4 ms·

I was wondering what to use for video calls with my father. He has a mobile core 2 duo machine (one of Dell's micro desktop PCs). Skype stopped working as stat

by hawski 9y ago

I was wondering what to use for video calls with my father. He has a mobile core 2 duo machine (one of Dell's micro desktop PCs). Skype stopped working as stated in the title. I went with Facebook Messenger on Firefox, but video from his camera is very jerky. It looks like it hangs for a 1s every 1.5s. For me it's an indication of a performance problem - video is converted to a WebRTC friendly format and it's slow. I have to measure or check how it works with Chrome. So I searched a bit for alternatives and now it seems that everything is to some extent Electron based. So I don't have high hopes. Ones that are interesting don't have fully functional Android client, like Tox. Electron makes me sad. That means I should probably put some work where my mouth is and do a couple of proper desktop apps for messaging (using existing protocols) or help some Tox client getting there. Or maybe do some work to make Electron more bearable?

pavel_lishin 9y ago
I want a dedicated hand-held that does video, and can lock the screen while maintaining video input and output. I have a 16 month old kid; she has grandparents who are in various stages of decline, from "knees and back hurt a little" to "fairly advanced Alzheimers", and with various levels of computer expertise at the best of times. I want to send each of them a tablet that someone configures once to be on wifi, and then just lets them receive calls from me, or the kid. I would also like this thing to be something sturdy enough I could just give to the kid so she can run around with it, and drool on it, without disconnecting the call until I unlock the device. (Grandparents aren't at the drooling stage yet, but at least one is likely to leave it outside in the rain.) Does such a critter exist?
- pmlnr 9y ago
  No, it does not, unless you stay in the Apple world, and use facetime.
- bmajz 9y ago
  The new Echo Show with drop in mode might work?
- imron 9y ago
  > and can lock the screen while maintaining video input and output. Although not quite what you're looking for, I wrote a program for macOS and Windows [0] that locks keyboard and mouse input, specifically so I could have my kids in front of my computer for video calls without worrying about them hitting keys and messing things up. 0: https://www.imralsoftware.com/kamlock https://www.imralsoftware.com/kamlock
  - pavel_lishin 9y ago
    How do you unlock it when you're done?
    - imron 9y ago
      With a keyboard combination.
- mino 9y ago
  I'd also love such a thing: a plain and simple handheld thingy with two buttons "call", "answer" and that's it. No worrying about updates, contact lists, launching apps, etc. Maybe a tablet with Android and some add-on to avoid updates, lock screens, and crapware?
- micampe 9y ago
  This is still vaporware but it sounds interesting https://www.joinloop.com https://www.joinloop.com
pmlnr 9y ago
Thing you may want to try: https://talky.io/ https://talky.io/ - needs Chrome or Chromium, fails to work under Firefox https://about.riot.im/ https://about.riot.im/ - a Matrix client that looks fine http://linphone.org/ http://linphone.org/ - this is SIP based, so only if that is working on their network However, I'm pretty much having the same problems, so I'd welcome suggestions myself.
- kirushik 9y ago
  Also https://appear.in https://appear.in — works fine in Linux browsers (Chromium and Firefox are both OK, use them myself regularly). Just create a room, share the link and you're all set.
  - lloeki 9y ago
    heartily seconded, although: > video is converted to a WebRTC friendly format and it's slow appear.in uses webrtc so if that's the problem over here it won't solve that.
  - thesmok 9y ago
    We use it daily for team meetings at work. Appear.in always works and is the easiest way to set up a video meeting.
- kwindla 9y ago
  I'm one of the founders of Pluot. We make video calling softwar and hardware and we use our own stuff every day on linux. Our goal is to combine ease of use with high quality. We test on low-powered machines, and care a lot about working on as many setups as possible, though there are a lot of variables and we don't optimize for very low CPU situations. You can go to https://pluot.co/new https://pluot.co/new any time to create video call links and share them. We'd love to hear feedback.
TheRealDunkirk 9y ago
Alternative.to lists many Skype replacements available for Linux. (http://alternativeto.net/software/skype/?platform=linux http://alternativeto.net/software/skype/?platform=linux) It doesn't list which ones are Electron-based, but I have to assume something there works well. I'm eager to try Slack, but I current work in a VERY Microsoft-dominated company, and the horrendous Skype FOR BUSINESS! is the only thing tolerated. (They even turned off the chat history! You know, to make it even MORE horrible.)
lightedman 9y ago
Get Camfrog. For simple 1v1 video chat and chat rooms, nothing beats it, period, and it's free for pretty much every use excepting A. visiting multiple chat rooms at the same time and B. Seeing more than one person at a time in said chat rooms (pond chats are different.) One of the rare programs I actually pay for instead of cracking the crap out of it.
concrete777 9y ago
Do your dad a favor and buy him a tablet. I'd recommend an iPad for longevity and security reasons. The previous team I was on was internal corp IT. Everyone was begging to ditch GotoMeeting and move to Skype. But Skype was awful as well. So we tested Zoom/Bluejeans/Hangouts and others (went with Zoom, fwiw). We quit bothering with desktop/browser apps for video, and generally stuck to phone for audio only. The Android and iOS experience with all of them was much less flakey.
krrrh 9y ago
Maybe buy a couple of used iPad 2s for $100 a pop and use them exclusively for FaceTime. It seems to work far better than anything else for video chats, even on 5-year-old hardware. The power of native apps is real.

