Podcast: Play in new window | Embed
Gerri asked: “Which is the most recommended – is Facetime better or is Skype better to use if you want video and audio?”
Gerri, whatever the person you want to talk to is using, that’s the best.
Facetime is simpler, there’s no logging in or anything like that, Skype is available to anyone, even if they don’t have an Apple device.
Other than that, it doesn’t really matter, they’ll both get you audio and video, they’ll both adjust to compensate for bad networks or to get your great quality on good ones, they’re pretty generic services.
The main thing that sets them apart is the user base
The main thing that sets them apart is the user base, if you’re interested in talking to someone who has an Apple devices, then FaceTime is already built in and ready, so you might as well skip setting up a new service, and call them on it, if you want to talk to someone on a different platform, Skype is free and easy enough to set up.
The only real concern is when choosing between them should be: can they get you to the person at the other end of the line? Choose the service that can, everything else will be comparable enough.
If there is any difference between them, it’s that FaceTime seems to give a better video quality over worse connections. If you’re on a good, solid Internet connection, you likely won’t be able to tell them apart.
But as we said, it’s really all about using the same program as the person you’re trying to reach is using.