Any advice on making 100% free calls over wifi?

[Arcadeslasher]

I've been using Talkatone on my iPod Touch for about a year now as my main phone/home phone. It's completely free and as long as I'm connected to wifi it allows me to make and receive calls as well as text just as if it was a iPhone. The problem is that it uses Google Voice and Google is ending support for Talkatone as well as every other app that uses Google Voice for free phone calls on May 15th. Every free call app I've discovered so far always has some kind of catch such as free inbound calls but not outbound calls or they only let you make and receive calls from users of the same app which means you can't call a home phone or cell. So with that being said, does anyone here know of any apps that provide 100% free inbound and outbound calling over wifi that doesn't use a Google Voice account?

[ark_ader]

Yeah you could use your own landline.  I got a Trust USB phone adapter to interface with Skype.  You can get them on eBay for $5 and the latest drivers for XP is out there but you have to do some digging.  Also works with asterix so if you had a x86 Linux box you could have your own call center.  .  I digress....

Fiddly, but this is permanent solution.

[lilshawn]

The problem is SOMEONE has to pay to transfer the data from the digital side of the internet to the analog side of the phone system and vice versa, and that service isn't free. Google made it seem free because they get their money elsewhere. They can afford to lose money (and have the bandwidth to spare) supplying D/A A/D conversions.

[abispac]

magic jack? their app its free, you can have in android or ios, fre to receive and to make calls, no text mesage, they let you use a free number or you can pay a onetime fee to get a local number.

[SNAAKE]

I forgot but wasn't viber totally free and didn't use google voice?

otherwise magicjack is good. you dont get a phone number but calls are free. just can't get any return calls lol..

[Slippyblade]

I've been a MagicJack customer for several years now.  I use the MJ+ that plugs straight into my router so I don't have to have the stupid app with the annoying popup.  For the tiny annual fee I pay I have been VERY happy with the service.

[pbj]

Just get TextNow.

Even though the ads say "no texts" they'll still negotiate Greek via text.

[RandyT]

Nothing is ever free.  You may not be paying with cash, but you are paying through acceptance of sometimes onerous agreements giving up your privacy, allowing your information to be sold and used in aggressive marketing schemes, etc..  Sometimes not-free, but reasonably priced is better.

[SNAAKE]

talkatone was pretty good for free tho..

it had ads which I never paid attention to. but I am sure they made their money from those.

[RandyT]

it had ads which I never paid attention to. but I am sure they made their money from those.

That's the thing, those ads seem innocuous enough.  It's how they manage to target users as likely being interested in what is being offered.  The way I understand it is that a speech to text algorithm is employed to pick out items of interest from conversations, upon which a user profile is generated.  Probably no worse than anything else which goes on everyday in the electronic communications world, but users probably shouldn't have any expectations of privacy with these "free" services.

[pbj]

Oh please.

[RandyT]

Oh please.

Link 

[SNAAKE]

randyT wears a tinfoil hat


xbox 360 kinect scares me more. next thing you know it will be like "I am sorry dave, I can't let you do that" then start shooting lasers or something

[RandyT]

randyT wears a tinfoil hat

You wouldn't be making fun if you saw how fabulous it looks on me 

[lilshawn]

randyT wears a tinfoil hat

You wouldn't be making fun if you saw how fabulous it looks on me 

depends on how you fold it.

[SNAAKE]

"upptalk" doesnt use google voice and its free like how randyt said. give out your email address AND age lol..

but you can fill out bs info on there. obviously run by banner ad but I almost never look at those. I dont really need it but good to have the option. if I dont wanna give out my number for xbox modding business or whatever.

[jammin0]

Textnow is pretty good.  You need to watch ad videos to get calling credit but text is free as can be.

[SNAAKE]

google voice text is free too and totally hassle free

doubt they disabling text too. I think just the voice/free phone support will be gone on may15. Id stick to gv for text to keep tracking of things. its just simple and easy to use(I text from computer). this upptalk is surprisingly good for a free app.

[Alistair Keith]

Google Voice for SMS will probably still be around (which covers SMS).

There are some good free apps like:

• Viber - The receiver needs to have a Viber app on their phone for it to be free, Viber Out costs money.
• Facebook Messenger - Free, but the reciever needs to have the Facebook Messenger app too.

There are some good cheap ones:

• Skype - Get a skype subscription for calls to landlines and mobiles, you can even get international packages too.
• Vonage (or a VoIP provider) - You can get apps and also get boxes to have a landline like feel too.