Pros and Cons of The Latest Viber App Update: June 2020

Well, I just updated my Viber app a week or so ago for the group call feature and voila! There's an advantage and also some disadvantages. Find out what these are below!

Background on my Viber Usage

So I've been using the Viber app for quite a while now. Got introduced to it in 2016 when I got back into Real Estate.

My manager then asked us all to install Viber and communicate through the app for any team concerns or updates. It's also being used by the developer company employees so it came in handy.

It came to a point that I was getting overwhelmed because of all the Viber groups I got added to. Little did I know, I'd get used to it and grow to love using the app.

Surprise surprise too! This year the pandemic has brought more people into Viber. I'm sure the company (Viber) is happy with all new and active groups that suddenly popped up and is currently still growing.

One day I get a Viber message about this:

It's a good feature but my initial thought was Zoom or Microsoft Team meetings are still better.

So of course since I kinda thought it's a good idea, I even shared it on Twitter. And surprise, Viber replied to say we should update our apps to use the new feature. Ok cool. 👍 Maybe when or if I need to use that feature. 🤷

Guess what happened almost a week later?

The Latest Viber App Update

So a week or so ago, a property client asked me if I knew anyone who can do title transfer processing. Since I am an agent and not a broker, I said I will contact brokers I know who would like to help process the provincial property.

And so, voila! I decided to use the new Viber feature! Updated my app because hey, finally we can do a Viber group video call! 💃

After updating and then using the group video call feature this is what I think about it:

Cons of Updating the Viber App

1. Viber classic theme is now almost white!
   I don't know about you but I love violet! How dare they remove my favorite color, the color that signifies the Viber brand!?! 💔
   
2. If you're just three or four people, you 4 can't fill up one screen.
   Well blame it on first time usage bloopers. I thought you can't view everyone's faces. Turns out you have to press on the person's circle avatar at the bottom to be able to see their screen. Otherwise ya'll can't see each other's faces.
   
3. Number of characters you can put as caption under a photo got reduced.
   Well as mentioned, I have joined a lot of Viber groups lately. Of course I need to put long text under pictures I share. Hey you never know who will buy my products. Lol. Too bad they have shortened the number of characters you can type in. So sad.
   
4. Viber ADS!!!
   Oh godzzz, Viber has finally been infiltrated by paid ads! 🤦

Pros of Updating the Viber App

1. Enjoy a cleaner interface.
   Well what do you expect with an almost white interface. Are they trying to be Facebook? Huhuhu.
   
   
2. My Notes feature
   Well I got my own note app but okay. I guess some people need it. Apparently it's been added based on user feedback.
   I used the note and well it is useful when forwarding messages to other groups and other people.
   
   
3. Group call of up to 20 people
   Yeah, pretty useful for big families who want to talk and see each other online. Good for small meetings like what we did too.
   
   

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And then I updated it again today... It seems like they fixed a few bugs with version 13.2.0.8 but it's still the same to me. 😅

Oh well. How about you? Do you use Viber and what do you think about the updates?

Originally posted on Steemit / Hive.