2. Viber

Viber has been around for quite a while and recently it has added video calling and chat features.

Rating: 3.9 with 41K ratings

3. WhatsApp

WhatsApp is always trying to bring something unique in the market. This year, they have introduced the free calling feature using VoIP instead of your cellular service.

Rating: 3.8 with 30K ratings

Free for one year only, after which time you have to extend your subscription for a small fee of $0.99/year.

4. Line

Line is a new third party app that serves more than 400 million customers worldwide. Since it is relatively new, the current version of the software is still buggy but it delivers its promises.

Rating: 3.5 with 22K ratings

5. ooVoo

OoVoo has over 100 million users in over 130 countries and is one of the largest video chat and messaging apps in the world. It offers video calls, voice calls, and text messages for free on cross platforms.

Rating: 4.5 with 12K ratings

6. BBM

Blackberry Messenger was initially developed for blackberry devices but it is now supported by many operating systems including Windows Phone 8.0 and later

Rating: 2.9 with 5,843 ratings

Instant chats, picture sharing and voice calls for free

Very slow communication for both text and voice calls

7. Nimbuzz

With over 200 million users worldwide, Nimbuzz is an app that combines the power of internet and that of a smart phone messenger. It has been around for quite a while and is well known for providing unlimited chat messages and file sharing on various platforms. Although it does not get the press that the others get for voice calls, it is still a great free app.

Rating: 3.6 with 2,557 ratings

8. ICQ

With ICQ, you get free calling to any number within the United States, but if the other party has the ICQ app installed, you can call anywhere in the world for free. Now, they even have IP based text messaging and a video chat feature and your existing phone number is used when you make outgoing calls.

Rating: 4.1 with 636 ratings

9. KakaoTalk

KakaoTalk is a very popular messaging option, especially outside of North America.

Rating: 3.2 with 339 ratings

Many users report that it does not permanently work on their devices. The app needs to be reinstalled several times

10. Magicjack

If you’ve ever stood in line at Walgreens or watched late night infomercials, you’ve surely heard of Magicjack. They made their name by offering the USB stick that converted your landline to VoIP but now they have a Windows phone app. This one isn’t as feature-rich of some of the others but you can use it to make calls to any number in the US for free.

It’s easy to use and very simple to setup.

Audio quality is not as good as other apps discussed

MobileTrans — Phone Transfer

Transfer Data from Phone to Phone in 1 Click!

• Transfer Data from/to Windows Phone directly.
• Easily transfer photos, videos, calendar, contacts, messages and music from Android to iPhone/iPad.
• Backup and restore data on your device to a computer with one click.
• Takes less than 10 minutes to finish.
• Enable to transfer from HTC, Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, iPhone and more to new iPhone.
• Works perfectly with Apple, Samsung, HTC, LG, Sony, Google, HUAWEI, Motorola, ZTE, Nokia and more smartphones and tablets.
• Fully compatible with major providers like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile.
• Fully compatible with Windows 10 or Mac 10.15.
• Fully compatible with iOS 13 and Android 9.0.

20+ Must-Have Apps For Your New Windows Phone

Despite the lack of apps, the Windows Phone Store is steadily expanding its arsenal of great apps on a monthly basis. You can now find a number of official apps and alternatives that are similar to or even better than the regular culprits for your mobile needs.

The best thing about the Windows Phone Store is that we can try the apps before purchasing any; if it does not work as you expected, or you don’t like it, you can simply hit Uninstall.

After exploring the Store, installing, and uninstalling a bunch of apps, here is a list of essential apps you should be installing into your Windows Phone. Note that there are some apps like Files which need Windows Phone 8.1 to work. All apps listed here are free (at the time of writing), unless specified otherwise.

Tip: If some these apps may not available in your region (yet), you can change your phone region from the Settings > Region menu, and then restart your phone to install some of the apps.

Password Padlock

Having an app that lets you generate and save unique passwords is essential. Use Password Padlock to create unique password and manage them conveniently. This app also lets you manage passwords across the Windows app version for OneDrive. All passwords are encrypted with AES-256, the latest encryption standard. So, rest assured, your passwords are safe.

Wallpaper

This app brings background images in various sizes and categories and lets you download them with ease. Use this app to have more background selections to attach in your Windows Phone Start and Lock screen.

Life360 Family Locator

As the name implies, Life360 Family Locator allows you to monitor your current family members’ locations in real-time. This app also lets you chat with your family in person with its built-in chat system. In a world full of uncertainty, this app is essential to help you keep tabs on your family members, with regards to safety, of course.

