Viber for Android

Zascar

http://techcrunch.com/2011/02/02/viber-android-video/

Coming to Android in March apparently!

The amazing thing about this is that I have heard of it about 10 times now, all from people who are almost technophobes and would be the last people to know about this type of stuff. Has hit 10m downloads on iPhone now, can't wait till it comes to Android!

Rowley Birkin QC

Sweeeeeeet.

Zascar

I'm loving WhatsApp - can't believe I only know about it now. It would be great to get one app that did both. Bye Bye call charges!

Zascar

I just wrote this blog post about Viber: http://www.colinfitz.com/completely-free-calls-texts-on-your-phone and someone from viber actually replied and then answered a load of my questions!

1. We officially announced that the Viber-for-Android version will be released in March, and we expect it to be ready towards the end of March. about beta-testing, you can subscriber to be a beta-tester (hopefully it’s not full already) here: http://eepurl.com/bW1Ln

2. Text Messaging will be included in our upcoming version 2.0 that will be released by the end of this month!
I suggest you try it out when it’s out, and decide for yourself

3. Viber uses about 0.25MB/min in + out, which is 0.5MB/min total. this means 5MB every 10 minutes. Very little, as you can understand.

4. For now, our focus is on adding platforms, adding features (such as text messages) and improving overall system performance. At the same time, we are working on additional future premium services that will generate revenues. The basic Viber service – Viber to Viber phone calls, and soon text messages – will ALWAYS be free.

5. We are continuously developing new features and fixing bugs. For example, we are considering to implement a customized ringtone option, but we don’t have specific release date for this new feature. We will keep you posted.

Anyone here get on the Beta list? I'm dying to try it...

PaulPinnacle

Zascar wrote: »

...someone from viber actually replied and then answered a load of my questions!

I've come across the name plenty, but never actually tried it out. Can't wait to see it make the move over to android (as you say in the blog, even technophobes that wouldn't go down the SIP route can easily adopt viber).

Great to see them so active on the ORM side of things too. When you see a business that clued in to marketing/reputation, normally means they take the quality of products very seriously too.

Thanks for sharing Zascar, greatly appreciated.

Goodshape

I have Skype and GoogleTalk... both totally device agnostic.

Why do I need Viber or WhatsApp?

PaulPinnacle

Goodshape wrote: »

Why do I need Viber or WhatsApp?

If you check out Zascar's blog post above, it does a great job of explaining the benefits.

dsrckiyisvddht

Zascar wrote: »

Anyone here get on the Beta list? I'm dying to try it...

Signed up just under 2 months ago and haven't heard anything

bittihuduga

"5MB every 10 minutes"
is this not too much?
if u keep it ON always...

seanybiker

I signed up for beta tester but haven't heard anything yet

Goodshape

PaulPinnacle wrote: »

If you check out Zascar's blog post above, it does a great job of explaining the benefits.

WhatsApp: "Its better than text messaging. Quicker, easier to use, you get delivery notifications, you can send photos, videos or audio really easily, all 100% completely free, anywhere in the world. It notifies you just like a text message, and you can even Update Your Status like you do on Facebook. The thing I find since using this, is that its almost more informal than sending a text, so you are more likely to actually communicate using it. A text may only be 12cent or so, but if you send hundreds it all ads up. It is becoming very popular and once most people have it, there will be little need to send and pay for text messages any more."

...sounds just like GTalk, apart from maybe the easy sharing of audio and video, which I wouldn't miss. Except... with GTalk the person I'm talking to doesn't need to be on a phone. I regularly have lengthy conversations with people who are sitting at their computers. I rarely SMS anyone with an Android phone anymore. All GTalk.


Viber does sound better than Skype for it's tight integration with the phone. Don't know whats stopping Skype (or even GTalk, which has voice calls too, at least in theory) from doing this.


Not trying to put these apps down... just that I have looked at them - as there seems to be some hype around them at the moment - and still wondering do I really need another (potentially two) apps and accounts to do things I do anyway.

AlmightyCushion

bittihuduga wrote: »

"5MB every 10 minutes"
is this not too much?
if u keep it ON always...

I assume that it only uses that amount of data when you are in a call with someone. If the app was running in the background the whole day but you didn't call anyone with it, it would probably use no data.

Viber

Hey,
This is that same representative of Viber
We're so happy to see that extent of interest in Viber in Ireland.

