Probably an academic question but related to my immediately preceding
thread,

A friend of mine, while doing a detailed customer survey (She does them
as a paid job. She's also a mystery shopper.) was surprised to find that
Instagram has video calls within it.

I tried to find instructions on how to use that, and I did but they
didn't seem to match the appearance of my app. .

I don't suppose any of you have used Instagram video calling?

Of course the friend above has a valid sim and phone number and wasn't
trying to test if that is needed, but do you think that the same likely
requirements for Whatsapp would be relevant to Instagram? You generally
don't need a sim to use Instagram, but maybe you do to video chat?

(Maybe an academic question. Even now that she has a cell phone and
uses it a lot to watch videos, she still calls me and usually wants me
to look something up on the web. I don't mind but I'm not always here
or awake and when I tell her she can do it herself on the phone, she
says it's too complicated. Even I found Instagram complicated, a lot
more than a webbrowser. (Just one example,the button for Notifications.
It suggess lots of people for me to get notified from (I guess). I know
who one of them is and all the others are total strangers!)

We could also try Skype, but Skype charges. A very modest amount and
well worth it, especially when it was the only one that had video calls,
but you have to start with $10 most of which will likely be wasted.

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
[...]

> We could also try Skype, but Skype charges. A very modest amount and
> well worth it, especially when it was the only one that had video calls,
> but you have to start with $10 most of which will likely be wasted.

Nope, Skype does not charge for Skype-to-Skype video calls. Skype
charges for *voice* calls to *normal phone numbers*, i.e. not
Skype-to-Skype, but Skype-to-phone_number, a totally different use case.

Reading your intro, I was going to suggest Skype, because Skype
*exactly* fits your bill, i.e. no need for a phone number like with
WhatsApp, not to mention using something like Instagram.

In comp.mobile.android, on 23 Dec 2023 10:17:51 GMT, Frank Slootweg
<this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

>micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
>[...]
>
>> We could also try Skype, but Skype charges. A very modest amount and
>> well worth it, especially when it was the only one that had video calls,
>> but you have to start with $10 most of which will likely be wasted.
>
> Nope, Skype does not charge for Skype-to-Skype video calls. Skype

Good point. It's been so long I forgot. Or maybe I only knew about
voice calls.

>charges for *voice* calls to *normal phone numbers*, i.e. not
>Skype-to-Skype, but Skype-to-phone_number, a totally different use case.
>
> Reading your intro, I was going to suggest Skype, because Skype
>*exactly* fits your bill, i.e. no need for a phone number like with
>WhatsApp, not to mention using something like Instagram.

So she has her phone on a lot during the day, I think, but ANSWERED:
would she have to start Skype each time she turned her phone on, or is
there some part of skype that runs all the time. Isn't it true that
Whatsapp has part of it running all the time?
ANSWER***: Skype themselves say "If you're not receiving calls to
your Skype Number, make sure that Skype is running, and you are signed
in. If you are not signed into Skype, the call will either ring busy or
be redirected to voicemail according to your Voice Messaging
preferences. Be sure that you are also using the latest version of
Skype."
https://support.skype.com/en/faq/FA10615/why-am-i-not-receiving-calls-to-my-skype-number

***Unless you know something different. A guy with an iphone says it
doesn't have to be, but that's an iphone.

It may be hard to get her to start skype too, if as they say, it's
necessary. She's 80-something and claims the webbrowser is too much for
her**%%%%%. She doens't leave her house much anymore, so I think she
will really enjoy calls from pretty places in Guatemala. Though she
sits on the porch and in her little community***, people walk their dogs
and stop and talk. When I'm there, passersby keep her pretty busy.
Though maybe not when it's cold out. ***Her small house was built in
1870. In the basement, through a hole in the sheetrock in one place you
can see the foundation and it's ....darn I forget, but it's not cement
or cinder blocks. Ah, it's rocks, with nothing apparent holding them
together. But it seems to work.

%%%%%Aha, I can call her on the landline and ask her to turn Skype on!!
I keep forgetting that.

I'm hoping to go see her today. I'm glad you wrote before I do. I will
test calling her while I'm sitting next to her. .

