Video Calls or Messaging Apps: Which Suits Staying in Touch

When learners in my smartphone classes tell me they want to stay in touch with family, they usually mean one of two things. Some want to see a face and hear a voice, which is what a video call gives. Others want a quick way to share a photo, ask a question or say good morning without anyone needing to be free at the same moment. That is what a messaging app does well.

Both sit under the same heading in the Digital Communication Skills course, but they ask different things of you. A video call asks for a steady connection, a good spot to sit and a few minutes of attention. A message asks for a little typing and some patience while you wait for a reply. Knowing which you need makes the learning much easier.

This comparison comes from watching many learners try both for the first time, and from the questions they ask afterwards.

A video call is the closest thing to sitting at the same table. You see expressions, you hear the tone of someone's voice, and a grandchild can hold up a drawing and have it admired on the spot. For many of my learners, a call with a daughter or son living in another province is the reason they picked up a tablet in the first place.

Calls also work well for appointments with services that offer them, because explaining a problem out loud is often quicker than typing it. A clinic, a bank or a community office may all ask you to join by link, and that link works the same way each time once you have done it once.

The honest downsides are practical. You need a reasonably strong connection, a charged device and a quiet place. If the picture freezes, it can feel stressful, and some people feel on show when the camera is on.

• Best for conversation, celebrations and anything that needs a face
• Needs a steady connection and a charged device
• Can feel tiring in long stretches

Messaging suits the rhythm of ordinary days. You send a photo of the garden, someone replies an hour later, and nobody has had to arrange anything. You can read a message again if you missed a detail, which is a real help when you are still learning, and you can answer at your own speed with no one watching you think.

Messages are also kinder to a weak connection. A short text will usually go through where a video call would stutter, which matters in rural parts of southern Alberta and anywhere the signal is patchy.

The trade-off is that text carries less warmth. A short reply can read as curt when it was only quick, and group chats can become noisy fast. Learning to mute a busy group, and to use a voice note or a photo when words fall short, makes messaging far more pleasant.

• Best for small updates, photos and planning
• Works on a weaker connection
• Easy to reread and to answer later

If someone has never used either, I usually suggest starting with messaging. The steps are smaller, a mistake costs nothing, and a first success comes quickly: one photo sent, one reply received. That small win builds the confidence you need for the next step.

Video calls come second, once the learner is comfortable opening the app, finding a contact and tapping the right button. By then the screen feels familiar and the call is a new use of something already known, not a hurdle from a standing start.

There are exceptions. If the main goal is seeing a new grandchild or speaking with a relative who is unwell, I would go straight to video and practise with a patient family member beforehand. The recommendation follows the reason you want to learn, not a fixed order.

With video calls, the usual troubles are small ones. The microphone is muted without anyone noticing, the camera points at the ceiling, or the device sits too low and shows mostly a chin. We practise a short checklist before every call: sound on, camera on, device propped at eye level, light in front of you rather than behind.

With messaging, the stumbles are different. People send a message to the wrong contact, reply to the whole group when they meant one person, or worry that a read message has gone unanswered too long. We talk through these gently, because every one of them happens to experienced users too.

In both cases, a scam can arrive disguised as a friendly message or a call link. A message from an unknown number asking for money or a code is never a reason to hurry, and the Internet Safety Essentials course covers that in detail.

• Check sound, camera and device height before a call
• Confirm the recipient before pressing send
• Treat unexpected links and requests with caution

As the days shorten and the weather turns, more people stay indoors and look for ways to keep company. My advice is to use both, in different roles. Let messaging carry the small, daily contact, and keep video calls for the conversations that deserve a face, such as a weekly catch-up with family.

If you have to choose one to learn first, choose messaging, then add video when you feel ready. That order keeps the learning calm, and it matches how most of my learners have progressed.

Whichever you start with, practise with someone who will not mind a mistake. A few short sessions with a willing relative teach more than any amount of reading, and they make the next step feel much smaller.