The iPhone [1] Â revolutionized the mobile market, but the actual phone and messaging experience hasn't changed too dramatically. Viber (free, App Store) is a VoIP app that aims to improve your talk and text experience with some remarkable new tools. It might even save you a little money in the process, with free voice and text messages to other Viber users.
Starting Up
Setting up Viber is fairly straightforward: just enter your phone number and a user name, then enter the activation code Viber sends via SMS. I was impressed when setting up Viber on my Samsung Galaxy S III [2] when the app automatically detected the activation textâ€"a feature surely impossible in iOS.
For better or worse your Viber account is tied to your existing phone number. This means you'll have to create a new account when you migrate to a new phone, though the developers tell me your data should still be available. However, the big advantage is that Viber will automatically detect which of your contacts is already using the service.
 This is in stark contrast to Google Voice [3] , which lets you create a new, independent phone number that will redirect to the devices of your choosing. Viber is focused more on communication, so look at Google Voice if you want to merge multiple phone numbers behind a single number.
Using Viber
Once you're up and running, Viber will automatically import all your contacts into its own directory. From here you can quickly call or send messages using either Viber or your normal data plan. This is smart, since it encourages you to use Viber as your one-stop-shop for voice and messaging.
The other sections are for messaging, recent calls, a keypad, and settings. The interface is very iOS, with tabs running along the bottom bar, but I preferred the Android version's streamlined approach which condensed the app down to three sections.
Viber is obviously keen to use design features that iOS users are familiar with, but I'd like to see a more imaginative and elegant design that looks like an iOS app.
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