**A couple years ago I gave her a old laptop but it still ran win10.
Visitors came over a couple minutes later when I would have explained it
to her, and I left before they did and maybe that's why she told me she
didn't want the laptop.

micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
[Lots deleted.]

> So she has her phone on a lot during the day, I think, but ANSWERED:
> would she have to start Skype each time she turned her phone on, or is
> there some part of skype that runs all the time. Isn't it true that
> Whatsapp has part of it running all the time?

She doesn't have to do anything, not for Skype, not for WhatsApp, not
for ... ad infinitum.

Trust them, these companies know what they're doing! If these services
had to be started manually, each time the phone/device would be
restarted, let alone just 'turned on', they would be basically useless.

Of course she should not *sign out* from Skype, but other than that,
everything is automatic.

(As to WhatsApp: You can not even 'sign out' from that, you can only
delete your account.)

[Lots more deleted.]

In comp.mobile.android, on 23 Dec 2023 13:15:26 GMT, Frank Slootweg
<this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

>micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
>[Lots deleted.]
>
>> So she has her phone on a lot during the day, I think, but ANSWERED:
>> would she have to start Skype each time she turned her phone on, or is
>> there some part of skype that runs all the time. Isn't it true that
>> Whatsapp has part of it running all the time?
>
> She doesn't have to do anything, not for Skype, not for WhatsApp, not
>for ... ad infinitum.
>
> Trust them, these companies know what they're doing! If these services
>had to be started manually, each time the phone/device would be
>restarted, let alone just 'turned on', they would be basically useless.
>
> Of course she should not *sign out* from Skype, but other than that,
>everything is automatic.
>
> (As to WhatsApp: You can not even 'sign out' from that, you can only
>delete your account.)
>
>[Lots more deleted.]

Thanks. She decided she wanted to spend today in bed, so I'm going to
see her tomorrow or Monday. We'll test all this stuff.

And she told me her 3-door-away neighbor spends the winters in Guatemala
and I should write him!

In comp.mobile.android, on 23 Dec 2023 13:15:26 GMT, Frank Slootweg
<this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

>micky <NONONOmisc07@fmguy.com> wrote:
>[Lots deleted.]
>
>> So she has her phone on a lot during the day, I think, but ANSWERED:
>> would she have to start Skype each time she turned her phone on, or is
>> there some part of skype that runs all the time. Isn't it true that
>> Whatsapp has part of it running all the time?
>
> She doesn't have to do anything, not for Skype, not for WhatsApp, not
>for ... ad infinitum.

I went over there today and the procedure for Whatsapp was pretty much
what I'd read, except the button for Call Me didn't appear
automatically. You had to tap "I didn't get a code". And when I did
that they called and gave me the number and then it wanted a name for
her and a birthday iirc. And she's in.

I also tried Skype, but I had signed up for Skype before it was owned by
MS iiuc, and I got to pick a userid and password. Now it wanted an
email address or phone number. I was afraid to confuse things by using
her landline number everywhere and I didn't remember her email password.
(She doesn't know it. I made up her account and send her little things
but she never reads it.) So it's 25 mnutes each way. Maybe I'll go back
tomorrow with the password.

Back to What's app, I called her and nothing happened in her phone, so I
tried to call me with her phone and it asked for more permissions. Maybe
that had something to do with my not being able to call her, but still I
couldn't. Finally the Answer / Reject box showed up, but it didn't ring
and she can't spend all day watching the phone to see that box. I

So I chacked sounds and ringer was less than half height. Set it to max.
Still didn't ring.

Found it was set to Do not disturb! Now it rings. She probably
didn't even touch the Settings page, so maybe it changed on its own or
maybe the guy who gave her his old phone had set it that way.

I can call her if she's got wifi and she can call people from doctor's
offices etc.

And the video phone works too.

She's not very excited about my calling her she may like it more when I
can show her a spouting volcano, or something else good. (Guatemala has
2 or 3 active ones.)

> Trust them, these companies know what they're doing! If these services
>had to be started manually, each time the phone/device would be
>restarted, let alone just 'turned on', they would be basically useless.
>
> Of course she should not *sign out* from Skype, but other than that,
>everything is automatic.
>
> (As to WhatsApp: You can not even 'sign out' from that, you can only
>delete your account.)
>
>[Lots more deleted.]