Many tech companies have even gone so far as to include their own proprietary chat clients in their products.Though, like any popular service, there also exists an array of third-party offerings available on both i OS and Android.

Nowadays, people around the world can instantly communicate, bridging the distance via voice calls, texts, and emails with the simple touch of a button.

With the introduction of smartphones touting front-facing cameras, a slew of tools for video chatting soon found their way to mobile devices.

It creates fun opportunities and surprises — such as teasing a birthday cake before wishing someone a happy birthday.

If you can’t get through, Google Duo also now includes the ability to leave a video message for them to pick up later.

i OS In 2016, Google began to replace Hangouts with Duo as a part of the suite of pre-installed core apps for new Android devices.