Regarding your questions:

1. Viber for Android will be released by the end of March. Unfortunately, no exact date yet. We'll keep you posted.
2. SMS service in Viber will be available by the end of THIS month. It will be similar to that of WhatsApp, but not quite identical. Only a few weeks to wait, and you'll hopefully be able to see it yourselves!
3. About bandwidth - Viber uses 0.25MB/min (up+down), so that's about 0.5MB/min TOTAL every minute of Viber call.
This is very little, as you can see. It's important to note that Viber can actually be completely shut off when not using it, and still receive calls/SMS. Why? because we use the Push Notification feature of iPhone.

If you have any more questions - please do ask. This is why I'm here
Cheers,
Viber Media.

Zascar

Oh, hey! Thanks for posting here too. I'm sure you'll get a great responce from Ireland, here especeially. Yes I totally agree with what Paul says above:

Great to see them so active on the ORM side of things too. When you see a business that clued in to marketing/reputation, normally means they take the quality of products very seriously too.

Plus the fact that you have a Feature Request page with feedback - all the signs of the type of company I like. Paul, thanks I had never heard the term ORM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Online_reputation_management - I have never heard it before but its spot on.

OK I have a bunch more questions:

Bandwith is pretty low for what it does. For example, with my plan with 02 I get 300 minutes free calls. 300 minutes on Viber would be 150mb, and I get 1GB per month, so really its not even a concern (unless you are on Pay As You Go – but that’s a different matter)

Delighted to see Messaging will be included, interested to see it – how exactly will it differ from WhatsApp? How will it work on the phone, will there be two different apps or will it all be in the one? AFAIK the way viber works right now is you can simply replace the standard calling app with viber – it does everything the same way, just gives you the option to call with viber when available. So will the messaging app be the same? Or will there be one app for both in one?

I hear call quality is great. I’m delighted to hear this cause I’m a user of Skype but sometimes it can be terrible. How is Vibers so much better?

The beauty of a business like this, is that it is in the interest of each person to get their friends to use it too. So making it easy to spread the word is really important. Look at Groupon and how successfull they became by adopting this model. Sometimes a person may need to get 5 or more invites to their phone from all their friends before they would check it out. Are there any other ways in which you can encourage each user to spread the word and get their friends using it?

What I am really wondering about is how the networks are going to deal with this. Obviously Viber has the ability to become massively popular, anyone with a smartphone should have it and if everyone did, everyone’s phone bills would be slashed! Not good news for Vodafone etc. What are they doing to combat this I wonder? Are you seeing any pressure from them?

What is Vibers long term business model and how do they plan to make money? Are you hoping for a buyout? Google should snap you up I think. You mentioned extra premiums services – what will these be?

PaulPinnacle

Viber wrote: »

It's important to note that Viber can actually be completely shut off when not using it, and still receive calls/SMS. Why? because we use the Push Notification feature of iPhone.

Is it safe to assume that you've got (or will have) a suitable push notification system for use with android phones too? (be it google's official cloud to device, mqtt, etc.)

I suppose the real question is, given that the technology itself is all but irrelevant to me (goes straight over my head), is there any indication of what the impact on battery life (or potentially data usage for non talk time) will be for the android implementation? Are the current talk time estimates (which I assume relate to the iPhone app) directly applicable to the future android system?

Viber

@Zascar -

About the Messaging - yep, it will be included in the same app as Viber. Viber will essentially replace the iPhone app for sending text messages.

About our sound quality - we use a very good proprietary protocol. We prefer not to reveal its name, and that's largely due to the fact that it received such good comments from all our users worldwide

About Viber's viral nature - in fact, we rely almost solely on this kind of spread, ie users telling more and more their friends to install Viber. To be honest, we actually didn't really devote time into PR, except for a few YouTube movies for example. Articles pop out reviewing us, and we thank them, because we understand that they were written out of sheer delight from our product. It makes us very happy to see the buzz around Viber.

Well, I'm very sad to inform you that more and more cellular operators, even European ones, decided to block Viber (and VoIP altogether) lately, on their 3G networks. The legality of such a move is questionable, but you can rest assured that we are already working to prevent this move in additional countries.

Why is Viber free?
For now, Viber's focus is on adding platforms, adding features (such as text messages) and improving overall system performance. At the same time, we are working on additional future premium services that will generate revenues.

