Talkatone (Android & iOS)

Google already offers free calls from your web browser, but they don’t offer this feature on smartphones to avoid upsetting the carriers. Talkatone does what Google won’t and offers free calls and texts over Wi-Fi.

 

Talkatone piggybacks off Google’s infrastructure, so it only offers free calls to the US and Canada. If you’re a Google Voice user, you can also receive phone calls and use text messages. Talkatone can even turn that iPod Touch, iPad, or Android tablet into a phone.

Making Free Mobile Calls

Talkatone is available from Google Play and the Apple App Store.  The screenshots here are from the Android app, but the app for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is more mature and should work similarly.  The free version is ad-supported.  There’s also a premium version that removes the ads and offers improved call quality, among other features – but the free version works just fine.

Launch Talkatone and you’ll be prompted to add a Google or Facebook account.  You’ll have to provide a Google account to take advantage of the free calls.

Outgoing Calls

You’ll see a dialpad after Talkatone connects. You can also use the icons at the top of the screen to select a number from your contacts, recently called list, or favorites.  Placing a call is as easy as dialing the number. No further configuration needed!

If you have never placed a phone call from Gmail’s web interface before, you may need to open Gmail in your web browser and place a single outgoing call before Talkatone will work properly with your Google account.

You can also participate in VoIP calls over Google Talk or Facebook. Use the Contacts pane to start calls with your Google Talk or Facebook contacts.

Status Message

By default, Talkatone advertises itself by adding itself to your Google Talk status message when you’re using it. You can change this – open the Settings screen, tap Accounts and tap the name of your Google account to customize your status.

Adjusting Call Quality

The Call Quality settings screen offers a variety of options to control call quality, with separate settings for Wi-Fi and cellular data connections. You can optimize Talkatone for high-quality calls over Wi-Fi and low-bandwidth calls over the cellular network.

If you try Talkatone, leave a comment and let us know how well it works for you. If you prefer another VoIP app instead, let us know which one!