Stuck at home? It can get lonely, making chatting and social networks services important for human interaction. Skype, Messenger, Hangouts, Duo, and all the others work great, but another app is quickly gaining popularity. Let's talk about Houseparty!
What is Houseparty and what makes it different?
Houseparty is a video chat application that gets rid of all the bells and whistles you find in competing services. Instead of complicated menus and a plethora of features, Houseparty's main lure is spontaneity. Once people start a video chat friends can jump in and out of these "house parties" to join the conversation.
We associate the experience to something like working in an office, co-working space, or any other social environments. People are going around having water cooler conversations as the day progresses, which makes dealing with responsibilities much more bearable.
Video quality is pretty good, and we haven't had any troubles with picture or audio during our testing. This was surprising considering Houseparty is meant to be such a casual and laid back video calling service. I've seen advanced video calling apps with worse video and audio quality than Houseparty!
I've seen advanced video calling apps show less quality video and audio than Houseparty!
How to get started with Houseparty
We know signing up for yet another online service can be painful. Thankfully, Houseparty has no dress codes or RSVP list, and signing up is a breeze. First things first: download the app or use the Chrome web app.
Download Houseparty app:
After downloading your app of choice you need to go through the sign-up process. This requires picking a username and providing your name, email, and birthday. You must also create a password and sometimes verify your identity with a phone number (depends on which app you use).
Adding friends
With your account created and the necessary app installed, you can now start looking for friends. You can simply tap the smiley face on the top-left corner of the UI. Select Add Friends. You can also hit the + button on the top-right corner.
Finding all your friends won't be too complicated given you can link your Houseparty account to Facebook and Snapchat to pull your contacts from those social networks. Alternatively, you can search from your phone's contacts, browse nearby people, or search by name. When these options aren't enough, you can copy your profile link and share it with whoever you want, in any way you prefer.
How to throw a Houseparty
Now you are ready to host a video chat. Go put your nice clothes on and come back to get this party started. To start a video chat on Houseparty you must open the app. Seriously, that's it! Your device's camera and microphone will become activated as soon as the app opens and people can join in at will.
You can also press the phone icon next to whichever contact you want to talk to. Either that or send them a wave to get their attention and see if they are available.
Houseparty extra features
Houseparty is all about simplicity, so there isn't much to do other than have group video calls. Extra features are few, but they are pretty entertaining.
Lock the room
This stops people from joining your party. Things can get too crowded sometimes!
- Look for the little lock icon at the bottom of the screen.
- Select it to lock the room.
- Tap on the lock again to unlock the room.
Play games
Got nothing to talk about? Houseparty features a few games. These include Heads Up!, Trivia, Chips and Guac, and Quick Draw!.
- When hosting a party, look for the dice icon in the top-right corner.
- Tap on the icon and select your game.
- Get playing!
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Sharing your screen
Depending on the device you are using, you may be able to share your screen. This is mostly useful when not using a mobile device.
- In your Houseparty video chat, look for a monitor icon at the bottom.
- Click on the monitor icon.
- Select what you want to share: entire screen, app window, browser tab.
- Hit the Share button.
Send Facemail
Sometimes you don't need a full conversation or video chat to get your message across. You can easily send what Houseparty calls a Facemail. This is just a video message that will play whenever the other user opens Houseparty.
- Go you your contacts list.
- Tap on the user you want to send a Facemail to.
- Press and hold the shutter button while recording.
- Press the send button.
Houseparty's recent popularity is mostly due to the COVID-19 outbreak. People are stuck at home and miss social interactions. The ease of use and casual nature of this service makes it a great solution for those who need some random party crashers around.
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