by hawski 9y ago

pavel_lishin 9y ago

I want a dedicated hand-held that does video, and can lock the screen while maintaining video input and output. I have a 16 month old kid; she has grandparents who are in various stages of decline, from "knees and back hurt a little" to "fairly advanced Alzheimers", and with various levels of computer expertise at the best of times. I want to send each of them a tablet that someone configures once to be on wifi, and then just lets them receive calls from me, or the kid. I would also like this thing to be something sturdy enough I could just give to the kid so she can run around with it, and drool on it, without disconnecting the call until I unlock the device. (Grandparents aren't at the drooling stage yet, but at least one is likely to leave it outside in the rain.) Does such a critter exist?

pmlnr 9y ago
No, it does not, unless you stay in the Apple world, and use facetime.
bmajz 9y ago
The new Echo Show with drop in mode might work?
imron 9y ago
> and can lock the screen while maintaining video input and output. Although not quite what you're looking for, I wrote a program for macOS and Windows [0] that locks keyboard and mouse input, specifically so I could have my kids in front of my computer for video calls without worrying about them hitting keys and messing things up. 0: https://www.imralsoftware.com/kamlock https://www.imralsoftware.com/kamlock
- pavel_lishin 9y ago
  How do you unlock it when you're done?
  - imron 9y ago
    With a keyboard combination.
mino 9y ago
I'd also love such a thing: a plain and simple handheld thingy with two buttons "call", "answer" and that's it. No worrying about updates, contact lists, launching apps, etc. Maybe a tablet with Android and some add-on to avoid updates, lock screens, and crapware?
micampe 9y ago
This is still vaporware but it sounds interesting https://www.joinloop.com https://www.joinloop.com

pmlnr 9y ago

Thing you may want to try: https://talky.io/ https://talky.io/ - needs Chrome or Chromium, fails to work under Firefox https://about.riot.im/ https://about.riot.im/ - a Matrix client that looks fine http://linphone.org/ http://linphone.org/ - this is SIP based, so only if that is working on their network However, I'm pretty much having the same problems, so I'd welcome suggestions myself.

kirushik 9y ago
Also https://appear.in https://appear.in — works fine in Linux browsers (Chromium and Firefox are both OK, use them myself regularly). Just create a room, share the link and you're all set.
- lloeki 9y ago
  heartily seconded, although: > video is converted to a WebRTC friendly format and it's slow appear.in uses webrtc so if that's the problem over here it won't solve that.
- thesmok 9y ago
  We use it daily for team meetings at work. Appear.in always works and is the easiest way to set up a video meeting.
kwindla 9y ago
I'm one of the founders of Pluot. We make video calling softwar and hardware and we use our own stuff every day on linux. Our goal is to combine ease of use with high quality. We test on low-powered machines, and care a lot about working on as many setups as possible, though there are a lot of variables and we don't optimize for very low CPU situations. You can go to https://pluot.co/new https://pluot.co/new any time to create video call links and share them. We'd love to hear feedback.

TheRealDunkirk 9y ago

Alternative.to lists many Skype replacements available for Linux. (http://alternativeto.net/software/skype/?platform=linux http://alternativeto.net/software/skype/?platform=linux) It doesn't list which ones are Electron-based, but I have to assume something there works well. I'm eager to try Slack, but I current work in a VERY Microsoft-dominated company, and the horrendous Skype FOR BUSINESS! is the only thing tolerated. (They even turned off the chat history! You know, to make it even MORE horrible.)

lightedman 9y ago

Get Camfrog. For simple 1v1 video chat and chat rooms, nothing beats it, period, and it's free for pretty much every use excepting A. visiting multiple chat rooms at the same time and B. Seeing more than one person at a time in said chat rooms (pond chats are different.) One of the rare programs I actually pay for instead of cracking the crap out of it.

concrete777 9y ago

Do your dad a favor and buy him a tablet. I'd recommend an iPad for longevity and security reasons. The previous team I was on was internal corp IT. Everyone was begging to ditch GotoMeeting and move to Skype. But Skype was awful as well. So we tested Zoom/Bluejeans/Hangouts and others (went with Zoom, fwiw). We quit bothering with desktop/browser apps for video, and generally stuck to phone for audio only. The Android and iOS experience with all of them was much less flakey.

krrrh 9y ago

Maybe buy a couple of used iPad 2s for $100 a pop and use them exclusively for FaceTime. It seems to work far better than anything else for video chats, even on 5-year-old hardware. The power of native apps is real.