I'd like to clarify: the basic Viber service - Viber to Viber phone calls, and soon text messages - will ALWAYS be free.
Also - no ads, we don't plan to sell Viber to anyone ANYTIME soon, etc.

@PaulPinnacle -

We are at the final stages of developing Viber for Android. I'll be able to fully answer your questions within the next 2 weeks.

Viber.

Zascar

Viber wrote: »

@Zascar -
Well, I'm very sad to inform you that more and more cellular operators, even European ones, decided to block Viber (and VoIP altogether) lately, on their 3G networks. The legality of such a move is questionable, but you can rest assured that we are already working to prevent this move in additional countries.

That’s shocking. Typical ridiculous knee jerk reaction from the big old skool companies who are too archaic to keep up with the times. In a roundabout way it’s like the record companies ridiculous reaction to mp3’s. When these new age game changing technologies come in – the stupid thing to do is try to ignore them or try to beat them – but instead they should be trying to change their model to work with them instead. I hope Vodafone & 02 don’t do that here...

Viber

Zascar wrote: »

That’s shocking. Typical ridiculous knee jerk reaction from the big old skool companies who are too archaic to keep up with the times. In a roundabout way it’s like the record companies ridiculous reaction to mp3’s. When these new age game changing technologies come in – the stupid thing to do is try to ignore them or try to beat them – but instead they should be trying to change their model to work with them instead. I hope Vodafone & 02 don’t do that here...

We join your hope, of course.

Could I ask you to inform me (here, or anywhere you'd like) if such a block is planned or actually executed in any Irish 3G network?
Such information will greatly help us deal with it, and prevent Irish Viber users from being blocked...

xtal191

Will Viber be coming to Bada?

Viber

xtal191 wrote: »

Will Viber be coming to Bada?

Unfortunately not at this stage.
We have other platforms prioritized first - Blackberry, Symbian, Viber-for-PC.

PaulPinnacle

Viber wrote: »

Could I ask you to inform me (here, or anywhere you'd like) if such a block is planned or actually executed in any Irish 3G network?

Meteor (so perhaps also relevant to eMobile users?) have a caveat with the use of VoIP with their 10GB/month data add on.

Use of the VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) is not permitted within the Unlimited Mobile Internet Add-On and Meteor reserves the right to impose technological or other constraints on this or related types of application.

Meteor.ie

I've no experience of the actual add-on, so not sure if they're simply reserving the right to block it, or if they actively do.

Cheers for the estimated time for further info, no panic at all and just the initial questions that hit me. Slightly related (and potentially an obvious one - given the nature of the system, I assume it's a yes), but is it intended that the iPhone and android systems will be interoperable? (e.g. iPhone users able to dial/receive calls from android users as normal)

Zascar

This is the video for Viber on Android:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLkqgAp2tfE

Hmm, one thing i have just noticed... The "Call" app is basically the exact same as the iPhone one, and not the Android one. This is very dissappointing for me. With the iphone contact list you just get a big list of names you scroll through. On android its way better. You still get the list, but you have a 0-9 keypad so you can type in the first few letters of the persons name.



This is one of the simple yet important reasons why Android is better than iPhone for me. Now I do have a HTC Desire with HTC Sense, not sure if all Android phones are the same, but having to go back to the the iPhone-like call app is dissappointing for me. Or am I wrong here?

I also see that "Messaging" is incorporated within this app. But can you have a separate shortcut directly to messaging? Do your texts and Viber IM's all go side by side? How does that work?

Viber

Zascar wrote: »

...On android its way better. You still get the list, but you have a 0-9 keypad so you can type in the first few letters of the persons name...

...I also see that "Messaging" is incorporated within this app. But can you have a separate shortcut directly to messaging? Do your texts and Viber IM's all go side by side? How does that work?...

About your first question - is this feature (the "first few letters" thing) a feature of Android in general, or specifically one of HTC?
This info is really important for us.

The second question - we are at the final stages of deciding the exact interface of our Messaging service. Within a few weeks it should be released, and you will be able to see
I'm not saying it won't change in order to adapt to the common user demand, so once it's out and available, your voice and opinion will mean a lot to us.

Zascar

I just went and checked a mates Samsung Galaxy - and although it looks different, it works the same way, you have the keypad and you can type in 7-3-8-3-7 to get "Peter" for example. So looks to me like its an Android thing, can anyone confirm?

