What's App or Viper or?

These apps all allow you to send texts and make phone calls using wifi. So whether or not it's free depends on whether or not you have access to free wifi (for example, if your hotel offers wifi for free or if the coffee shop, restaurant, or other public place offers free wifi).

These apps all require some sort of data connection to use, so if you don't have free wifi, then you'll either need to pay for wifi (again, either at a hotel, cafe, public place, etc., that charges for wifi) or use your cellular data (either via a local SIM chip in your phone or roaming data via your home cellular carrier).

It's Viber, not Viper.

I should also add that these types of apps do require some degree of fluency in your specific phone's settings. If you do not want to be charged for using the app's services, then you need to be sure to turn off the "data roaming" or "cellular data" (or whatever the setting is called on your particular device) feature prior to use during your travels.

For example, say you are in your hotel where there is free wifi and you are using one of these apps to talk on the phone with friends back home. You continue to talk as you leave the hotel and soon you will no longer be within range of the hotel's wifi. If the data roaming feature is not turned off, your phone will automatically begin using data rather than wifi to transmit your phone call. Fees for using data roaming can be incredibly high, possibly higher than roaming calls.

All above correct.

By the way, it is WhatsApp, no spaces, 2 capital letters, no punctuation.

Yes, if you have data, WhatsApp is free for calls, texts, messages and photos. Your recipient also needs the app.

I use it a lot. Love it.

we have used Viber in europe and elsewhere on a couple of trips. have not had any problems. just great. ( providing the other person has it loaded, of course) have used it entirely on a phone by using free wifi.( not using any data on the phone)

hope this helps.

What'sApp works great. I used it with all my hotels' free WiFi with no problems.

Just added WhatsApp for this trip -- easy text messaging to family, haven't tried calling yet. We put our phones on vacation hold so there is NO chance of accidentally using data.

I use Viber and it's worked very well so far, although I only use it for text messages. With the two app's you're considering, you might check to see whether the recipients of messages also have to be using the same app.

Bange, As I've stated in another post, our youngest daughter is doing a semester at UEA in Norwich. We have been texting and calling using WhatsApp. It has worked great.

Just throwing it out there, LINE works really well too.

Nigel: I just want to make sure I understand this right. My daughter and granddaughter and I are going on a 2 wk trip to Europe this fall. We all have iPhones and all have our service through AT&T. If we use WhatsApp we can text each other back and forth for FREE? I plan to get AT&T's lowest international plan, and I think they will also get it.

I see my name on this thread from March.

To answer that last question - I know nothing about ATT or who they are or what they offer.

All VOIP products, including WhatsApp need data usage to work. If you have wifi when you want to send a message, and the recipient also has wifi at the time, it will work, and very quickly. Same thing if you each have a cellular data plan.

It is also not free if you have to pay for the wifi to work it.

But, if you have data one way or another, the app makes zero charge.

See this parallel thread running in the General Forum which is similar to yours...:=

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/calling-with-wifi

Joy,

A few thoughts to add to Nigel's comments.

" If we use WhatsApp we can text each other back and forth for FREE?"

If you're not using Wi-Fi when you text, you'll be using cellular data, which will come out of the allotment provided on your AT&T roaming plan. Texts don't use much data so that shouldn't be a problem.