Viber has made quite a name for itself as a global mobile first company, but today that all changes as the company breaks ground in the desktop space. That means that starting today, Viber’s 200 million+ users will have access to their Viber contacts from both mobile and desktop.
The rollout is part of a bigger push from Viber, including an update to its iOS, Android and BlackBerry apps to version 3.0. But the real story is this desktop app.
I played with the software earlier this week, and can say that it’s a truly impressive VoIP, messaging, and video calling platform. That’s right. Viber for Desktop (available on both PC and Mac here) marks the company’s entry into video calling with a beta version of the feature. For now, video calling is only available from desktop to desktop.
Other than that, the desktop version has just about everything the mobile version has, including messaging, stickers, etc.
To start, you must be a mobile user of Viber, so if you don’t have a number that’s already associated with the service, the desktop app will ask you to download the mobile application. From there, you simply input your number into the desktop app, enter a pin which is sent to your mobile device, and you instantly have access to all the contacts you know on Viber.
The reason Viber did it this way is because the company pays close attention to the chatting, and talking habits of its users. We don’t sit still when we talk; we roam and wander. By tying the mobile and desktop applications together by default, this actually lets you seamlessly switch from mobile to desktop in the middle of a call.
Viber also syncs your messages against mobile and desktop, so all messages appear on both platforms but only the device that you’re on actively will beep. Messages deleted on one platform will also show as deleted on others.
As previously mentioned, Viber is also launching a huge update to its mobile applications, most notably Android and iOS. They’ll both now have video messages (much like a video voicemail which you can leave for a friend), new stickers, “last online status”, an upgraded photo experience, a new voice engine, and other minor fixes. Android in particular has undergone a huge redesign to be “less iOS and more Android,” according to Talmon Marco, CEO of Viber.
