When I reviewed the Vonage Mobile for iPhone app back in 2009, it was a very different beast. Using the old version of the app involved creating a Vonage account that couldn’t be linked to your previously existing Vonage account, leaving long-time Vonage customers in a bit of a pickle. The app was fine for newcomers, but didn’t offer a ton of benefits outside of very cheap international calling rates.
The new Vonage Mobile, on the other hand, makes its usefulness clear from the get-go. Now, accounts are linked to your cell phone number. Opening the app takes you to a recreation of your iPhone’s dialer, complete with a unique contact page and a keypad for dialing numbers. The fun starts at the contact page with the tab marked “Free Calls.”
“Free Calls” is a list of everyone else in your contacts page who has downloaded the Vonage Mobile app. If you and another person have it, no matter where they live (assuming they live in one of the 90 countries supported by Vonage) all of your calls and texts to them will be free as long as you make them within the app. It’s absolutely brilliant. It’s not as if using Vonage was expensive before, but free is always better than cheap.
If you use the app to call someone without the Vonage app, your rates will vary depending on their country. You can check the cost before you make the call in just a few seconds on a screen within the app itself. Unfortunately, those with previous non-app Vonage Mobile accounts will still need to create a second account, but at least this time the benefits of having a mobile account are worth it.
Being able to call and text anyone you want for free makes Vonage Mobile an obvious choice for friends separated by long distances.