Viber do you think this can be added as a feature request for a future update?

Viber

Zascar wrote: »

I just went and checked a mates Samsung Galaxy - and although it looks different, it works the same way, you have the keypad and you can type in 7-3-8-3-7 to get "Peter" for example. So looks to me like its an Android thing, can anyone confirm?

Viber do you think this can be added as a feature request for a future update?

We will definitely take it into account!
In the meanwhile, you can enter our Feature Request page and post your suggestion there, or join an existing similar suggestion. The more people join on a request, the faster it will become reality

You can find it here: http://support.viber.com/forums/287753-feature-requests

I'll be waiting for a confirmation on the Android contact-search function.

Zascar

Done! http://support.viber.com/entries/440420-android-style-call-app-not-iphone-style

Goodshape

Zascar wrote: »

I just went and checked a mates Samsung Galaxy - and although it looks different, it works the same way, you have the keypad and you can type in 7-3-8-3-7 to get "Peter" for example. So looks to me like its an Android thing, can anyone confirm?

I'm running stock Android 2.2 (no HTC Sense or Samsung WhatEver), with Swype keyboard, and I don't have this feature :-/

I get a list of contacts, with no keypad. If I hold down the menu button the full QWERTY keyboard pops-up and I can start typing to filter the list.


So... I guess Viber have the opportunity to go with whatever functionality they think is better --- there doesn't seem to be a firm standard on Android phones.

Dr.Winston O'Boogie

So can I ring an android phone in the US say using this program? As long as we both have wifi/data?

PaulPinnacle

niallo24 wrote: »

As long as we both have wifi/data?

As long as the other person has the viber app installed, then yes. If they don't, you can still call them, but it won't show the viber icon and you'll be charged the normal network rate.

It's the app to app call that's free, not an app to OS.

Viber

Goodshape wrote: »

I'm running stock Android 2.2 (no HTC Sense or Samsung WhatEver), with Swype keyboard, and I don't have this feature :-/

I get a list of contacts, with no keypad. If I hold down the menu button the full QWERTY keyboard pops-up and I can start typing to filter the list.


So... I guess Viber have the opportunity to go with whatever functionality they think is better --- there doesn't seem to be a firm standard on Android phones.

So the filter feature is manually installed? it doesn't simply exist on all Androids?

Zascar

I'll have to check this but I'm guessing its part of "HTC Sense" - or the Samsung equivalent as the Galaxy has something like this too.

Goodshape

Well, I can call up the keyboard if I want to filter, but the HTC displays the numeric keypad as soon as you open contacts... that bit isn't standard.

Some way to filter is definitely desirable, I just wouldn't get too stressed about trying to replicate a particular interface style. There are a number of variants.

Zascar

Well that's the beauty of Android. As its open source I'm sure its not too difficult to piece a few of these features together. It's like the WhatsApp app - its better on Android than it is on iPhone. Afaik on Android it pulls in the persons photo from the call list / facebook. Also has smilies built in which the iPhone version does not.

As goodshapre says though, just some form of way to find contacts easier than scrolling would be handy.

Khannie

I have a question....

I have a data plan and my wife doesn't. She's around wifi 80% of the time so that's grand, but if she's outside wifi range and wants to ring me I'm assuming it will just use the normal phone network? How would you know when it's using the normal phone network? I wouldn't want to ring my sister in the UK and spend ages on the phone thinking it was free for example, only to get a big bill at the end of the month.

This sounds like an amazing app I have to say. Definitely going to install it as soon as it's launched.

Great to see a company rep on the forums too.

Zascar

Iirc it gives you the option to call using viber or a normal call

Viber

Khannie wrote: »

I have a question....

I have a data plan and my wife doesn't. She's around wifi 80% of the time so that's grand, but if she's outside wifi range and wants to ring me I'm assuming it will just use the normal phone network? How would you know when it's using the normal phone network? I wouldn't want to ring my sister in the UK and spend ages on the phone thinking it was free for example, only to get a big bill at the end of the month.

Note that on the top-left corner of your iPhone screen it says whether or not you are connected to the internet via 3G (visible in the screenshot inside the previous post).

In other words - if your wife is connected to WiFi, then it's free for sure. If she's connected via 3G, her cellular company would charge her for 3G data minutes (or she might even have a pre-paid monthly unlimited plan, i don't know), but not for a long-distance cellular call.

