Skype, Viber, Whats App - pros/cons/ are they a gimmick?

I have a new phone and am under Vodafone Red/basic contract.

I have downloaded all the above but have no clue which I should focus in on.

I would see myself making very occasional international calls, some international texts, mostly domestic calls and texts outside of business hours when I would use my work-landline.

I am not on social-networks (eg FB) and send/share very few photos and less video-clips.

HELP!?

I rarely use skype on my smartphone. Whatsapp I use a lot for text messages to individuals and more usefully to groups of friends. Similarly for Viber (all depends on which app my friends have). My brother uses viber to call people as he lives abroad. It really depends on what your contacts are using - you dont need to choose just one of them - but choose which one of these tools works best for the people your contacting.

Between these and iMessage on the iPhone - i rarely send a normal text anymore

they are both similar but Viber seems to have more functionality.
They are great for group chats or trying to organise a club event or stags etc

Which one to use will depend on many people you know use them. I use both.

No. There are not gimmicks.

We use WhatsApp for sending International Texts, Video & Photos. Very easy to set up and use with no additional charges as long as you don't exceed your Red data allowance.

We also use Skype for making International voice and video phone calls. It's a little bit more complicated for a novice user but works well when set up. It will use a lot of data on 3G so we only use it when we're connected to our own WiFi network at home.

We've never used Viber.

Since they discovered Snapchat, my kids seem to eschew all forms of text-based messaging and spend most of their time gurning into their screens and sending these images or video clips back and forth to their friends.

I use WhatsApp and Viber and find Viber better for voice calls. The Skype app for Android never worked properly for me, although I happily use the Windows version from my desktop and laptop.

They days of using sms are nearly gone. Soon youll only be paying for data, everything will be done by whatsapp, viber and the likes..

There's a (very) small charge for WhatsApp after the first 12 months. I use Viber for international texting and find it works a treat.

Group chats on viber are brilliant(eg organising 70th birthday party with people from Spain UK Australia & Ireland)

Discovered the joys of WhatsApp recently, and use it for international texts. I use Skype on PC and tablet, but not smartphone. I have Bria on the iPhone for doing VoIP but I only use it over WiFi, not 3G, and since I'm usually at home when on WiFi I actually use a hardware VoIP phone (Siemens Gigaset). I use a dirt cheap VoIP service and don't really pay much for any telephony any more.

I have about 240-250 mobile numbers in my phone contacts, and 131 of them have Viber - it's a no brainer if I'm texting them (particularly a group, or if I want to send/receive a pic or video) to use Viber.

Similar story with WhatsApp but I prefer viber, and more of my contacts seem to use it.

I don't use viber, tbh I don't use a mobile that much at all. Mainly for email.

But I know loads that use viber all day long. Handy when people are on different networks it eliminated the higher calls charges.

I have used Viber for sending SMS while using wifi at home.

Not a gimmick, very handy.

One of the extra benefits of them - is that you can see when the recipient actually read your message - as opposed to it just being delivered

Whatsapp is very popular now to the point that most text messages are now sent through Whatsapp for free.

If you have a good data plan or wifi you will make all your personal calls to people through Viber or Skype who also have these apps as they are free to use.

You can make very cheap international calls through Skype. You buy Skype credit by credit/debit card or Paypal and then you can ring worldwide from your mobile or computer.

Skype rates can be as low as 1c per minute to landlines in America with a subscription or you can get unlimited calls to landlines and mobiles in Europe for €17.24 a month as an example of some of the offers available.

You can also send a text message to a UK mobile at 8c per message.