Want FaceTime on 3G? Try Tango
Tango is a video and audio chatting app that does what FaceTime should have done. It works on a 3G (or a 4G) network. This free app was released last week and I have been testing it over the weekend.
It performs pretty much as advertised using it on my iPhone 4. You can make and receive calls over either a WiFi network, or over the cellular network. Even better, the app works with a variety of Android phones including the Droid, HTC Hero, Evo and Nexus One so you're not stuck with just iPhone users.
When you get the app you register for a free account. Your name and email address is all that's needed, and the Tango contact list will instantly display friends who have signed up. Contacting them is as easy as clicking on their name. You have the choice to do an audio-only call or a video call. Both iPhone 4 cameras are supported, and just like FaceTime, you can switch cameras while a call is on progress.
How well does it work? I tried a call to an Android phone running Tango and it worked fine. An acid test was a call from a friend visiting China. He called me from the Great Wall, and the video was passable and audio was fine. He said he was in an area with intermittent 3G and Edge, and his connection kept switching, but given the conditions it did work well. If the Tango app notices network issues, it puts up a warning on screen. Eventually the video locked up and the call dropped, but it was better than expected under challenging international conditions.
One note: when a call comes in you have to select a video chat or audio only. If you do nothing your screen will remain blank. Tap the Tango icon and you are up and running.
Getting Tango is a no-brainer if you want to video chat when there is no WiFi. It does not work on the iPod touch, but will work on the iPhone 3G and 3GS, but there is, of course, no front facing camera. It is great for showing someone where you are, even though it's not practical to chat face to face.
This is the feature FaceTime should have had. Maybe it will come eventually, but until then Tango does a great job if you have good connectivity. I'd love to see a version that runs on my desktop or laptop, and I'd like to be able to record the calls. That would make for a pretty complete communications solution.
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Tango is a video and audio chatting app that does what FaceTime should have done. It works on a 3G (or a 4G) network. This free app was...
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I tried tango and it's been great. I tried it with three friends, over wifi and 3g and the results were amazing. The quality is a little better than fring and its dead simple to set up to use.
I have setup list and reviews on appolicious for apps. Check it out at http://www.appolicious.com/users/etherealglimpse. Join and let me know which apps you want me to try out.
Will there be a desktop client for Tango?
October 07 2010 at 3:01 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyHi just a quick official comment to correct something in the post:
We do support iPhone 3GS and the iPhone 4 but not the iPhone 3G. Hope you enjoy using Tango!
I based the 'works with 3G' comment on the description of the app Tango provided to the app store. It said any iPhone that works with iOS 4, which would include the 3G.
I've corrected the post, and trust Tango will clarify the requirements at the app store.
Mel
TUAW
Excuse me? Stuck with iPhone. You obviously don't know that FaceTime is an OPEN PROTOCOL. Anybody can make a FaceTime app. Apple made it OPEN, so Android users could have FaceTime if they want.
Now that the bickering is over...let's get back to the app...I tried it on my iPhone 4 with two others, both on wifi and 3G. It worked very well on both! There does not appear to be a way to change the ring tone, so you will need to get used to the one it plays (I imagine that an update is not far down the road to let you do custom ringtones).
Anyone else have a positive experience with this app?
@ David Schloss,
Go back and reread the article a little more slowly. It (the article) states that this program is also available for handsets that DO have 4G capability. No one has claimed that the iPhone is capable of using wimax or LTE or any other 4G technology. There are phones out there that aren't designed in Cupertino...
Cheers,
Dim
Sent from my iPhone 4
I agree with what you are saying but just so you know, you shouldnt use LTE and 4G together. LTE & WiMax are NOT actual 4G technologies. Its a wireless carriers tagline to talk about their 4th generation of data technology which is NOT the same thing. Per the IMT codes, LTE/WiMax are 3.5G at best. Just saying.
October 07 2010 at 1:48 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyWait a second, there is no 4G network iPhone. I think you mean on a 3G/3Gs or iPhone 4 running on 3G.
Even an iPhone running on a carrier that offers 4G wouldn't be a 4G network.
The 4G referenced is the fact that the software works on those networks with the supported Android phones.
The statement that the software works on these networks is true.
Thanks for writing.
Mel
TUAW
Not to split hairs here, but a phone with a GSM chipset, which the iPhone has does not *run* on a 4G network. It *can* run on a company that has 4G, as long as they're also running 3G towers. It's never on the same "network."
What's called 4G is LTE or a variant of CDMA, neither of which are chipsets in current iPhones.
It's not the same, for example, as saying that an 802.11b device runs on an 802.11n basestation, because in that case the basestation is falling back to 802.11b so the older 802.11b is *running* on the same frequencies but at a different speed.
A 4G transmitter is not falling back to 3G. It's a different antenna, it's a different signal, it requires a different chipset.
This would be more equivalent to saying that a bluetooth keyboard runs over WiFi, because they're both in an iPhone. Different chipsets, different standards, different frequencies, different transmitters.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_frequencies
I find myself apologizing to all my friends for uploading their phone numbers to the Tango server.
October 06 2010 at 6:43 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replywould you rather have to go to contacts and find a number, copy it, and paste it each time?
Or would you prefer having to go deal with signing up with a website, inputting all your contacts and their phone numbers, and have the App access the cloud each time you want to dial?
This and FaceTime are all moving in the right direction but the sooner Skype gets an update to allow 3G video the better. I'm assuming that if an app like Tango passes Apples approval then there's no reason that Skype wouldn't
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TUAW (or The Unofficial Apple Weblog) is a website devoted to tips, reviews, news, analysis and opinion on everything Apple.
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