ONLY if she doesn't have a plan, Viber will suggest to divert to call to a normal cellular call (turning the screen grey, unlike Viber's purple), and on Viber 1.1 we also added a warning message, informing the user that the call is going to be 'regular'.

Khannie

Sounds great. Thanks. Looking forward to the android version. Three android phones in our house and they'll all be getting it.

Zascar

Basically Everyone with an Android or iPhone needs to have this app - free messaging and calls to all these users, happy bloody days! Everyone just needs to keep shouting about it and spread the word!

ftm2008

I have heard of a couple of people who have got spammed messages since installing Viber.
not saying it is related but can Viber rep confirm if your number is passed onto any third party?

Viber

ftm2008 wrote: »

I have heard of a couple of people who have got spammed messages since installing Viber.
not saying it is related but can Viber rep confirm if your number is passed onto any third party?

We have heard these claims from a few of our users.
Though we knew with 100% certainty that this had nothing to do with us, we investigated the matter, and found no connection to Viber Media.

I would like to clarify: we DO NOT sell users' information to third-parties, and we keep this information WELL locked in our servers, with extremely limited access to it.

If you know of someone in specific who suffered from that 'spam', feel free to direct him to me, so we can check the issue

Thanks,
Viber.

Khannie

Zascar wrote: »

Basically Everyone with an Android or iPhone needs to have this app - free messaging and calls to all these users, happy bloody days! Everyone just needs to keep shouting about it and spread the word!

Agreed. An app like this should be enough to push most people into the smartphone world. I know my mother in law would eat this up for example.

Dozen Wicked Words

Does anyone know which version of Android will be supported, very unlikely (99.9% certain its not) my phone is ever going to be updated from 2.1, so do I stand any chance of getting this?

Viber

dooferoaks wrote: »

Does anyone know which version of Android will be supported, very unlikely (99.9% certain its not) my phone is ever going to be updated from 2.1, so do I stand any chance of getting this?

Generally,
Viber should support Android 2.0 and above.
Specifically about 2.1 - there is still some uncertainty involved, since we have encountered some unexpected technical complexity in the past few weeks.
It doesn't mean it won't be supported forever, of course. We are working hard these days in order for all version of Android above 2.0 will be fully compatible.

Aside from that, I would like to deliver a message from our company to all our users:

Recently there have been some complaints about Viber calls that don't get through, or over-consumption of battery. We have realized that many users choose to completely shut Viber off when they don't call (relying on Push Notifications for receiving calls).

But this solution actually causes the reverse effect - it disrupts incoming calls, and it wastes battery life, trying to activate the Push Notification mechanism each time a call is received.

For those of you with iPhone 3Gs and up (with "Multitasking") - we advise all our users to keep their Viber running in the background, thus saving battery life and hopefully fixing the "Missed Call" bug.

Thanks, and as usual if you have more questions please let me know,
Viber.

LukeS_

Any news on release date?

Zascar

Khannie wrote: »

Agreed. An app like this should be enough to push most people into the smartphone world. I know my mother in law would eat this up for example.

The unfortunate thing is that many people who would love it most are on PrePay tarrifs which do not come with a data package, and its an expensive add on.

Viber

LukeS_ wrote: »

Any news on release date?

Mid-late March, but no exact date yet.

Zascar

Viber is that the date for the official release or the Beta? If it is the official release then when will people be getting access to the beta?

Khannie

Yes please on some beta action for boards users.

AlmightyCushion

Khannie wrote: »

Yes please on some beta action for boards users.

What he said. Can't wait to get this. I know a few iPhone users already using it.

Viber

Estimated releases:

1. Beta version of Android - beginning of March. An official mail will be sent out by us with the application and instructions.
2. Official version of Android - end of March.

Please keep in mind that these dates are subject to small changes, since we want to be sure that our product works smoothly and that users' comments have all been addressed before the official release.

AlmightyCushion

Viber wrote: »

Estimated releases:

1. Beta version of Android - beginning of March. An official mail will be sent out by us with the application and instructions.
2. Official version of Android - end of March.

Please keep in mind that these dates are subject to small changes, since we want to be sure that our product works smoothly and that users' comments have all been addressed before the official release.

I assume we'd have to sign up for this beta. If so, how do we do that?