Everyone I know uses Whatsapp. I didn’t want to use it to start with (because the old phone had limited storage) but you end up having to adapt to your social circle. I loathe messenger because I found out by accident that anyone on your friends list can call you using that facility even if you hardly know them. whatsapp is also a risk if someone has your contact details, but less likely to be able to find you. I took FB messenger off the phone because someone I didn’t want to talk to & hadn’t given my no. to started calling me in the middle of the night. I just check messages when I go on the laptop.
We tried doing face calls in whatsapp during lockdown and it was very clunky. I see Darren has mentioned Skype - I used to love that when abroad. It was a great way to call someone at home without the mobile costs years ago.
Some friends don’t like whatsapp much and prefer to use SMS text messages. These are people who believe we are being spied on. These days I’m starting to think they are probably right to stay away from these apps. Who knows who is eavesdropping. We take our phones everywhere and it “listens” to conversations. I know this because I will end a call and suddenly ads appear on my social media ref something we discussed! Realise it’s an AI bot listening but it must be recording the information somewhere in the ether of WWW.
My kids often contact me on Whatsapp to use the video facility, personally I just use the phone call to talk to friends and relatives anywhere in the world. I don’t feel any great need to see them while I talk and with unlimited calls and texts worldwide why would you bother with anything else?
I am a fan of the Thunderbird mail reader with its many addins, it manages my seven email accounts with ease.
We use Whats App a lot recently via phone connections or text if you just want to say something short so that is preferred for us as no need see them face to face as it can put you off…As in you want to look your best haha but can’t always be so well presented.as you would wish.
We talk to old friends around the world that way as well…
I mostly agree with you, Darren. The face to face interaction seems to the best way to get a true feel for the other person’s general personality. It is most advantageous when reaching out to friends in another state, or country, to use the technology. Keeping in touch is important to friendships.
I have found that when using the different apps, the men seem to prefer the visual interactions. As for myself, there is a lot to be said for listening to the tone of voice, inflections and speed of answering tells me a lot.
Having said this, the gmail, or skype options eliminates the cost of cell phone calls. Using a tablet or desktop. What’s App is using data from the phones, also.
After a short period of time during 2018 when I visited England, the friends I met there gave me access to What’s App to stay in touch. I found it annoying. as you say, too many acquaintances were calling at a whim. Too many folks to answer to, took a lot of my time. I rarely use messenger, but a few of my friends will reach out through the app. I am not comfortable with that for the reason you mentioned. AI bots are listening.
WhatsApp for family and friends, it’s quick, simple, easy and efficient, text, phone, or video function… great!!
I’ve recently been using Google Meet for chatting for prearranged chats… great too!! Yep, it is good to actually see who you’re talking to, under the right circumstances of course
Thanks Maree perhaps they added that in the years since I deleted the app. I think it was at least 6-8 years ago I stopped using it. May check it out now.
Normally Whatsapp is only on my phone but I sometimes use it on my computer using the “Linked Devices” menu item and scanning the QR code. It works well for transferring files etc and is temporary.
I use ‘Phone Link’ on the computer (links in the same way as WhatsApp) . It’s a handy way to get photographs from the phone to the computer. It can be used for text messaging as well.
I use the free DropBox for that, I like the fact that if I am out taking photos on my phone by the time I get home they are already on my lap and desktop (the free version of Dropbox ha a limit of three devices)
Every so often I move the photos from Dropbox to another folder on my Desktop to free up space in Dropbox as there is a limit but it takes me years to fill. I even have a batch file to do the work for me.
@echo off
setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
set "sourcedir=%USERPROFILE%\Dropbox\Camera Uploads"
set "targetdir=D:\Libraries\Pictures\Phone Photos"
for %%F in ("%sourcedir%\*.jpg", "%sourcedir%\*.mp4") do (
set "CopyFile=%%~nxF"
REM Get filename without extension
set "FileName=%%~nF"
REM Get first four characters from the filename
set "DirName=!FileName:~0,4!"
If !DirName!==Scre (
set "PathName=Screenshots"
) ELSE (
set "PathName=!DirName!"
)
rem set target directory
set "NewPath=%targetdir%\!PathName!"
echo the path is !NewPath!
REM Create directory if not exist
if not exist "!NewPath!" md "!NewPath!"
REM copy the file
rem xcopy "%%F" "!NewPath!" /d
robocopy "%sourcedir%" "!NewPath!" "!CopyFile!"
)
pause
endlocal
