How to Make Video & Voice Calls on Signal
Want to make a video call or voice call with Signal app on your iPhone? You can do that. Not only is Signal a messaging app, but it offers voice and video communication methods too.
Much like almost every other instant messaging service, Signal offers the ability to make video and voice calls. Video calling is now being widely used more than ever before and it’s a feature that anyone would be expecting from a messaging app today. Both voice and video calls that are made via Signal are end-to-end encrypted, so there’s no need to worry about data interception.
Whether you want to see or talk to your friends from the comfort of your home or arrange a video meeting with a colleague, you can follow the procedure below to learn how to make video and voice calls using the Signal messenger app.
How to Make Video Calls on Signal
We’ll start with video calls since that’s the feature most users would be interested in. It’s actually pretty easy to start a video call on Signal. Let’s see what you need to do:
- Launch the Signal app and tap on the conversation with the person you’re trying to video call with. If you’re trying to call someone who you haven’t chatted with, you can start a new conversation by tapping on the pencil icon at the top-right corner and select the contact’s name.
- Once you open a chat with a contact, tap on the video icon that’s located next to the contact’s name to start a video call.
- At this point, the other user needs to pick up the call. You can switch between your primary and secondary cameras by tapping on the arrow icon as shown in the screenshot below.
- To turn off your camera feed at any point during the call, simply tap on the video icon again. When the other user disables their camera too, the video call will automatically change to a voice call. Additionally, you have the option to mute your mic if necessary. Once you want to end the call, simply tap on the phone icon to disconnect and return to your chat.
- Consider this as a side note, but if you’re attempting to start a video call or voice call with someone who has not added you to their contacts list, the attempted call will fail and you’ll see the following message on your screen. The recipient needs to accept your message request first before you’re allowed to call them.
That’s pretty much all you need to do to begin a video call on Signal.
How to Make Voice Calls on Signal
Similar to how you can always switch to a voice call during the middle of a video call, you can also start an audio-only call and turn on the camera at any time. Just follow the steps below.
- Open the chat with the user you want to start a voice call with. Tap on the phone icon at the top-right corner.
- Now, you’ll have access to various options like turning on the camera, entering speaker mode, and disabling the microphone whenever necessary.
There you go. Just like video calls, you cannot call someone who hasn’t added you to their contacts unless they accept your message request.
As you can see above, making video calls over Signal is actually pretty easy. Once you get used to the user-interface, you’ll be able to properly make use of all the options available during an active call.
Likewise, you can start group video calls using Signal too. With the group calling feature, you can video call with up to 8 members at a time. If you haven’t created or joined a group yet, you may be interested in learning how to create a Signal Group along with a group link on your iPhone.
We understand that we were focusing on the iPhone version of the app. But, make no mistake, these exact steps can be used to make Signal video calls from your iPad too, if you have one. Also, if you use an Android smartphone, you’ll be surprised to know that the steps are pretty much identical.
Hopefully, you were able to make and join video and voice calls without any issues using Signal. What are your overall thoughts on the Signal app and all the privacy-oriented features that it has to offer? Do share your experiences and feel free to drop your valuable opinions in the comments section down below.
I’m just noticing that there is a “signal call under a contact of mine. I’m in a high conflict custody order with the person who has gone no contact and won’t answer my calls or texts. Denied my video visits altogether. We’re awaiting contempt of court hearing . Could he be making it look like we video chat?