONS

NO HIDDEN COSTS: Once you and your friends install the free Viber application, you can use it to talk (and soon also text) as much as you want. Talk, talk, and talk some more and it’s all free. Just makes sure all your friends get Viber! All you need is an Internet connection: 3G or Wi-Fi where available.
NO INTERNATIONAL CHARGES: It doesn’t matter where you or your friends are, be it on the same network or in a totally different country. You can talk for as much as you want, for free. Just make sure your friends have Viber too.
COMPLETELY FREE AND WITH NO ADS: Viber and all Viber features are absolutely free and do not require any additional “in application” purchase. On top of that, Viber doesn’t contain any annoying ads.
NO USERNAMES, PASSWORDS OR REGISTRATION: You know your friend’s phone number, so why bother with yet another username and password? Viber uses your phone number as your “identity” and lets you make free Viber phone calls to any of your friends that have Viber – using THEIR phone number.
NO BUDDY LIST: Viber automatically highlights friends in your iPhone’s address book that have Viber. That way you know who you can call for free!
CALL ANYONE WITH VIBER, NOT JUST YOUR FRIENDS: Want to dial a number and don’t know if they have Viber? No problem, make the call with Viber and if they don’t have Viber the call will be made using your regular phone - but don’t forget to invite your friends to Viber so your next call is free ;).
YOU CAN ALWAYS RECEIVE A CALL ON VIBER: If your phone is ON then so is Viber. Always ready to make and receive phone calls. No need to log in, or “go online” to receive a call.
NO NEED TO ADD BUDDIES: Unlike applications like Skype, Windows Live Messenger or Fring where you need to “add buddies” and have them approve you, Viber behaves just like a phone. Just like you do not need to “add” someone in order to call them, you do not need to add your friends in order to call them on Viber. If you know their phone number, then you know their Viber number, and you’re ready to go!
MISSED CALL NOTIFICATION: Even if you missed your Viber call because your iPhone was off, or there was no service, Viber will notify you of your missed calls as soon as service is restored.
SOUND QUALITY: Viber uses state of the art technology in order to make sure the sound quality you get is much better than GSM or a regular phone call.
IPOD TOUCH and IPAD support is almost here!
MUCH MORE COMING: This is the first release of Viber. We are hard at work bringing many more features to your Viber phone. Free text messages, more ringtones (and custom ones), wallpapers, location based services and more are all coming soon to Viber!

We’d love to hear from you! If you have any feedback, questions, concerns or just want to share a Viber moment with us, please email us at support@viber.com, go to http://support.viber.com/ or find us on Facebook and Twitter:

http://facebook.com/viber
http://twitter.com/viber

Operator data charges may apply
For best experience, iPhone 3Gs/4 running iOS 4 is recommended.

Version

1.0.5

Free or Paid

Free

Compatibility

This is a native iPhone and iPod Touch app that is displayed in 2x mode on an iPad

Device(s) App Was Tested On

iPhone 3GS

Accessibility Comments

This app is great! One and quite a serious bug i have found so far is lack of access while trying to browse the contact list. VO can read only the letter headings of the contact list but not the contact themselves. It's gonna be worked on from what i've heard. For now you have to dial the number manually. Apart from that - it's an awesome piece of software that has lots of potential - simply a copycat of "Telephone" applet but you call for free over the net

VoiceOver Performance

VoiceOver reads most page elements.

Button Labelling

All buttons are clearly labelled.

Usability

Some parts of the app are accessible with VoiceOver, but not enough to make it usable.

Link to Viber - Free Phone Calls in the App Store

Visit developer web site

User Options

0 AppleVis user(s) have recommended this app for VoiceOver users.

3 AppleVis user(s) have reported that they have contacted the developer about accessibility issues with this app.

Comments

#1 Dialing a Phone Number

Submitted by jscholes on 4 December 2010.

It should be noted that when dialing a phone number, buttons corresponding to the numbers must be double tapped; you cannot type a number in an actual text field.

#2 mail the developers

Submitted by Lucas Radaelli on 29 December 2010.

I suggest you mail the developers asking for improvements in accessibility. I have already sent mine, and some friends did the same. It is important to show them that we are using the app, and we need the changes. I couldn't figure out how to do this, so, if anyone knows how to know if a contact of my list is using viber, let me know. Thanks!

#3 I contacted the the

Submitted by marrie on 5 May 2011.

I contacted the the developers and even sent them a tweet on twitter. they still think I'm talking about voice control on the ipod not voice over and they said no we have not implemented voice control. I did explain what it was and how to enable it but they still have not understood. good luck to all of you who have or will have tried.

#4 A warning

Submitted by AppleVis on 23 January 2011.

Hi all,

I've been advised by a user of this app that by default it spams all the people you follow on Twitter once installed.

I do not use this app, so cannot confirm whether this is the case. However, it would certainly appear to be something to watch out for.

David

#5 re: warning

Submitted by Paweł Masarczyk on 23 January 2011.

Hello!
I'm using it since like over a month. My followers can't complain about any kind of spm in their timelines. People who tweet about usin Viber are doing it using Tweetbutton so it's a button on the website i think.

#6 Update from developer

Submitted by AppleVis on 23 June 2011.

One of the developers of this app has just posted the following comment to the VIPhone mailing list:

<Begin Quote>
At this stage, VoiceOver support is not planned in Viber. We will look into it in the future and see whether or not it would be possible to develop this feature.
<End Quote>

So, as they have no plans to make their app accessible, I would encourage users to look elsewhere and support those developers who do care about accessibility and don't regard it is just a 'feature'.

#7 Viber free calls & messages

Submitted by Sue.Jo on 7 May 2012.

I have been using this app for a few weeks now and find it excellent. I agree it isn't fully accessible using voice over. I am using version 215 on a Iphone 4S. By just using the list of viber users which in my case is small, I can find the person I want to call or send a message to. They are listed in alphabetical order so I just memorised the short list and the rest is easy.

#8 Work around for viewing contacts and question about ending phone

Submitted by Walei on 7 May 2012.

I'm using version 2.1.5. If you go to the recents tab you'll be able to view more information about a contact. From there you can add them as a favorite. A list pops up and you have to choose which phone number. The buttons aren't labeled again but viber is usually the one on top. When you go to the contacts tab and choose favorites, they will be there and voiceover will read their name.
My question is, has anyone figured out how to end a phone call? I'm having a lot of trouble with that.