Zoom

How to Download

Go to Zoom’s download centre and click on the version that matches the operating system of the device that you want to install it on. You may have to scroll down to find the appropriate version for your device. If you’re using a computer and haven’t a clue which version to download, the top one, ‘Zoom Client for Meetings’ is probably correct.

If you’re using a smartphone Android or iOS device, you can find Zoom on either the Google Play store or the App Store respectively by opening the store app and searching for ‘Zoom’ and clicking the download button.

Once you’ve initialised the download, wait a few seconds or minutes, depending on the quality of your connection for the download to complete.

The downloaded file will be in your downloads folder if using a computer.

How to Install

This guide covers how to install Zoom on Windows. Once you have downloaded it after following the previous section, you can begin the installation process. If you downloaded the Android or iOS app, it will automatically install so you can skip this section and begin using Zoom.

Find the ZoomInstaller file that you downloaded, open it, and the short installation process will begin automatically. It’s very quick and easy to install and doesn’t require any extra clicks or choices.

Review

To begin with, there are three key reasons that make Zoom stand out among other call apps. First of all, users don’t need to sign up for an account or furnish their personal information in order to use this app. You can have a completely anonymous chat if you wish, and that’s a great thing for people who just want to keep their privacy.

Secondly, Zoom has all the features of other video call apps: group calls with up to 100 participants; high-quality audio and video quality (which is pretty common among most live chat tools); screenshare with the ability to share content from your phone, tablet or computer.

But is Zoom really free? When you download this app and open it for the first time, everything will seem absolutely normal: there are no in-app purchases or subscriptions that require payment. But if you look closer at what’s going on in the background, you’ll find that Zoom offers an optional business account. This way users can buy credits to use for their calls and pay $19.99 per month per user if they’re holding regular meetings with team members around the world or several times a week.

So figuring out whether this app is free or not depends on your definition of a free app. If you’re going to use Zoom for one or two calls, then it’s absolutely free (and very good) but if you want unlimited access and don’t mind paying $19.99 per month per user, this may be an option that works best for your business needs.

Zoom has a Skype-like interface and is very easy to use. It allows users to share their screen during calls, but it doesn’t automatically record any of your chats or recordings in the cloud for you (unlike Google Hangouts). So if something does happen wrong with this app‚for example, somebody accidentally presses the wrong button and hangs up the entire call‚you won’t be able to retrieve any of your previous recordings.

If you want to record Zoom calls without spending a penny, use OBS Studio to record your computer screen’s video and audio. It’s not the easiest software to set up and requires a separate guide to use, but you’ll be saving yourself a hefty subscription fee if you put the time into learning how to set it up, record calls, and play them back and share them.

Compared to Google Meet, Zoom is more user friendly and the app has a simpler installation process that even the least tech literate people shouldn’t have trouble with. It also allows 1,000 participants versus Google Meet’s paltry 250. However, Google Meet offers more generous and flexible cloud storage space, as well as having built-in closed captioning. It’s also a dollar cheaper per user per month but that should hardly swing the decision for most people. Zoom is the clear winner for casual users and teachers with its superior features and user-friendliness, while Google Meet may pull ahead for more business-focused use cases.