Photosynth

Photosynth is a Microsoft-owned app that allows you to capture amazing interactive 360 degrees panorama pictures. In the new version, aside allowing you to share your photos to Facebook and Twitter, it also ships with a Photosynth social; a niche community that shares panorama taken with Photosynth.

Adobe Photoshop Express

Adobe Photoshop Express gives you Photoshopping powers on your Windows phone. You can edit, crop, flip, rotate, and give your photos nice filters then immediately share your photos to your favourite sites. Note however that Adobe Photoshop Express would only run on Windows Phone 8 and 8.1 and requires at least 512 MB of memory.

Facebook

This probably goes without saying but we’re pretty sure you are getting the Facebook app for our new Windows Phone. Luckily, Facebook is one of the social media sites that have made its way to Windows Phone Store with an official app. Additionally, a new version of Facebook app for Windows Phone dubbed as Facebook Beta has also been released. On Windows Phone, you can access the Facebook app straight from the lockscreen.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp has finally returned to Windows Phone after being pulled for having compatibility issues with Windows Phone 8.1. The comeback is accompanied by a number of long-awaited features such as Custom Chat Background, Custom Sound Notification, and Media Autodownload.

Office Lens

Scanning your document is so old school, nowaays you can scan your documents with your phone. Office Lens not only lets you scan your docs, but also trim and resize your document automatically to an appropriate readable size. It’s a very handy app to take digital copies of your important printed documents like receipts and business card details.

Toib ($0.99)

The Google and Microsoft relationship is hot one minute, then cold, the next. Since Google axed Microsoft’s access to Youtube’s API, you should probably use Toib as an alternative for your video-related needs.

More video-sharing apps: MetroTube ($0.99) and PrimeTube.

Paypal

Paypal is a superior service when it comes to payment processing, mostly because many people subscribe to its service. Check your current balance, send and request money straight from your Windows Phone when you get this app.

More financing apps: Finance, Mint.

Amazon

This is one for power users who love to check out Amazon for deals. The Amazon app lets you browse products easily by category and department, search through products via filters and you can place your order easily, even without getting the Amazon smartphone.

More online shopping apps: eBay, Newegg, Yelp.

PDF Reader

You can’t avoid having a PDF reader on your phone hence this is a must-have app to get. Launch, read, add bookmarks easily to your PDF reading materials with the app. It also lets you share your PDF documents to social media sites via OneDrive.

Nextgen Reader ($2.99)

Nextgen Reader is a the nicest Feedly app in Windows Phone. It’s beautifully built and it implements the Windows Phone design principle, Modern UI, really well. It also comes with offline support, live tiles, image caching, Save to pocket and Instapaper. This app really well worth the price and you can run it on multiple devices.

Poki is an unofficial app client for Pocket, an application to save web articles to read it later. Poki, as you can see from the above screenshot, has a playful interface. It supports offline reading, tagging, Search, marking articles as favourite, live tiles, speech synthesis and more.

Files

Files works similar to how Windows Explore workr. With Files, you are better able to manage the files or documents stored within your phone (as well as additional connected storage services) such as creating a new folder, moving as well as renaming files.

Network Speed Test

Network Speed Test is a minimalistic app to test your internet connection speed. It provides both the upload and download speeds of your internet connection and also records the result of the previous test in the History tab for comparison.

App Folder

iPhone users may be familiar with how easy it is to group certain apps within a folder. Windows Phone has no such thing built in the system. If you want to have similar functionality, App Folder would be the best app to use on that regard.

Bonus Apps You Might Like

Measures Mate is a unit converter suite. This app encompasses dozens of unit measurements ranging from temperature, length, volume, energy, velocity, and angle just to name a few. A handy converter can be of use for someone who is always on the move and may not have Internet access all the time to Google for the conversion.

Need a Stopwatch? This is one of the best and simplest stopwatch app to get from the Windows Phone Store at the moment. There are dozens of other stopwatch apps but you can start trying them out with this particular one frist.

Use World Clock to see the times at major cities worldwide. The app will also automatically switch to the time of your current location. It’s a handy app for those who often travel around the globe or for those who work with people across different timezones, and need an app to help them keep track of world times.

Unlike iOS, Windows Phone does not have a Compass app built-in within the system due to the varying devices it needs to support. If you need a compass, you can try this app. But make sure that your phone has Movement and Directional Sensor hardware support.

Flashlight Zero, in my opinion, is by far the best app in the Store to turn your phone camera flashlight to brighten your surroundings – in case of power cut. It’s simple to use and free, and you never know when you will be in a sudden need for a light source.

If you are looking for a Shopping list reminder app, then this is a free app that will help you manage your shopping priorities well. It’s a handy app that helps you remember details on what to pick up.