Video chat on your phone, straight from the browser
Most people who try live video chat are holding a phone, so that is the screen Omet's live 1-on-1 video chat was designed for first: upright, large controls, readable overlays. It runs in the browser you already have. Here is everything that is different about doing it on a phone.
Open it in Safari or Chrome and you are there.
No app store, no download
Omet is a website, not an app you have to find, download and keep updated. Open omet.live in your phone's browser, and you are signed in as a guest straight away — there is no account to create before you look around.
Want an icon anyway?
Add it to your home screen and it opens full screen, like an app. iPhone: in Safari, tap Share, then "Add to Home Screen". Android: in Chrome, open the ⋮ menu, then "Add to Home screen" or "Install app".
Tap "Allow" the first time. If you did not, here is the fix.
The first time you start a call, the browser asks whether omet.live may use your camera and microphone. A video call cannot start without both. If you tapped "Don't allow" by mistake, the browser remembers that — so you have to change it back.
iPhone (Safari)
- With omet.live open, tap the page settings icon to the left of the address.
- Open Website Settings.
- Set Camera and Microphone to Allow or Ask.
- Reload the page and start the call again.
Still blocked? Check the phone-wide switch too: Settings → Safari (under Apps on newer iOS) → Camera and Microphone.
Android (Chrome)
- With omet.live open, tap the icon to the left of the address.
- Open Permissions.
- Turn on Camera and Microphone.
- Reload the page and start the call again.
Still blocked? Android can deny the browser itself: Settings → Apps → Chrome → Permissions.
Designed for one hand, not squeezed down from a desktop.
A lot of video chat sites were built for a laptop and then shrunk to fit a phone, which is how you end up with buttons too small to hit and text you cannot read at arm's length. On Omet the phone layout came first: the other person fills the screen, the call controls sit where a thumb reaches, and the overlays are sized to be read outdoors.
It also means the thing on screen is the conversation. There is no feed running alongside the call and no list of faces to scroll — which is the whole idea behind Omet.
Four things to fix before you press start.
Face the light
A window or lamp in front of you, never behind. Backlight turns a face into a silhouette on a phone camera faster than on any laptop.
Lens at eye level
Prop the phone against something rather than holding it low. Looking down into a camera is the least flattering angle there is.
Steady, not in hand
A phone leaning on a mug beats a phone in your hand. The other person stops seeing the room swing every time you gesture.
Quiet corner
The microphone picks up the room more than your ears do. A fan or television you have stopped noticing is the loudest thing on the call.
The longer version, with what to do about sound and what to do when the picture freezes, is in how to look and sound better on a phone video call.
Both work. One is kinder to your data plan.
Video uses more than messaging
A live video call sends and receives picture the whole time. Use Wi-Fi when it is available if your plan has a cap.
Weak signal shows up as picture first
When the connection drops, video usually blurs or freezes before sound does. Moving closer to the router often fixes it.
Close what is running
Other apps uploading in the background — backups, downloads — compete with the call for the same connection.