Review: Viber for iPhone, free calls anywhere...

 A new app for the iPhone has been making the vibes around town. And when I say around town, I mean internationally. Its got everyone 'talking' and everyone has got their facebook's jammed with recommendations to download this app if you're on the iPhone. What is it? You probably have already heard it anyway; its the Viber app.


Viber is a new addition to the myriad of voip apps that is already available on the appstore or the internet. What makes Viber so special? Besides being just another iPhone app, it works pretty seamlessly. Just install, run the app, get an access code via SMS after you key in your phone number and voila! That's it. It will automatically search your phonebook for existing Viber users (if you allow it that is...) and you can start calling pretty much immediately (as long as you are within data access range. 3G or WiFi is fine). The process is very much like Whatsapp's; the only difference is Viber is for voice calls. Unlike the likes of Fring or Skype, which needs you to register a user (email, password, blah blah...), Viber actually gets you going right after you enter the access code (if you get it fast that is... there are some users who has complaint of getting the access codes slow or not at all!).

And on top of being easy to install and use, Viber is also Ad-free. No admobs, googleads or any other ads in the scene. And the best feature of it all is..... ITS FREE! Yes, its free, what's the catch? Well, I have not figure that out yet.

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Needless to say, every good piece of software comes with its fair share or qualms and complaints for sure. And being a new and young app, I would expect a few hiccups here and there. But being raved about so much eventhough its so new has to mean its giving competition a run for their money. So far the complaints I have heard from users include some of the following:

1. Slow to receive registration code.
2. Viber contacts not updating properly (new viber contacts do not show as a viber contact in your phone list). This is a known issue and the developers are working to resolve it. Meanwhile there is a workaround to fix it. Click here for the workaround.
3. Call quality. This depends heavily on your connection speed. Many have reported superb quality and also some reports about bad quality.
4. AT&T to AT&T has free calls already, why do I need Viber? Well, not everyone is AT&T and Viber is not marketed solely to the USA market. I do not understand why some users even bother giving a review on iTunes about this. Viber is very useful to ANY other users making international calls or other users not in the USA with AT&T! Furthermore, with Viber you'd be calling your mates in the USA who are not using AT&T for free!
5. Fring does this ages ago. Again, Fring needs registration, needs login, need you to be online to receive calls, blah blah.... Viber? No need for trouble registration and activation link emails, no need to show you're online to receive calls.

At the time of writing this, almost all my friends with iPhone has already download and started using Viber. So unless you are on AT&T, go pick it up.... and start making your free calls! You can download Viber for free from iTunes (iTunes link)

Update: Apparently, they are working on a version for Blackberry. Hopefully an Android version soon (and Symbian S60 of course). Then everyone can call everyone for free!